When Thea Thornton heard this, she pointed a finger at them, her exquisitely made-up face twisting in fury.
"I already apologized! What more do you want?"
Hazel Sinclair immediately shot back, "You call that an apology?"
"You weren’t being sincere!"
After she finished, she didn’t forget about the men who had tried to humiliate her earlier.
Tugging on Evelyn Kendrick’s sleeve, she spoke without lowering her voice. "Evelyn, it wasn’t just her. Those men were saying things about me too."
"They were all calling me a homewrecker, trying to humiliate me."
Hazel Sinclair finished and looked at Luke Lancaster, saying with dissatisfaction, "Director Lancaster, you brought me to this party, but you won’t even stick up for me? You just let them say whatever they want."
"Don’t ask me to come to these kinds of parties with you again. I won’t come, no matter how much you beg."
As soon as Luke Lancaster heard this, he shot a look at the men. "Miss Sinclair is my guest. Whoever humiliated her just now is going to apologize."
Evelyn Kendrick, who was standing beside her, heard this and pinched her chin, her voice dangerously low. "Hazel Sinclair, if you wanted to come to a party, you could have just asked me. Why did you have some spineless loser bring you?"
"See? You get bullied, and does he say a word to help you?" Evelyn Kendrick shot Luke Lancaster a contemptuous look.
"He has even less of a backbone than Leon Sterling."
At least when Leon Sterling was around, if one person said something to embarrass Hazel, no one else would have dared to follow.
The men who had humiliated Hazel Sinclair immediately straightened up and gave her an especially sincere apology.
After listening, Hazel Sinclair put on an air of reluctant acceptance. "I’ll accept your apologies."
Then, her gaze fell on Thea Thornton. "Miss Thornton, you still haven’t apologized."
Under the combined pressure from Evelyn Kendrick and Luke Lancaster, Thea Thornton reluctantly apologized.
"I shouldn’t have spread vulgar rumors about Miss Sinclair. I shouldn’t have said those awful things. Please forgive me, Miss Sinclair. I won’t do it again."
Having received a sincere apology, Hazel Sinclair huffed. "Thea Thornton, you’re lucky you ran into a kind-hearted woman like me. If it were anyone else, you’d have been dealt with by now."
"But I’m just so kind-hearted. All I ask for is a simple apology, even after being slandered."
Hazel Sinclair finished with a shake of her head. "It’s true what they say: no good deed goes unpunished."
Evelyn Kendrick grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and started dragging her away. Luke Lancaster hurried after them, shouting, "I brought her here! Give her back!"
"Give her back?" Evelyn Kendrick sneered. "You spineless coward. She could be getting bullied to death right next to you and you wouldn’t even notice."
"Get lost."
Luke Lancaster did not get lost. He just kept following them.
"I’m hungry. I want to eat something." Hazel Sinclair had only come for two reasons: to eat, and to bid on things she liked.
Evelyn Kendrick led her to the buffet table, grabbing a plate and tongs. "What do you want to eat?" she asked.
"This one, this one, this one... and that one."
"And some fruit."
With one person getting her cake and the other getting her fruit, Hazel Sinclair stood to the side, her face beaming. She looked exquisite and beautiful, like a doll you couldn’t tear your eyes away from.
She was wearing a long white dress. As long as she kept her mouth shut, her beauty was enough to captivate anyone, man or woman.
When Silas Hawthorne found Evelyn Kendrick, he saw her fussing over Hazel Sinclair while the director of Lancaster Group held a plate of fruit for her.
"Good evening, you three." Silas Hawthorne strolled over, his hands in his pockets.
The moment she saw him, Evelyn Kendrick’s expression soured.
"What are you doing here?" Evelyn Kendrick asked irritably. Her gaze then snapped to Hazel Sinclair. "You wretched woman, did you sell me out again?"
Hazel Sinclair threw up her hands in surrender. "Whoa, whoa, don’t go blaming an innocent person! He came over on his own."
Luke Lancaster looked at Chairman Hawthorne and acknowledged him. "Good evening, Chairman Hawthorne."
Three business magnates were now gathered together. Despite the slightly awkward start, they soon began talking business.
As someone who wasn’t used to such high-powered circles, Hazel Sinclair simply popped grapes into her mouth and listened to them chat.
In just a few minutes, the three of them had struck a deal for their three companies to collaborate on a project.
’You rich people are incredible. You can hash out a business deal just like that.’
As they were exchanging contact info to create a group chat, Evelyn Kendrick tugged on Hazel Sinclair’s arm. "Are you dense? Get your phone out and add them."
"I already have their contacts," Hazel Sinclair replied earnestly.
"Fine, I’ll add you to the group." Evelyn Kendrick nodded and added her to the chat with a few taps.
Hazel Sinclair was dumbfounded. ’What does their business have to do with me?’
"I don’t have a company, and I don’t know the first thing about business. Why am I in this group?" Hazel Sinclair asked earnestly.
"You sat here and listened, so you get a cut," Evelyn Kendrick said nonchalantly.
She then scanned the two men. "Either of you have a problem with that?"
Luke Lancaster shook his head, indicating he had no objections. Since Evelyn Kendrick had spoken, Silas Hawthorne didn’t object either. And just like that, Hazel Sinclair, the bystander, was given a piece of the pie.
"System, there really are opportunities everywhere in the big city. I’m getting free money just for sitting here." Hazel Sinclair was utterly stunned and quickly vented to her system.
[Indeed.] the system replied.
People came over to make small talk with the group from time to time, but Hazel Sinclair just sat there quietly, eating her food and waiting for the auction to begin.
After a while, the auction began. The host asked everyone to please take their seats.
Evelyn Kendrick pulled Hazel Sinclair toward the auction area, with the two men following behind them.
They chose seats in the second row. As soon as they sat down, Evelyn Kendrick shoved a catalog into her hands.
"Take a look. Tell me what you want, and I’ll bid on it for you."
"There’s no need to trouble Mr. Kendrick. I can handle it," Luke Lancaster immediately interjected.
"You have the money?" Evelyn Kendrick sneered at him.
"I do," Luke Lancaster said earnestly, a smile on his face.
"Hazel Sinclair, who are you going to let bid for you?"
The difficult question landed squarely on Hazel Sinclair. She glanced from side to side before whispering, "You can all bid for me. I’ll take everything."
"Heh." Silas Hawthorne, sitting beside Evelyn Kendrick, couldn’t help but let out a short laugh.
"What are you laughing at!" Evelyn Kendrick whipped her head around to glare at him.
"Nothing. If you’re all bidding for her, I’ll bid for her too," Silas Hawthorne said quickly.
"That’s more like it," Evelyn Kendrick said, her expression softening slightly.
’System, am I dreaming? They’re all fighting to buy me things.’ Hazel Sinclair was screeching like an excited monkey on the inside. She’d never experienced anything like this.
’I’m so in demand!’
Once everyone was settled, the host gave his opening remarks, and the auction began.
The first item up for bid was a rather ordinary vase. Hazel Sinclair wasn’t interested.
The second was a painting, but Hazel Sinclair had no eye for art and couldn’t appreciate it.
Hazel Sinclair wasn’t interested in the third item either, until the system spoke up. [You should bid on this one. It’s a good find.]