CHAPTER 98: COMMOTION

Watching Alisha give her speech bit into Katherine’s skin. She really wanted to march up there and give Alisha a piece of her mind.

Her grip tightened on the armrest of her chair, her nails biting into the leather fabric.

The more she tried to fight the urge to walk up there, the more tempted she felt to do it without caring what other people said.

Thankfully, she had come prepared.

She glanced over to a woman who was seated in the fans’ area.

The woman nodded and stood up, pointing a finger at Alisha as her voice tore through the applause being rained on her.

"Alisha De Rossi didn’t deserve this award at all. She’s still a rookie, and it hasn’t even been six months since she debuted in the modeling industry, yet she’s already won the award that many top models haven’t even touched, much less been nominated for." Her voice was intentionally loud, gaining everyone’s attention as they turned to look at her.

Alisha’s smile didn’t falter as she stared at the lady who had just spoken. She had expected something like this to happen. The lady glanced at where Katherine was seated, and Alisha immediately knew who had sent her.

"Is there a problem?" Alisha gently spoke into the microphone.

"Yes, there’s a problem," the woman claimed. "You don’t deserve that award at all. You must have asked your husband to help you, or you..." She drawled, glaring at Alisha as if she were worthless. "Or you slept with someone."

Camera shutters echoed in the hall, capturing every angle of the scene for their publicity.

Katherine shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and Alisha immediately picked up on her body language.

"That was not part of the script," Katherine thought to herself as she put her fingernail between her teeth.

She had only called that woman just in case Alisha won, and since she did, she wasn’t going to let her enjoy her victory so easily.

She’d come prepared this time. Alisha didn’t have anything against her so she won.

"Do you have any proof of this?" Alisha politely asked.

"The proof is right in your hands, but you’re probably going to deny it, aren’t you?" the woman shot back.

Alisha’s smile stretched further across her cheeks while the audience waited for her response.

"I earned this award, and the only reason I got it was because I deserved it. I worked hard for this. It’s a term you probably don’t understand, since you go around mocking models just because you don’t like them."

The woman was flustered.

"I recognized you during the Whisper of Silk fashion show. You were one of the women who bashed me, am I right?" Alisha asked, while Katherine tensed up.

She hadn’t thought Alisha would recognize any of those people because she had made sure to send many.

Immediately, security arrived.

"You might have come here to hate on me because you can, but I’m sure you wouldn’t make the same foolish mistake of risking getting caught twice—unless you’re getting paid for this," Alisha said.

Meanwhile, the woman’s face was already red from embarrassment. She hadn’t thought Alisha would recognize her either.

"Who sent you?" Alisha demanded. The woman didn’t say anything. "Well then, since you’re accusing me of something so vile, I will have to reveal to everyone something I’ve discovered lately about one of the top models who was also nominated in this very same category."

Alisha glanced at Maxine, who immediately understood the assignment.

Maxine pulled out her phone, and in less than a minute, everyone’s phone was buzzing with notifications.

Katherine’s back was already cold with sweat as she forced herself to believe that Alisha couldn’t possibly be talking about her.

She didn’t touch her phone. If people glanced at her, then she was screwed. As soon as everyone finished watching whatever was being displayed on their phones, they stared at her like she was a contagious pest, eyes filled with judgment.

"I can’t believe she would stoop so low just to get an award," Katherine heard someone beside her murmur.

"This woman doesn’t have a single shred of shame anymore. Why is she still married?"

"At this point, she should be canceled immediately."

Katherine was curious to see what they were talking about even though she already had a rough idea of what it could be.

Nathan, who was sitting right beside her, was already looking through his phone, and the glare he gave her was like he wanted to strangle her there and dispose of her body immediately.

He stared at her with hatred in his eyes.

Katherine, on the other hand, was too shocked to say a word.

The video showed her walking into a hotel room with Joshua Fernandez.

They weren’t caught on the bed having sex, but this video alone was more than enough to prove she must have done something.

Katherine glanced at Mr. Fernandez, who was ready to leave the scene without even sparing her a look.

Alisha’s gaze was on her, a smile on her lips as if asking her to explain herself.

Katherine stood up. "I didn’t do anything wrong. This was all Mr. Fernandez’s doing, and I have proof of it all."

She walked toward the stand where Alisha stood, giving her a very condescending look as she played the voice recording of her and Mr. Fernandez when he had agreed to the transaction between them.

The recording was loud enough for everyone to hear. But the issue was, in a situation like this, the woman was always the one being bashed even though the man was the one who initiated everything.

Mr. Fernandez was a married man who had a responsibility to his wife, but the whole world was going to think Katherine intentionally came into his life to ruin his marriage. That also meant she didn’t deny the accusation that she willingly slept with a judge just to win an award.

"You’re such a disgusting woman!!" Someone yelled from the crowd.