The Billionaire's Promise
Chapter 160: Cassie Picked Her Name

Chapter 160: Cassie Picked Her Name

"Jax, isn’t your mother’s last name, Cobrera? Do you know the Cobreras from the South?" Erik’s eyes were dark but his voice was neutral.

A glint flashed across Jax’s dark orbs. He stiffened for a second but he relaxed as he lifted the wine glass to his mouth. He gave an innocent smile.

"My mother was born and raised here in Central District. But her roots were from the east. Cobrera is a pretty common last name. Why did you ask cousin?"

"Nothing. I just heard that the Cobreras are the ones controlling a syndicate in the South and has started operating here in Central District." Erik glanced briefly at Aryana. "I had a recent encounter with them." Erik intentionally lowered his voice so only Jax heard him.

Erik turned and followed Cassie to where her grandfather was.

A cheerful young lady who was standing on a makeshift platform called everyone’s attention.

"Hello, beautiful ladies and handsome gentlemen. Thank you for gracing this event with your presence. Let us welcome the CEO of Timeless Beauty, an embodiment of the company’s name, Cassie Lopez."

Cassie gracefully climbed the few steps of the platform. Her mermaid skirt changed color every time it was hit by the light, from blue to green and to blue-green.

"Thank you everyone for attending my company’s opening ceremony and the launch of our flagship products. We put a lot of effort into manufacturing our products as we only have your best interest in our hearts. We take pride in giving a variety of options from imported to local products. We have products for every skin type, young and old, female and male. We are here to help you achieve an ageless and timeless beauty."

Cassie paused when the audience applauded her. She was an eloquent speaker. Coupled with her sweet voice, even Aryana praised her.

Aryana stole a glance at Erik who was standing in front of Cassie right below that platform. Erik was looking at Cassie with admiration in his eyes. It was a look that Aryana seldom saw from him in his business dealings.

"She is a very good speaker." Aryana uttered her compliment loudly.

"Yes, she is. I haven’t heard you speak yet, so I wouldn’t know if she speaks better than you." Jax stepped closer to her.

"Looks like your husband was enamored by his first love’s eloquence." Jax whispered in her ear. Before Aryana could step back to create distance between her and Jax, Erik turned around and frowned at their proximity. A few cameras’ shutters also clicked.

Aryana stepped back. Her facial expression clearly showed she was displeased. Jax just chuckled.

"Did I use a strong word? I should have used admired instead."

Their attention was brought back to the stage by Cassie’s pleasant voice.

"To show our appreciation for your presence tonight, we are giving for free the full range of our skin care product to five lucky winners whose names will be picked out. We are also giving away a twenty percent discount for those who will purchase tonight.

Cassie called Erik to pick out the first name from the glass bowl. The lucky winner was from the Contreras family. Grandpa Lee picked out the second name and it was the youngest daughter of the Sy family.

Cassie called her father on the stage. Previously, it was unusual for father and daughter to be seen publicly but after Cassie was accepted by the elder Lopezes, Jimmy Lopez started to take Cassie to business events and social gatherings to introduce her to his associates. He was proud of his illegitimate daughter that he now doted on her more than he did on his other daughters.

Jimmy Lopez opened the rolled paper that he took out from the glass bowl. He read it aloud and it was Ciara Vitro, the daughter of one of his business partners.

Cassie called her eldest brother to draw another name. It was Karla.

For the last winner, Cassie wanted her grandfather to draw the name but looking at his tired face, she decided to draw the name by herself.

"Our fifth lucky winner is... ta.. da.." she slowly unrolled the paper. When she saw the name written on the paper she was stunned for a moment. She recovered fast and with a plastered smile on her face, she called, "Ms. Aryana Jones."

Aryana wasn’t listening when her name was called. Jax has nudged her. "You are being called on stage. You are the fifth lucky winner to take home Timeless Beauty’s giveaway."

Aryana hesitated but she eventually went up the platform. All five lucky winners were on the stage. Cassie requested Erik to come up to the stage to help her hand the prizes.

’Why does she has to call Erik to help her? Does she want to insinuate something?’ Aryana felt uncomfortable but she has to maintain a smile on her face.

Karla who was standing beside her could not help but sneer. "Why do I always have this bad luck of standing next to you." She said softly.

Aryana ignored her like she was thin air. She did not want to waste her energy on unreasonable people like Karla.

"Are you ignoring me on purpose?" Karla pestered her.

"Ah, so you actually noticed it. My advice to you, keep smiling. Didn’t Cassie arrange for this to be a live stream? If you keep fuming like that, you will look ugly in the camera." Aryana teased her.

Soon it was Karla’s turn to receive the gift and pose for photos with Cassie and Erik. She threw Aryana a vicious look before going down the platform.

Erik passed the gift pack to Cassie and she handed it to Aryana. "I did not know you are this lucky."

"I normally don’t get picked in events like this. I am also surprised that you pick my name." Aryana smile broadly as she accepted the gift.

For the photoshoot, Cassie wanted to stay in the middle but Erik told her that for the previous four, he was in the middle.

Erik turned right to Aryana. He smiled and extended his hand to congratulate her.

Unbeknownst to them, the live stream was flooded with comments. They praised Aryana for the uniqueness of her dress. Her hair was braided to the side covering a portion of her exposed shoulder.

RavenDale: I love Aryana’s dress. The color matches her skin and it brings out her ethereal look.

PixieDust: Is the dress from CoChi? I am following her posts and she is promoting a local brand called CoChi.

Fashionista: I guess CoChi means Cool and Chic

SoaringPhoenix: Fashionista, you are so smart. You guessed it right.

StarGazer: Look at the three of them. I envy Erik Lee. He has two beauties by his side.

RavenDale: Cassie’s dress is too fancy. You get fascinated by the dress and it draws your attention away from her face.

Fashionista: Do you know who is the designer of CoChi? I like the style. It is a fresh design.

EmpressReyna: You guys, get out of here if you are talking some stupid stuff. Go to CoChi’s live stream and placed your comments there.

RavenDale: Fashionista, all I know is that he is a man and really good at designing.

They ignore the scolding of EmpressReyna. They pretended that they did not see her message.

Rhia was monitoring the live stream when she saw the discussion centered on Aryana and her dress, she called the attention of Marianne and Karla. The two joined the live stream and started scolding those who were discussing Aryana’s dress.

Queen Of The Nile: Some people are thick-skinned. Using other’s live stream to promote their self-interest.

EmpressReyna: I know right? Looks like they are keyboard warriors paid by Aryana Jones.

Lord Of The Ring: I wish I am Erik Lee. But I like Aryana’s beauty more than Cassie’s. Look at the killer dimples when she smiles. And with the dress, she looked hot.

StarGazer: Anyone knows where I can buy that dress? I’ll gift it to my girlfriend. I am pretty sure she will love it.

PixieDust: Stargazer, you can google CoChi. I don’t want to place the link here. Others will get heart attack.

Marianne, Karla, and Rhia can only grit their teeth. Cassie will surely be pissed of she knew the topic of discussion on her live stream.

The photoshoot finally ended and Aryana went down the platform.

The lady with the eyeglasses approached her and showed her the comments on the live stream.

"Ms. Jones, netizens are talking about how beautiful you are and how stylish your dress is."

Aryana nodded at her in acknowledgment. She logged on to her social media account and joined the live stream.

Cassie’s product endorsement was now being shown on screen. Aryana read the comments and even when she was no longer on the platform, netizens were still discussing her dress.

"Looks like you have lots of fans. Be careful, you have provoked someone.’ Jax peeked on her cell phone and saw the live stream. He joined, to read the comments. His lips stretched and rows of perfect white teeth appeared when he read the comments.

Marianne approached Cassie and showed her the comments on the live stream. Cassie went to her grandfather and whispered something in his ear.

Vicente Lee gave instruction to his assistant and glared at Aryana.