Chapter 282 Accepting Journalists' Interview
After dressing up, Cecilia and Seraphina stood in front of the full-length mirror, looking at the two beautiful and exquisite women reflected.
Seraphina glanced at Cecilia's conservative black dress and couldn't help but laugh, "I can finally feel a sense of presence next to you! It turns out I can look this stunning too!"
Certainly not as over the top as Seraphina has shown.
Cecilia's figure and face naturally drew all the attention, and the dress was just a minor accessory. Although this outfit wasn't as eye-catching as the previous one, it still made her stand out.
"Clearly lacking in taste." Alaric walked over and hugged Cecilia.
"Who's lacking in taste?" Seraphina snapped.
She had no idea what she had done to provoke Alaric, who seemed to oppose her at every turn.
"You ignore the great Dashiell and go for someone else... It's not that you have bad taste; it's that you have bad vision." Alaric looked at Seraphina and said, enunciating each word, "To be precise, you're blind."
Seraphina said, "Alaric..."
"Enough." Cecilia pulled Alaric, "Speak less."
For a grown man, he really had a sharp tongue.
She thought that if this argument continued, Seraphina would be furious.
"Talking too much to someone who's not smart and blind is a waste of my breath." Alaric held Cecilia's hand, "Let's go, don't lower our IQ."
Seraphina really wanted to strangle Alaric.
She thought, 'How could Alaric's mouth be so vicious?'
She was so angry that she felt like exploding.
Seeing Seraphina's furious expression, Dashiell said, "I told you not to provoke him."
He thought, 'You either get pissed off by Alaric or get killed by him.
'In short, those who really understand Alaric dare not really provoke him.'
With a grudge, Seraphina pushed Dashiell away from the high-end dress area of the Harmony Threads.
Cecilia, Alaric, Dashiell, and Seraphina arrived punctually at 6 pm.
When they arrived, many reporters were already standing at the gate.
The four were surrounded by reporters.
Since it was the anniversary celebration of the Lockhart Group, Cecilia couldn't really make things difficult for the reporters, as negative news would be more of a loss than a gain.
She stopped at the entrance of the ballroom and accepted interviews from reporters.
"Ms. Lockhart, could you briefly share your feelings about Ophelia's live broadcast yesterday, where she accused you and Theodore of being publicly embarrassed?" a reporter asked eagerly.
Due to Ophelia's embarrassment yesterday, she was once again trending on social media.
Now, seizing the opportunity, reporters would definitely continue to explore the news value while the topic was still hot.
"Ophelia has always been pampered, so she becomes extreme when she's short on money. Of course, I'm not saying anything good about her. I just hope that our family matters within the Lockhart family can be resolved within the family. After all, when it comes to family issues, I'm afraid outside interference might affect our family's relationship," Cecilia replied.
Actually, she didn't directly answer the reporter's question.
She didn't publicly bite back at Ophelia as the reporters might have expected.
After all, this could have made the contradiction of the news stronger and increased its popularity.
Seraphina listened nearby and felt somewhat dissatisfied.
She had watched Ophelia's live broadcast accusing Theodore and Cecilia yesterday and felt like punching Ophelia through the screen due to her ramblings. However, she didn't expect Ophelia to suffer the consequences so quickly.
The swift retribution was extremely satisfying.
Yet now, even though the reporters had asked such a direct question, Cecilia was still defending Ophelia. She should have added fuel to the fire and made it impossible for Ophelia to show her face again!
Seraphina thought Cecilia was foolish!
Cecilia wasn't nearly as kind-hearted as Seraphina imagined. Her reason for handling the situation this way wasn't out of some noble sense of family loyalty. Rather, she knew that siding with Ophelia would only make her look like someone who betrays family for personal gain. Such behavior wouldn't garner public sympathy; it would be met with disdain.
By positioning herself as the defender of her family, Cecilia made herself appear more virtuous while painting Ophelia as the villain. This stark contrast was the most crushing blow to Ophelia.
"So will Ms. Lockhart be reaching out to Ophelia for reconciliation?" a reporter asked.
"I'm sorry, today is the Lockhart Group's anniversary celebration," Cecilia interrupted, clearly not wanting to discuss Ophelia any further. "If you don't mind, let's focus on news related to the Lockhart Group."
In truth, Cecilia knew very well that some things were better left unsaid. Over-explaining would only come off as insincere.
"Ms. Lockhart, you've been with the Lockhart Group for less than three months, yet you've already achieved remarkable results, including driving traffic to the Tower of Light and working on the Flower Beach International project. Can you share how you've managed such success in your early days in business?" another reporter quickly shifted the topic.
The reporters were clearly wary of offending Cecilia and were eager to ask safer questions.
"Hard work, I suppose," Cecilia said with a smile. "The saying 'hard work pays off' is truly accurate. Maybe I just put in a bit more effort than others."
"So, Ms. Lockhart, are you suggesting that young people should work harder?" the reporter pressed.
"Hard work is a virtue; there's no harm in it," Cecilia nodded.
"Mr. Whitaker, we've heard that the Civic Hall is evaluating young leaders. Have you been involved in the selection process?" another reporter turned to Alaric.
"You're talking about the young leader evaluations? I didn't know about that," Alaric said, playing dumb.
He wasn't about to let the reporters get any inside information. Civic Hall's policies were confidential until officially announced, and revealing them in front of the media was not an option. Unless Alaric wanted to be kicked out of Civic Hall immediately.
"Ms. Everhart, we heard you were once involved with Sebastian. How did you end up marrying Dashiell? Was it out of pity because of his disability?" a reporter quickly turned to Seraphina.
"Not at all," Seraphina replied, but she offered no further explanation about her marriage to Dashiell.
"Do you love Dashiell? If so, why were you involved with Sebastian in the first place? What's the story between the three of you?"
"What's between us is my business, and I don't owe you an explanation."
Seraphina was straightforward and unafraid. She wasn't concerned about her reputation in high society, as she was already used to its judgments.
At that moment, she pushed past the reporters, roughly shoving them aside as she moved forward with Dashiell.
Cecilia, noting that it was time to move on, linked arms with Alaric and followed Seraphina, finally escaping the swarm of reporters.
As they entered the ballroom together, the last thing Cecilia expected was to run into Dominic.
"Mr. Kingsley..."
Dominic seemed to be everywhere.
Inside the ballroom, the crowd was still relatively sparse. As the host, Cecilia quickly took Alaric's arm and headed over to Theodore and Genevieve, ready to greet the guests and manage the evening's affairs.
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