Chapitre 13: Charity Auction (1)

Eunice agreed to attend the charity auction for one reason, and that is regret. She regretted that although she did attend the event in her last life by pestering her brother to bring her along, she missed all the benefits she could get.

Instead of getting acquainted with various business giants in the country, she was focused on hogging all of Zach's attention. Her goal at that time was to dispel all of the dating rumors between Zach and Alice by acting like his girlfriend in public.

She knows that the event will be covered in magazines and news right after, so she took advantage of that fact to stake claim on him. She even deliberately stuck close to him whenever a photographer points the camera towards their direction.

Unfortunately, instead of dating rumors, what she got was criticism. She was labeled as a leech and a sl*t who latch on a taken man. They also express their sympathy towards Zach by saying that he looked like he was forced to be with her. That, because he is a gentleman, although he is uncomfortable, he had no choice but to suck it up.

With these memories of her previous life as a reminder, she became even more determined to change the trajectory of her fate.

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After Zach left, Eunice and Eugene started their preparations.

But first, Eunice decided to call Emily and Victor to invite them. Since the event is for charity, it is open to any who has the ability to present something worthy at the auction.

In her previous life, both Emily and Victor also attended the event through their own connection so her call is just for formality. It is also a way to inform them that she will be there and express that she wants to go together.

The event will start at 7pm, so before noon Eugene already called his make up team to help style him and Eunice.

Eugene is long used to hours of preparation before an event, but Eunice isn't. She felt like she had been tortured and tossed around for who knows how long. This made her thankful that she never had an interest in joining the entertainment industry. She can't stand this kind of lifestyle. At most she can be an investor.

Before 6pm they are finally done and were ready to leave. Eugene insisted that they should just use his car and go together. Since Eunice is not entirely over her trauma she readily agreed.

Not to mention they would not be returning until late at night. She still couldn't drive at night. Every time she see headlights she would involuntary stiffen behind the wheels. Since then she make sure to finish her work on time so the she could leave before dark.

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The moment they arrived at the parking lot of the venue, the parking spaces are already more than half occupied. It is located not far from the concert hall where the event is going to take place.

The place is a concert hall that could hold thousands of guest. But twice a year it would be used for charity gathering during Jake Tan and his wife's birthday. It is not necessarily auction. Sometimes they will also hold charity concerts or galas.

The concert hall is owned by the Li family, Jake's wife's family. They also have movie theatres and museums.

It is said that their charity works are their way to collect good karma in order to conceive a child. Ria Li, Jake's wife had a miscarriage on the first year of their marriage. Even after four years, they still failed to conceive again.

She was depressed for a long time. She only managed to come out of the abyss after visiting orphanages and children's hospitals. This then started their dedication to charity work with these two institutions as beneficiaries.

A monk also advised them to collect good karma. And thus they started doing these large scale charity events twice a year that generates millions of dollars.

At the side of the entrance of the concert hall, Eunice saw Emily and Victor together waiting for her. With her arms around her brother's arm, they slowly walk towards them.

"Emi! Vic! We're here. Did you two wait long?" Eunice greeted while giving each of her friends a warm hug.

"Not that long. Don't worry Eun-eun. I had fun watching different celebrities while waiting. I even saw Best Actor Chan! I wanted to take selfies but I'm too nervous to start a conversation." Emily said full of excitement.

"Emi almost shrieked when he stepped down the car. I'm this close to disowning her as my friend." Victor added while gesturing his thumb and index finger inching close together.

Emily elbowed his side ruthlessly, feeling indignant. "Who are you acting all cold and aloof for? We all know you love his action movies more than I do."

The four of them laugh.

"By the way, big brother Eugene, you are a huge celebrity. Shouldn't you arrive in a flashy way just like the others? You know, stopping your car at the end of the red carpet and slowly walking out with camera flashing around." Emily added.

"I want to be low key. Plus I want to stay by my baby sis' side throughout the night. If I arrive in a high profile manner, the media will also pester her. It's not a pleasant feeling." Eugene explained.

Eunice also nod in approval. But she knows that this plan of her brother will not work once they step on the red carpet later. However, she could at least skip the dramatic stepping out of the car moment.

Right at that time as if on cue, they heard a loud cry. "Aaahh! It's prince Eugene!!"

Eugene stiffened for a moment before turning around and gave the fan his professional smile. This cause the fans to start screaming and rushing, nearly tearing the barricade down.

The event, aside from being for charity, is also considered a huge gathering of the top celebrities in the entertainment industry which attract huge crowd of fans at the entrance.

Since the management couldn't stop the fan from coming, they decided to designate a fan area where they could control the crowd and stop them from mobbing their idols.

Luckily the security is tight and although they are standing at the side, Eunice and her group of four are within the secured area so they didn't get mobbed.

"Wow, this spot is dimly lit but your fans still recognized you big brother. You even have your back facing them." Eunice said with a twitchy smile.

"We should just go inside. The reporters already noticed us anyway." Victor suggested seeing that they could no longer hide. They don't have a reason to stay on that spot anyway. He only chose this spot because it is near the parking lot exit.

"Sorry about that. Then let's go." Eugene said while offering his arm to his sister.

Emily who also held Victor's arm followed closely behind them.

The moment they stepped on the red carpet, the photographers frantically took photos. All of them had one thought in mind 'Who is that girl clinging on the prince's arm!?'