Chapter 98 How Dare She Come Here?!
Chapter Ninety-Seven
The double doors of the grand hall was suddenly pushed open and Aria appeared, accompanied by Zach.
Immediately she entered into the hall, everyone turned to look at them, their eyes widening with astonishment, then glazing over with interest.
Aria was wearing a sleeveless, black dress with a high, fitted turtle neck that elongates her neck and made her silhouette look sharper against the soft lights in the hall.
The bodice of the gown was clean and tailored, cinched tightly at the waist with a wide black belt that sported a bold rectangular, gold buckle.
From her waist down, the skirt of the dress flares into a full A-line, heavy with volume and crisp pleats that gave her a commanding presence, as she moved elegantly down the hall.
Her long black hair was parted cleanly down the middle and slicked back into a neat and tight bun at the nape of her neck. Not a strand was out of place and this style exposed her face completely, emphasizing her sharp and striking features.
Zach, on the other hand, had accompanied her to this event on Lucian’s orders. And he’d come dressed appropriately for the occasion as well.
He always looked polished but today he was dressed in a sharply tailored, deep burgundy suit that hugged his frame cleanly.
The blazer of the suit was sleek, and was worn open to reveal a crisp, white dress shirt with the top buttons undone, giving him a confident, relaxed look.
His thick, black hair was styled in a swept back cut with a soft side part.
Together, they made quite the entrance and Aria could not help but wonder what would have happened if it had been Lucian who had accompanied her.
Surely, everyone would not have been able to pick jaws from off the ground.
Zach had aura as well, but it was not quite as Lucian’s. If Lucian were with her, people would definitely move out of her way as she walked towards them.
Selena definitely could not pick her jaw up. She was so stunned at how Aria had transformed.
“What on earth is happening?” She stomped her foot as she thought bitterly, eying Aria with hatred, “Why is she looking better and better all the time?! How dare she?!”
She had not quite recovered from the humiliation she and her mother had endured at Aria’s hands the past week.
And now her night was ruined as Aria had suddenly appeared again, looking more and more beautiful and more and more confident.
The whispers started almost immediately as they walked down the hall towards the seat reserved for the key players in the event.
“Who is she?!”
“Don’t you know her? that’s Aria Beaumont, Daughter of the Beaumont family and the wife of Lucian Graves!”
“Oh my god, are you serious? I heard she was a lowlife, a country bumpkin! But she looks like an aristocrat!”
“The Beaumont family had a daughter like this? How come we never knew about her?!”
“What is she doing here though? And with a man that’s not her husband?”
“That’s right! This event is for the Nexus bid. From what I know, the Graves Empire has nothing to do with it.”
“Even if they had, why would she come here to represent them?”
“She’s their daughter in law. Who are you to question them?”
“I heard she works at the company now. Hah! The Graves Empire must dote on her a lot, letting her work there.”
“But what’s the use? I heard she didn’t even get much education. Poor thing grew up farming pigs!”
“But she has a good life now. Imagine being the daughter in law of the Graves family! That is just plain superb.”
“Yes, you’re right. She does look befitting for that position. Selena Beaumont could never have pulled this off. Why, what striking looks Aria Beaumont has!”
“Yes, she’s as lovely as her mother! Isabella did leave a piece of her before she left.”
Selena felt like she was going to explode when she heard all that. She marched off to where drinks were arrayed and downed a few glasses of wine, all the while eyeing Aria with hatred.
“That bitch!” She muttered beneath her breath, “I’ll show her.”
Nathan and two of his team members were there as well, having arrived just before Aria did.
They had come to see her fail to win the bid and then gloat in her face.
He had scoffed in disdain when Aria had appeared.
“What a fool! Coming to your humiliation ritual all decked up like a queen.” He thought to himself, his lips curbed with an evil smile, “I can’t wait to see you become the pauper that you truly are!”
As the people whispered amongst themselves and watched Aria and Zach make their way towards the reserved seats, Kurt and Vera also watched them with puzzlement and growing interest.
As Aria walked past them, she made sure she maintained the coldest eye contact with them, that actually sent shivers down their spine.
“What the hell? Why is she here?” They wondered.
They recognized Aria from the shopping mall, and Vera immediately felt her face flush from the memory of the embarrassment she had suffered that day.
She remembered Lucian and Aria had had them thrown out on their asses outside the shopping mall, all because it belonged to them.
“Do they think they are gods walking among men on earth?” Vera uttered hatefully, “how dare she appear here? What business does she have here? Huh?!”
She turned to face Kurt whom she was questioning and her eyes widened in alarm, then hate when she saw that he was staring fixedly at Aria.
What the actual fuck?!
“What are you doing?!” She hissed at him, her chest heaving as she was already breathing hard, “Are you staring at her?!”
Kurt jerked back to the present, blinking in astonishment then swallowed hard at Vera’s angry face.
“Uhh…no…I mean.. what?” He asked in a daze, guilt written all over his face.
Vera turned her glare towards Aria, prepared to march towards her and warn her off her man but then the lights in the hall dimmed as the host stepped on to the podium.