Chapter 106

Chapter 106

Beatrice pressed her burning ears, forcibly suppressing the chaotic thoughts swirling in her mind.

She couldn't shake the feeling that she and Damien had just locked eyes.

Taking two deep breaths of cold air, she repeatedly reminded herself that today's only priority was the competition. Everything and everyone else shouldn't occupy her thoughts.

Besides, she and Damien belonged to completely different worlds. There should be no further entanglement between them going forward.

Before long, light footsteps sounded behind her, and someone suddenly linked arms with her.

Isabella bounced up to her, face full of lingering fear. "Beatrice! Finally found you! Just now when submitting my work, my USB drive suddenly wouldn't read. Scared me to death."

"Fortunately, the staff helped fix it, or it would've been a disaster!"

Beatrice snapped back to attention. Seeing her exaggerated expression, she couldn't help but smile slightly. "Good that it worked out. How's your preparation going?"

"Already submitted everything. Now it's up to God." Isabella waved her hand carelessly, then leaned in closer, lowering her voice. "But what about you? You seemed completely out of it just now. You're not still thinking about those two jerks at the entrance, are you?"

"Ignore them. They're just incompetent clowns. Once you win an award, let's see what they'll have to say."

Beatrice shook her head without responding.

She could hardly say that her distraction was entirely because she'd spotted that unexpected person in the audience.

Isabella didn't press further, chattering away on her own—from the preferences of this competition's judges to the top-tier design exhibition opening next month in Luminous City, chirping away like a cheerful little bird.

It did dilute the tension in Beatrice's heart, along with that indescribable flutter of panic.

"Let's go to the audience section. They'll be reviewing submissions for ages anyway." Isabella sounded bored.

Beatrice nodded with a smile, and the two headed toward the seating area.

She swept her gaze across the audience section and quickly spotted John and Emily, who were waving vigorously in her direction from their seats.

She waved back at them, then turned to Isabella beside her, saying softly, "Isabella, my friends are waiting over there. I'll head over now. Let's chat another time."

She felt certain that Isabella, who'd been thinking about that person throughout the entire competition, would immediately go find Damien now during this free time.

Unexpectedly, Isabella glanced in the direction she pointed, and her green eyes instantly lit up, her gaze locked firmly on John's upright figure.

She turned to Beatrice, shaking her arm expectantly. "Beatrice, Beatrice, can I come sit with you for a bit? I've got nowhere else to go by myself anyway, and I'd love to meet your friends!"

Beatrice froze, face full of surprise, asking instinctively, "Aren't you going to find Damien? Didn't you specifically enter this competition for him?"

Upon hearing this, Isabella immediately waved her hands, her face showing an expression of keeping a respectful distance. "Find him? Why would I do that? The weather's so nice today, the temperature's perfect. I don't want to go find that boring guy Damien."

"That man can infuriate you in three sentences. I'd rather stay far away from him to avoid asking for trouble."

Hearing this, Beatrice couldn't help recalling her interactions with Damien.

She truly couldn't connect Damien with the boring guy Isabella described.

Naturally, she wouldn't voice these thoughts in front of Isabella. She simply pressed her lips together without speaking.

Seeing her silence, Isabella assumed she was unwilling to bring her along. She clasped her hands together at her chest, her tone full of pleading. "Please, please, Beatrice! I promise I'll just sit there quietly and absolutely won't cause any trouble!"

"Just keep me company for a bit. I'm all alone here in an unfamiliar place. So pitiful!"

This display made it impossible to refuse.

Beatrice sighed helplessly and nodded. "Alright, come along with me then."

"Wonderful! Beatrice, you're such a good person!" Isabella instantly cheered, gripping her arm even tighter as she bounced along toward John and Emily.

Emily spotted Beatrice from afar and was about to wave in greeting when she noticed a white girl with flamboyant red curls beside her. The two were linked arm-in-arm, looking quite familiar with each other. Confusion immediately crossed Emily's face.

When the pair drew near, she immediately approached, sizing Isabella up before lowering her voice to ask Beatrice, "Bea, who's this?"

Before Beatrice could speak, Isabella smiled and stepped forward half a step, speaking in pitch-perfect Novarian. "Hello, beautiful lady! I'm Isabella. You can call me Isabella. I'm Beatrice's good friend!"

These words not only stunned Emily but also made John raise his eyebrows slightly, his face full of surprise.

He looked at Beatrice with questioning eyes but didn't rashly speak.

Emily couldn't hide her curiosity. She immediately widened her eyes, looking at Beatrice with a gossipy expression. "Bea, when did you meet this new friend?"

"How come we had no idea? We didn't see her when we entered just now!"

Beatrice shrugged helplessly and explained, "Just now, while queuing to submit our work. We chatted a bit and hit it off."

"I see!" Isabella nodded with a smile, pulling Beatrice to sit in the nearby empty seats, settling herself closely on Beatrice's left.

Seeing this, Emily immediately sat on Beatrice's right. The two flanked her on both sides, sandwiching Beatrice firmly in the middle.

After sitting down, Isabella shook Beatrice's arm and said with a smile, "Don't you Novarians have a saying that meeting is fate?"

"Look, we both entered the same competition, queued one after another, and now we're sitting together. This is tremendous fate!"

Hearing this, Emily's interest was instantly piqued. She nodded approvingly. "Yes, yes, yes! You're absolutely right! Fate is such a wonderful, mysterious thing!"

Isabella lightly bumped Beatrice with her elbow, lifting her eyes toward John, who was now seated beside Emily.

She lowered her voice, leaning close to Beatrice's ear. "Beatrice, who's that handsome guy over there? Is he with you all? He's so incredibly good-looking!"

Before Beatrice could respond, Emily jumped in first, answering with a proud expression, "Him? He's my nephew!"