Chapter 0240

The evening of the fundraising gala, Elva and I changed into our glistening golden dresses and waited in the parlor with the other candidates for Nathan to come and bring us to the event.

We stood near Susie for a while, but she was distracted. She had prepared notecards for her pitch, as well as some responses to questions she might be asked. She read through them aloud, over and over.

“I’ll hide them up my sleeve if I have to,” she said, when I asked her about them.

Elva twisted and turned, catching light on her puffy shirts. Then she tried to catch it with her hands. She

giggled at her own antics. “So pretty…” she whispered to herself.

“Piper. Speak with us.”

I glanced up to see Veronica approaching, with Tiffany close behind.

My nerves spiked, and I worried they had seen Jane again. But when I looked closer at Tiffany, she

wasn’t carrying her tension in quite the same way she had the previous two times she approached me.

This time, she seemed more excited than anxious.

“What did you want to talk about?” I asked, forcing myself calm.

“How we should split Julian’s time during the gala,” Tiffany said. The two came to stand before Elva and

me. Tiffany waved at Elva, smiling. Elva blinked up at her and shyly waved back.

would be the most logical,” Veronica said. “We will already

benefactors. It would be fruitless to compete

well.”

amongst ourselves won’t look good to the

it would put

gave a quick, curt nod. “Julian shouldn’t need to

candidate ! had dealt with, aside from Susie, these two

more than

in awe of them, as well as incredibly grateful

At least,

Lilliana and Olivia were in a conversation of their own, all fake smiles and

this same conversation with them

with Julian,” Veronica

and I

best candidate win,” Tiffany

to,” she said, deadpan. A tense moment passed,

into

burst into

smiled too, just a little. One of my few real smiles since Jane held a knife to

to smile a lot tonight, to win over the benefactors, so I had been practicing

the smile that looked the most

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