Chapter 174

A wife, a decoration.

She was always looking for any little opening to assert her position, constantly protesting, wanting everyone to know she was Mrs. Forrest.

Dreaming of being publicly acknowledged by him, yet using her status as Mrs. Forrest to go to exhibitions with other men.

Did she take him for a fool?

Liliana gently touched the spot on her jaw where he had squeezed it.

Unreasonable, a troublemaker—was that really the stereotype he had of her in his mind?

Perhaps he didn't even know that she now had proof of him and Sylvia being together.

After some thought, she saved the photos she just received along with all the previous ones she'd gotten.

Even a cornered rabbit will bite.

It was just that she wasn't cornered yet.

After that confrontation, her mood for enjoying the snowy scenery was gone.

Since the Expo Manor design was off the table, she decided to message Nina and ask for other work.

Everyone slacked off while working from home, and Nina didn't reply for a long time.

So she lowered her head and tried to continue studying, but she was too distracted to focus.

Just as her mind was wandering, an email notification popped up in the bottom right corner of her screen.

It was from The AuraRun Design Contest.

An email with the subject line: [Congratulations, You Have Passed the Preliminary Round].

She quickly clicked it open.

The email made no mention of the previous elimination notice she had received.

After listing some feedback on her design from several judges, it outlined the rules for the next round.

She suspected it might be a scam, so to verify its authenticity, she dialed the official contact number.

"Hello, could you please help me check my competition result?"

An automated female voice prompted her to enter her contestant number on her keypad.

Barely five seconds after she

entered it, the voice said, "Congratulations, Ms. Liliana. You have passed the first round of The AuraRon Design Contest Please. check your email for the rules of the next round..."

Liliana still couldn't believe it.

Could it be that her threat had worked? Had a guilty Sylvia stopped interfering with the competition?

Whatever the reason, she was overjoyed.

She immediately sent a screenshot of the email to Douglas.

[Douglas, I passed the first round! The elimination notice must have been a mistake.]

Just as she sent it, the indicator showed that he was typing a reply.

[Congratulations. I knew you could do it. Keep it up.]

A smile spread across Liliana's lips, revealing two small, charming dimples.

The gloomy mood from earlier vanished completely, and she immediately began preparing for the second round.

It wasn't until Nina messaged her

that she stopped: [Did Miss Woodet Man project?]

really agree to take you off the B

Liliana replied with a 'Yes.'

Expo

[I'm sending a few designs to your email. Refine them, and we can talk more at the

office tomorrow.]

Nina seemed busy and didn't press for details.

Soon, the designs arrived in Liliana's inbox. She had to put her

deal with work first content

competition preparations on hold es

By the time she finished, she realized she was starving.

She looked at the time and saw it was already three in the afternoon.

After their unpleasant exchange, Cedric had gone upstairs and hadn't come back down.

She didn't know if he was working or resting.

He couldn't go a whole day without eating, his body wouldn't handle it, even if he was just resting-

Liliana pursed her lips and looked toward the staircase.

After a few seconds of silence, she stood up and walked upstairs, treading softly.

The first room to the right at the top of the stairs was the bedroom. Its door was shut, as was the door to the study.

She hesitated for a moment, then pushed open the bedroom door and went inside.