Chapter 3

After sorting out my personal life, I headed to the Art Exhibition Center.

My business trip had been to organize this very art exhibition, specifically to invite the world-renowned painter, Mr. Raymond, to the city.

As the chief director of the project, I was overseeing the entire setup. Today was the grand opening, and visitors were already pouring in.

I finally let out a breath of relief. But as I turned around, I ran straight into two very familiar, very annoying faces.

Ashley was clinging to Austin’s arm, walking toward me.

Talk about a small world.

I looked Ashley up and down. In just three days, she had completely upgraded her wardrobe. She was covered in designer logos from head to toe, though all those luxury brands couldn't hide the cheap, manipulative scent rolling off her.

Austin stepped up to me, a smug smirk on his face. "What's the matter, Chloe? Dumped me and couldn't wait to find another rich guy, so you sneaked into a high-end place like this?"

"Can't you have some self-respect? Do you really have to be a gold digger?"

To him, I was just a girl wearing fake designer clothes. He assumed I was here to hunt for a sugar daddy.

I chuckled. "To be fair, I couldn't 'dig' anything out of you anyway. With your net worth, buying me a single bag almost gave you a heart attack. Now that you have a new girlfriend, try not to be so cheap."

His face darkened instantly. "So you admit it! You're just a gold digger. Everyone attending this exhibition today is from high society. Are you trying to bag a billionaire?"

Ashley chimed in, her voice dripping with mock pity. "Ms. Sterling, as a fellow woman, you are an embarrassment to our gender. Trying to stage an 'accidental meeting' here is just pathetic."

"Now that you've lost Austin, you'll never find a man as good as him. Do you really think these billionaires are stupid? Why would they ever look at a cheap girl like you?"

She raised her voice, deliberately drawing the attention of the surrounding crowd.

Austin wrapped his arm around her waist, looking down at me. "Chloe, if you don't want to ruin your reputation even more, get the hell out of here. It won’t look good when security drags you out."

I almost laughed. "And who are you to tell me to leave?"

"Based on the fact that we were invited," Austin sneered, pulling out an elegant invitation card. "Do you even have one of these?"

Ashley smirked. "Yeah, do you? This is an exclusive invitation. Hand-written by the eldest daughter of the Harrison family—the richest family in the city. Do you have one?"

Hearing this, I remembered. When we were preparing for the exhibition, I had indeed hand-written a few invitations because my assistant was overwhelmed. Later, I got too tired and stopped. I didn't expect one of those rare hand-written invitations to end up in his hands. It must have been a mistake by the PR department.

The crowd began whispering, looking at Austin with admiration.

"To receive a hand-written invitation from Ms. Harrison herself... Mr. Carter must be someone truly special."

"If that girl doesn't have an invitation, security should throw her out. She's obviously here with bad intentions."

"She thinks she can get away with anything just because she has a pretty face."

Austin glared at me. "Chloe, get lost! This is a high-end art gallery, not a place for trash like you."

"Just wait until the museum director gets here. Let's see how tough you act then!"

Right on cue, Director Jenkins walked over in a hurry. Seeing the crowd gathered, he frowned, and his eyes landed on me. He froze.

Ashley immediately pointed at me. "Director Jenkins! This girl is a gold digger who sneaked in to harass the guests. Please have security throw her out so she doesn't ruin the experience for everyone else!"

Others joined in. "Yes! She looks decent, but her morals are trash!"

"How did someone like her even get past the door?"

"She's an eyesore!"

I scoffed. "Throw me out? You blind fools wouldn't know class if it hit you in the face."

The crowd gasped in outrage, demanding the guards remove me.

But Director Jenkins stepped forward, his voice booming over the chatter. "Silence! Ms. Sterling is the chief director and organizer of this entire exhibition! Without her, none of you would even be standing here looking at Mr. Raymond's masterpieces!"

The gallery fell into a dead silence.

Ashley's eyes widened in shock, and she shrieked, "I wondered why you were so confident, Chloe! You must be sleeping with the Director and Mr. Raymond!"

"Wow, Chloe. You must be really busy serving both of them!"

Her eyes were filled with pure jealousy and malice.

I smiled coldly. "I am busy. But I always have time to slap a bitch."

"SMACK!"

An incredibly loud slap echoed through the entire gallery.

Ashley’s scream pierced the air!