Simone Holt stood there. The earlier sarcasm in her gaze had vanished. Now, she looked at Aurora with pure adoration, as if gazing upon a deity.
Great-Uncle and his son, Bernard Sterling, exchanged a look, seemingly finding it hard to process this reality. They'd had their doubts before, preferring to believe there was an error with the system. But now, they had heard Aurora's score with their own ears.
At this very moment, Bernard Sterling felt that everything he'd said to Aurora before was utterly ridiculous. 'They must have been laughing at me,' he thought, 'when I said I'd talk to Timothy about sending Aurora abroad for some polish.'
Great-Uncle and Bernard Sterling were taking it relatively well. The person with the ugliest expression right now had to be Third Great-Uncle.
Third Great-Uncle's face was a maelstrom of conflicting emotions. He wanted to say something to deny the truth, but words failed him.
