Chapter 134 Seeing Cordelia Being Watched by So Many People, Doesn't He Have Any Thoughts?
Three years ago, after that whole mess, Evelyn was the one whose reputation took the biggest hit, and she was the only one people remembered. Cordelia was well protected, so no one remembered her.
The only thing people recalled was that Donald's second daughter had been married to Alaric, and the two were now divorced.
As for what Cordelia looked like, no one remembered.
Alaric stared intently at Cordelia. During her speech, she would occasionally look up at the audience, but her gaze never lingered on him, not even for a moment.
His eyes darkened slightly.
Bruce sat right next to Alaric. He glanced around and noticed many elite single men in the room had their eyes fixed on Cordelia.
He raised an eyebrow and gently nudged Alaric's shoulder with his elbow.
"Seeing Cordelia getting all this attention, how does that make you feel?"
Alaric's expression darkened.
Many people in the room were looking at Cordelia. Even the host standing on stage couldn't take his eyes off her.
Bruce noticed Alaric's increasingly grim expression, and a slight smile played at his lips.
He thought he wouldn't get any response from Alaric, but a few seconds later, Alaric's low voice, tinged with anger, spoke up.
"I want to hide her away."
Alaric stared darkly at Cordelia on stage with her warm, gracious smile. A strong possessiveness gradually ate away at his rationality.
He wanted to rush onto the stage, bring Cordelia back to his side, hide her away so that all these people eyeing her couldn't catch even a glimpse of her beauty.
He wanted to kiss her! Wanted to take her home! Even wanted to announce to the world that Cordelia was his!
Bruce got his answer and chuckled softly.
"What gives you the right? To take her home and hide her away? Your ex-husband status?"
Alaric's deep eyes instantly turned cold, and he shot Bruce a look.
Bruce knew he'd made him angry, so he smiled and shut up.
Cordelia's speech ended, and she stepped down from the stage.
She was wearing high heels. Usually, because of work, Cordelia rarely wore heels this high, but for today's speech, to boost her presence, she'd chosen the highest pair from her shoe cabinet.
As she walked down, her heel accidentally caught on the carpet.
She was completely unprepared and stumbled, nearly falling off the stage.
Seeing this, Alaric practically shot up from his seat.
Fortunately, Cordelia only stumbled slightly and didn't fall.
When she left the stage, the camera had turned to the host who was speaking, so aside from the live audience, no one noticed Cordelia's small mishap.
Instead, Alaric's sudden standing up attracted quite a bit of attention.
After seeing Cordelia steady herself and walk calmly back to her seat, Alaric sat back down, his expression unchanged.
People around couldn't help but look at Cordelia with curious eyes, wondering about her relationship with Alaric.
After all, Alaric had stood up immediately when Cordelia nearly fell. If there was nothing between them, that seemed unlikely.
Bruce noticed how nervous Alaric had been and raised an eyebrow, lowering his voice to say quietly, "That nervous? And you still say you don't love her?"
Alaric sat in his seat with a cold expression, saying nothing, then glanced sideways at Cordelia, who had returned to her seat.
Janet was sitting in the very last row.
Over the past two years, she'd been doing live-stream sales, helping many fruit farmers in Shadowpine, making money and building her reputation in the process.
Although her contribution was small, she'd still been invited to attend Shadowpine's recognition ceremony.
While she didn't get a chance to speak on stage, Janet did receive an award during the ceremony.
When the meeting ended, everyone went on stage for photos.
Alaric stood in the center.
The mayor of Shadowpine stood to his left.
Everyone was modest about positioning, yielding to each other.
After going on stage, Janet immediately walked over to Alaric's side, standing to his right. With a smile on her face and holding her trophy, she took the initiative to greet Alaric.
"Alaric."
The live stream was still going. Alaric glanced at her coolly, his expression barely changing.
Janet smiled and stood beside Alaric.
Cordelia, meanwhile, stood with her colleagues and seniors.
She humbly gave the prominent positions to her seniors, standing herself in the far right corner.
The recognition ceremony ended.
Cordelia glanced at Alaric, who was talking with others.
Janet stayed by Alaric's side, occasionally getting a word in.
Taylor was gathering materials, preparing to leave.
Cordelia walked over. "Taylor, are you heading my way? Can you give me a ride?"
Taylor glanced toward where Alaric was and saw Janet's figure. He immediately understood and nodded. "Sure, Ms. Stone."
Taylor left with Cordelia through the side door. The route back passed by the main entrance.
Cordelia looked up out the window and saw Janet standing beside Alaric, facing reporters, apparently being interviewed.
Her gaze paused for a moment, then a mocking smile curved her lips.
After talking with the mayor for a bit, Alaric realized Cordelia was gone and immediately walked out through the main entrance.
Janet followed closely behind him. The two were stopped by reporters at the front entrance.
Alaric frowned, not seeing Cordelia anywhere in the crowd.
Robert knew Alaric was thinking about Cordelia, so he walked over and said quietly.
"Ms. Stone already left in Taylor's car."
Alaric let out a heavy breath and turned back toward the venue with a dark expression.
The reporters, left in the cold, looked at each other in confusion, unsure if they'd asked something that displeased Alaric.
Janet hadn't expected Alaric to show such a grim expression in front of the reporters.
She'd wanted to get some camera time, but Alaric just left. She pressed her lips together, about to say something to smooth things over, but soon the reporters saw other elite figures coming out of the venue and quickly moved on from being snubbed by Alaric to interview them instead.
Janet stood there awkwardly, her expression strained.
Not a single reporter wanted to interview her.
She bit her lip and could only slink away.
Back in her car, Janet pulled out her phone to watch the live stream replay. Seeing herself standing next to Alaric in the photo, she smiled.
But her smile didn't last long. She caught sight of Cordelia standing in the corner.
Even though she was in the most inconspicuous position, she still couldn't hide her natural grace.
Janet let out a heavy breath, feeling quite frustrated. She couldn't help but scroll back to the part where Cordelia gave her speech. Watching Cordelia on stage, the confidence and composure in her every gesture, Janet's mood instantly soured.
Thinking about how Cordelia nearly fell when leaving the stage, and how Alaric had nervously jumped to his feet, Janet couldn't help but grip her phone tightly.
Cordelia should never have come back to Shadowpine!