Page 145 of Arianna

Rising from the seat with Ella in my arms, I look at my reflection.

I look different.

Not because of the dress or the professional hair and makeup.

No.

The smile.

Genuine and doesn’t hurt.

“Thank you,” I tell the team Sebastian sent to help me prepare for tonight. All of them were kind and professional.

“You look stunning.” The makeup artist, Decy, tells me as she adds the finishing touches. “This color brings out your green eyes. I am jealous.” She says with a smile on her face. Not catty or hateful, but sincere.

“You did a wonderful job.” And she did. She kept the makeup at a minimum but outdid the eyes with silver and touches of blue to match the dress, finishing up the look with wing eyeliner and nude glossy lips.

Decy nods and steps back to gather all the materials. They all do.

My hair falls down my naked back in soft waves, and my bangs are brushed to the side.

“Pwincess.” Ella giggles, shoving my phone in my face. “Click!” Click to this toddler means to take a picture, so I do. I open the camera app and take a mirror selfie with my girl hanging from my hip.

“How sweet…” An annoying voice says from behind us, dripping with venom. Instinctively, I drop my phone down on the vanity and hold Ella closer to me. “You may leave.” She dismisses the team as if they work for her. The bitch.

Holding my head high, I turn around to face her.

Celene.

Looking as hateful as ever with her ugly ass choices of clothing and an ugly smirk on her face. She might be a pretty woman, no doubt, but she reeks of envy and desperation.

The recipe for ugly.

“Look, Ella.” I bounce her on my lap while pointing at Celene. “The evil witch is here.”

My girl looks at Celene, raises her fist, and frowns.

“That’s right. We don’t like the witch. No, we don't.” I whisper in her ear loud enough for Celene to hear.

The annoying woman rolls her eyes and moves closer to where I stand. “You think you have him. You think you won…”

Looking her straight in the eyes, “I don't think so, no. I know it.” I grin. “You know it, too.”

“Oh, silly naive girl…” She tries hard and fails to belittle me. I know who I am, and from this view, it is obvious the case is not the same for her. Insecure and hateful shrew. “You are just a child. A child aiming for the soon-to-be commander in chief and all the glory of owning a man like Sebastian.”

The vindictive idiot calls him by his full name here because he is not present to put her in her place. She is not only an insecure imbecile but a coward as well.

“That’s where you're wrong, Serena.” I purposely call her the wrong name.

“Celene.” She snaps at me, already losing her cool. Tsk, tsk. How easy it is to ruffle her ugly feathers.

“Whoever.” I hug Ella closer, rubbing all this pure love in her face. “A man like Sebastian can't be owned. His heart, on the other hand…” I let her come to her conclusion. The woman is already delusional.

A cruel smile takes over her face in a weak attempt to intimidate me. Again, she fails as she will always fail to face off with me. “You’re ruining his chances to become president. His head is not in it, and it's all because of you.”

For a second, I let her words make me wonder if it was true. If the shit I pull with the media hurts his campaigns, but only for a second. This is what she wants. To get in my head. Turning my back to her, dismissing her, I look at myself in the mirror, not missing the way her face contorts in anger.

“You may go now, Serena.” I am being petty, I know, but oh well. Fucking with hateful idiots is so much fun. “Say bye-bye to the witch, baby” Ella does not even look up. The witch has already been forgotten.

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