Amused by my words, Remington laughed and shrugged. “Well, his fantasy about his first love has been shattered, and the culprit is just right in front of him. His pride can’t take it if he doesn’t do anything about it.”
“Hah!” Other than rolling my eyes, I could not think of any other way to express my current feelings.
“Oh, right. There will be a few pretty girls at this party whom I had invited. Don’t flirt around, okay? Something bad might happen,” warned Remington seriously.
I pursed my lips, not knowing how to respond to that. Remington’s thoughts were even more ridiculous than Spencer’s.
“How did you come up with such a conclusion? Am I a frivolous woman? Or do I have some ambiguous relationship with a girl?”
“My friend said that your relationship with Crystal is the classic example of a love-hate relationship. It is only because both of you can never get together that your love is so tragically beautiful. After listening to her analysis, I thought that she made sense. So, you shouldn’t flirt around randomly. It’s terrifying when a woman turns evil.”
I had nothing else to say.
After I greeted Spencer, he chatted with me politely with a grim look on his face. Then, he insisted on challenging me to a painting competition. This time, he wanted to compete on speed. As I had no objections to it, I told him to wait for a minute while I head to the restroom.
“It doesn’t matter how much you try to delay it. If you don’t compete with me today, I won’t let you leave. Don’t even think of escaping!” challenged Spencer at my back. I was rendered speechless. Who’s escaping?
After I washed my hands, I left the living room and picked up my brush. Suddenly, I heard people discussing loudly behind my back, “What’s going on? Isn’t this a party for the prominent figures in the art industry? How can someone like her infiltrate this place? Look at how she’s holding the brush! This is a blatant insult to the brush.”
“Harvey, be more polite! I invited Ms. Tanner as my guest.” When Remington heard someone criticizing me, he frowned and spoke up on my behalf.
“A guest? Remington, your taste is becoming worse. Back in school, at least you invited pretty girls. Why are your preferences so absurd now?” Harvey sauntered into the crowd and noticed that most of them were familiar faces. He pursed his lips and continued, “All of you are willing to act as the side characters out of courtesy for Remington. However, the main character is downgrading the entire party.”
“Harvey, stop messing around. We’re about to compete. Let’s talk after our competition. You can say whatever you want and it’ll be none of my business!” bellowed Spencer. It was obvious that he felt extremely anxious. After his competition had been interrupted multiple times, he was starting to lose his temper.
“What’s there to compete about?” Harvey walked toward the canvas. Seeing how I was still standing there, he mocked, “Right, Ms. Tanner? Only elites are present in this party. Don’t you think that it’s inappropriate for you to be here?”
“We can only find out after the competition. Since you think that I shouldn’t be here, why don’t we have a competition too?” I raised my head, feeling all pumped up because of this man.
Perhaps it was because I was holding a brush, I declared arrogantly, “We’ll know who the real deal is after testing it out! Why don’t we have a painting competition? You can decide on the topic.”
“Don’t be rash, Yvonne,” shouted Spencer and Remington simultaneously as a worried expression crossed their faces. I shook my head at them and smiled reassuringly.
“Don’t be a sore loser, then. I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a woman,” mocked Harvey.
While I went to choose my brushes and paints, I asked Remington, “What’s wrong with Harvey? Why is he targeting me? We’ve never even met before! Have I offended him?”
He glanced at Spencer standing at the side. When I saw her awkward expression, I got a sudden revelation and asked, “Is he a very good friend of Crystal’s?”
“No, he’s Crystal’s ex-boyfriend.” Remington added, “You shouldn’t have accepted his challenge. Although he isn’t as famous as us, he’s the strongest amongst us all. Even our teacher has said that we’re not as talented as him. If you lose to him, it might be hard for you to make a name for yourself in this industry in the future.”
