The smile on Maya's face instantly vanished. "Could there be a mistake somewhere?"
The man sighed. "I've been at the door all evening, letting people in."
"For those who try to sit in front, I make sure to rerun their code twice just to be sure I'm not making a mistake and even now, I've just confirmed I didn't. So what else would you have me do?"
Maya was dumbfounded and stuttered, "I-It's just… she can't be one of the host's special guests."
"I'm a member of the Warren family, and we were assigned to sit at the back of the middle row. How can she, who isn't even affiliated with any family, get to have such a nice view?"
Hearing her, he rubbed the space between his brows tiredly before muttering, "Ma'am, things like that are beyond my control. I've read her code, and it showed me her seating area, along with her name."
"If you have a problem with the seating area assigned to you, please take it up with my boss."
"For now, I'd advise you to return to your seat. If this disturbance to the other guests continues, you'll leave me no choice but to forcefully remove you from the premises."
At this, Maya's eyes darkened.
Even though she had a lot to say, she couldn't risk getting removed from the premises—not when they had worked so hard and looked forward to attending this event.
Besides, she was certain Dahlia hadn't made it in here on her own.
Since she refused to tell the truth about how she got the invitation, she left her no choice but to spend the entire evening trying to catch her in a lie.
Dahlia, on the other hand, turned and began walking back to her seat when the guard left.
"Before I forget, please bring me a banana milk smoothie," she pulled the server back to request.
Malachi almost scoffed.
"You have no regard for your life."
The words had barely left his mouth when she raised her fingers to count, "I consume exactly 2,500 calories per day."
"Sixty percent of that intake is protein, with the remainder split between fats and carbohydrates."
"My sugar and sodium intake are kept within balanced limits. I monitor my water intake to avoid overhydrating because of my kidney health."
"I sleep exactly eight hours every night, and I run six times per week. What part of that hints at me not having any regard for my life?"
Malachi scowled.
What was wrong with this woman?
One minute she was insufferable… the next minute, she was… another type of insufferable.
"What are you even doing here? What family are you from? How do you have such a high clearance to sit in the same place as me?"
Dahlia glanced at her time.
Right.
She was supposed to wait for someone from Archer Group.
They had spoken about apologizing, but she doubted Mr. Archer would come himself.
It was far more likely he'd send a representative instead, but she didn't mind who came.
As long as they came with a pay increase similar to what Arron offered her, she would willingly return.
Mr. Archer could keep his apology.
"I'm waiting for someone."
He glanced at her. "You keep stealing the words right out of my mouth."
She turned, held his head in place, and waved her hand around his mouth.
"It's… impossible to take the words right out of your mouth."
He blinked repeatedly.
"Did you just try to take the words out of my mouth? Literally?"
Before she could nod, the lights went off.
The next second, a stage light appeared, following a bubbly, petite figure in a pink dress as she climbed onto the stage.
Her brunette hair was in curls and bounced as she walked forward.
The instant she stopped moving, a standing ovation erupted.
The sudden sound startled Dahlia who immediately grabbed the nearest thing she could hold and crouched, burying her head in his chest.
This sight caught the attention of the woman on stage.
She blinked in disbelief, temporarily forgetting she had to speak until Malachi raised his eyes to look at her.
"Welcome, everyone, to another successful launch of my wine collection! In a few minutes, servers will go around giving you a glass to sample."
"Remember the taste, as you'll all be among the very first to try my wine before it officially enters the market in the next five minutes!"
As she stopped talking, the jumbotrons in the room lit up, and timers appeared on them, counting down from five minutes.
Still perplexed from the sight, she dropped the mic without introducing herself and ran to the back of the stage to make a call.
"What the hell, Ophelia! You didn't say anything about your brother coming to my wine-tasting event with his girlfriend!"
Pulling the beach cap off her face, the young woman sunbathing on the other end of the screen laughed.
"What are you talking about? The last time Kai had a girlfriend was three years ago. If he's with a woman now, it must be the one he wronged and whom my grandfather asked him to apologize to."
"Really? Well, you didn't tell me they were seeing ea.." she complained, about to mention what she saw when Ophelia Archer suddenly looked away from her screen, "Ophelia? Are you still there?"
"Got to go, Brianna. There's someone here threatening me with a good time." Ophelia sucked in her teeth and ended the call.
Handing the phone to the assistant behind her, Brianna Hemsworth was passed a paper with a list of names.
She ran her eyes through it and frowned slightly, "There's no Malachi Archer. Why is there no Malachi Archer here?"
"Mr. Archer requested to be omitted from the list. He asked that someone else take his place." Her assistant answered politely.
Brianna raised a brow, lowering her eyes again to check the name now in his place.
Dahlia Warren. Data Analyst.
"Nobody sends a data analyst somewhere like this. Why must he be different?"
Sighing, she looked away from the paper and stepped back onto the stage.
"Before the counter makes its way down, I'd like to introduce the dignitaries present with us."
"…Mr. Daniel Hawthorne, Chairman of Hawthorne Media Group; Mrs. Evelyn Carter, Executive Producer and film financier; Dr. Lionel Brooks, Head of the National Film and Arts Council and Dahlia Warren, Data Analyst of Archer Group."
As expected, murmurs spread through the guests, while Dahlia herself stiffened in surprise at hearing her name.
At the back, Maya frowned.
She was a data analyst from Archer Group?
No wonder she was cleared to sit in front, but what about their exhaustive recruitment requirements?
And didn't they know there was something wrong with her brain?
Biting down on her lower lip, she glanced toward a jumbotron in contemplation just as it flipped to 00:59.
At the same time, a sudden rustle broke out backstage.
"That can't be right."
"Why hasn't the pricing adjusted?"
"Who cleared the release parameters?"
The counter dropped to 00:46.
On the stage, Brianna stiffened as a tablet was thrust into her hands from behind, her assistant stimming nervously beside her.
When she saw the price her wine was about to be released in, the smile dancing around her lips vanished.
"This is still the baseline price. Where's the adjusted price?"
The countdown hit 00:30.
Panic rippled backstage when the price still didn't adjust.
When they couldn't fix what was wrong, the group of programmers rushed out in fear.
"Is there a data analyst here?"
Wynona's eyes instantly lit up and she shot to her feet, pointing at Dahlia in front.
"Didn't Archer Group send a data analyst to represent them? She should help you."