CHAPTER 451: CHAPTER 451: ROSALIND LYNCH’S CHOICE

Ashley Shaw pretended not to notice, keeping her eyes fixed on the podium.

The meeting lasted for about an hour and a half before it finally ended.

When they reached the exit of the sports field, the three of them happened to run into Ariana Grant.

Before they could say a few words, Tyler Joyce came over.

He was holding four bottles of water.

But only Ariana Grant’s bottle was flavored soda water, while the others had mineral water.

The subtle difference was instantly detected by the girls, and Jocelyn Hayes and Lynn Redding both winked at Ariana Grant.

Ariana turned bright red and hurriedly dragged the three away.

Jocelyn Hayes was the first to bring up Tyler Joyce: "Ariana, I think Senior Tyler is quite nice. Why don’t you consider him? If you go with him, we’ll have a connection in the form of the student council president."

Ariana pretended to glare at her with mock anger.

"Are you willing to sell out a friend for such connections?"

Jocelyn immediately hugged Ariana’s arm.

She was the kind of person who, when she liked someone, embraced everything about them, and when she didn’t like someone, even their breathing seemed wrong.

That’s why she especially liked Ariana.

"I’m not selling out my friend, I just think Tyler Joyce is really nice. Anyway, you’re single, so why not consider it? In college, you should learn how to study and how to date. Otherwise, once you’re out of school, your parents will rush you into marriage, and you’ll end up marrying someone without any experience in love."

Ariana looked conflicted.

"I really don’t have those feelings for him..."

Although she seemed to have a thing for handsome guys, being attractively inclined, deep down she was actually very loyal.

When she liked someone, that person was the only one in her world, and no one else could squeeze in.

Seeing her discomfort, Ashley Shaw simply made it clear: "Robin, Ariana actually has someone she likes, but that person doesn’t go to our school."

"Oh? Which school is the person from?"

Ashley hesitantly replied, "A school in Westcroft."

"No wonder someone so handsome and also a student council president doesn’t interest you. Turns out you already have someone in your heart!"

Lynn Redding pointed out something practical: "If you were in a long-distance relationship, that’s one thing, but with such a distance, it’s time to make more effort."

Ariana just gave a small smile, saying no more.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t trying; she was actually working hard to lose weight.

But Leon Zeller... he was still filming a variety show!

She couldn’t get in touch with him at all.

Not even Leon’s parents could reach him, she thought.

...

In the survival reality show.

By now, everyone was no longer just concerned with "eating"; they started pursuing quality of life.

Everyone had their own "wooden bed," and even the dinners were made with special materials, prepared through baking.

Moreover, they had set up many traps, so waking up meant a big harvest, vying for the one with the highest quality of life to win the championship.

Of course, this was the case for the Stardust Team.

The situation in other teams was slightly worse.

Only Leon had the talent and knowledge to make these things, while the others were still lingering at the simplest "survival" line.

And this day, Leon revealed why he had these skills.

It wasn’t that he did a lot of homework; his father was an expert in this area—a biologist who loved to explore rainforests.

Upon learning about Leon’s family background, his fans went crazy for him.

His social media followers increased by hundreds of thousands again.

Ariana saw this through her phone, and her heart was filled with a young girl’s complex feelings.

She loved how amazing he was, loved his radiant glow, but also hoped that glow would be seen by her only.

That would mean less competition.

Ashley Shaw, on the other hand, had no time to watch variety shows at all.

Wilson Wallace had notified her that she needed to perform on stage without a script, so she had to seize every moment to memorize her lines.

To prevent stage fright, she even had Jocelyn Hayes and Lynn Redding pretend to be the audience to rehearse with her several times.

The rehearsal went smoothly without errors, which provided some reassurance.

After practice, Ashley Shaw checked the time and saw it was already past five.

Ariana came upstairs to call everyone to the cafeteria for dinner, but Ashley, with her mind preoccupied, found an excuse about needing to continue memorizing her lines and asked them to bring her back a serving of noodles.

Mentioning the noodles, Lynn Redding remembered that was the beginning of their friendship and volunteered to bring them for her.

Even though it didn’t matter who among the three of them brought it, Lynn’s gesture was noted fondly by Ashley, who replied with a smile, "Then I’ll have an extra egg."

"No problem, and I’ll add a sausage for you too, wishing you smooth success in your speech tonight."

"Thanks for the good wishes."

The three quickly went out while Ashley Shaw took out her phone from the drawer.

There weren’t any messages from Assistant Lowell or Xavier Quincy, whether on WeChat or email.

Instead, Brooke had sent her a message two minutes ago, asking if she was adapting well to school.

Ashley responded promptly: "Pretty well, and I’ve made two new friends."

Two seconds later, Claire Xavier called directly.

"Ashley?"

Hearing the familiar voice on the other end of the line, Ashley’s eyes grew warm as she exclaimed, "Ms. Grant!"

Claire was silent on the other end too, seemingly a bit choked up as well.

She quickly composed herself and said, "I hope I’m not disturbing you by calling at this time?"

"Not at all, not at all."

"That’s good. I was afraid you’d be too busy with the start of school and not able to answer calls, so I texted you first."

This indicated she had something to say.

Ashley asked, "Did something happen?"

"Ivy Bond is not doing well; she’s being transferred to Aethelgard by medical helicopter tomorrow. I’ll be coming with her... if there’s time, maybe we can have a meal together."

Ashley was happy at the prospect of seeing Claire, but since the cause for the meeting was a bit serious, she didn’t want to seem too joyful.

So she just said, "Of course, I’ll pick the place?"

"Sure. Is it okay if Archie comes along?"

Ashley paused slightly, then said, "It’s fine."

"Great, I’ll text you after I land and get things settled here. We’ll arrange it according to your schedule."

"Okay."

"Oh, one more thing."

"What is it?"

"It’s more gossip than something serious. Did you know that Rosalind Lynch was sent to Curtis Bowen’s bed by her dad... and now Mrs. Bowen is making a fuss."

Ashley was momentarily stunned and asked, "Who is Curtis Bowen?"

"Do you remember once we had a big order delivered to Westcroft Hotel?"

"I remember, we made a lot of mini cakes for the wedding of a company chairman’s daughter."

"Yes! Her dad is Curtis Bowen."

Ashley was shocked.

She remembered that the man holding the bride’s arm at the time was at least fifty, with a large belly and a greasy face.

Although he seemed to be quite wealthy, there was something unsettling about him.