Chapter 46

Grace was not expecting his reaction. This was not the same Will she knew three years ago. She had that Will looped around her finger. She didn’t know this Will. Lucy looked down and mumbled a half-hearted apology.

“What was that?” Will asked. “We didn’t hear you.”

Lucy looked up at Emma. Her eyes were daggers, but she knew she had lost this battle.

“I am sorry,” she said through clenched teeth. Emma let out a breath.

Will was about to say something else, but Emma put a hand up to stop him.

​ “I don’t need her apology. She’s not that important,” Emma said looking right at Lucy. “It seems that even all the money in the world can’t buy manners,” she snapped, and then marched out of the reception. She could feel Will following her.

​ “I’ve done my part. More than my part. Can I go now?” Emma asked.

​ “You’re not going to thank me? I just stood up to a room full of the city’s elite for you.”

​ “Thank you, I do appreciate that, but I didn’t ask you to do that. And I would never even have been in that situation if it wasn’t for my connection to you. And you’ve been ogling Grace all night. Why did you even bring me here? Just to irritate a bride on her wedding day? That’s low. Even for you.” Emma blurted out. She began pacing and throwing her hands in the arm while she yelled at him. “And what was that fiancée business? Do you have any idea what kind of mess that puts me in?” Emma stopped pacing and got in Will’s face, challenging him.

​ “Is that really how you feel?” Will smirked.

​ “I won’t be your pawn, Will. I won’t.” They stared at each other. As usual, his face gave nothing away. Emma gave up.

​ “Fucking hell,” Emma rolled her eyes. “You know what? Whatever. I don’t want to argue.” Will was a pampered prince. He would never understand her. Their worlds were too different. Where he came from, he didn’t have to fight for anything. He had everything, and he loved to remind her that she had nothing.

​ Will’s smile grew, but his eyes were still devious. He offered her his arm.

​ “Shall we rejoin the party…. Fiancée?”

​ “Shut up,” Emma took his arm, and Will chuckled at her aggravation.

​ After the wedding, things were distant between them again. Will threw himself into work, and Emma was busy with caring for her father and preparing for the contest. They rarely saw each other, and Emma was grateful for it. Will was an unwelcome distraction from her goals. While he was gone, she could focus on herself and the things she really wanted.

​ She did more research on the contest, and asked her professors about it. They were very enthusiastic for her to compete and submit her work. Her professors had always been supportive of her work, and truly believed in her ability. One of them referred her to a professional designer’s group where she could meet other talented designers and gain some career prospects. It was perfect stepping stone for her to continue to climb towards her future.

​ The competition was held by a prestigious organization every three years. It attracted both seasoned and promising architects. Some of the most talented names in architecture would be there on the judging panel, as well as competing. The grand prize was alluring enough, but the bigger draw was the opportunity to get recognized and offered a job with the top design firms. Emma could make her dreams come true if she impressed the judges.

​ She wasn’t confident in her ability, but she was having fun researching and learning about the past participants. The most well-known competitor was Spencer Lucas. He had won a few times, and his name was all over the marketing materials for the contest. Emma was obsessed with his designs. He was famous in the architecture world, one of the youngest and well-established in the business. She was curious about him because he was so mysterious. Not much was known about him, and his face was never posted on anything. The more she researched, the more intrigued she became by him. A lot of his work was similar to her design aesthetic, and that both excited and terrified her. In her fantasy world, they would work on projects together. He was talented and Emma desperately wanted to meet him.

​ Sabrina encouraged her throughout the process, but Emma was still anxious when she submitted her first draft.

​ “I don’t know, Sabrina,” she said during one of their calls. “The competition is pretty stiff. I don’t think I stand a chance.

​ “Girl, come on! You’ve worked so hard! There’s no way that you won’t qualify for the first round.”

​ “Have you seen some of the entrants? So many of them are the biggest names in architecture.”

​ “Sure, but these people want the freshest and best new designers. That’s you.”

​ “I don’t think so,” Emma felt defeated.

​ “Oh no? Why don’t you check the contest website?”

​ “What do you mean?” Emma was apprehensive at Sabrina’s words. The qualifying designers were featured on the website. “Don’t play with me.”

​ “Go look.”

​ Emma went on the website with shaking hands. When the page loaded, she screamed in delight, and shock.

​ “It’s me!” she squealed. “It’s my design! I qualified! I did!”

​ Her and Sabrina cheered on the phone. They chatted about what she should wear to the meet with the first round judges and planning out Emma’s fantasy future.

​ The day of the first-round of the competition came faster than Emma was ready for. She held her design blueprints against her chest, and her building model was in a rolling suitcase at her side. She stared at the design department building, and was terrified. This was a major step in her life.

​ “You can do this. You can do this,” Emma took a deep breath and stepped forward to enter.

​ “Excuse me, miss?” someone asked from behind her. She turned around and saw a handsome man clutching his own design.

​ “Yes?”

​ “Are you Emma Wells?”
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