Chapter 30 A Young Girl’s Coming–Of–Age Ceremony
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“How is everything going?” The voice on the other end was as melodious as a cello composition, deep and raspy
Jadon didn’t even have time to take a sip of water before replying, “It has been handled according to your instructions.”
Nathaniel responded with a nonchalant “Mm.”
Curiously, Jadon asked, “What is your relationship with Celica?”
He found it surprising that the man who disliked women getting close to him would be so protective of Celica. He could also tell that Nathaniel cared deeply for her.
Since Nathaniel was in charge of this matter and couldn’t appear in person, he had entrusted Jadon to handle the design competition.
Nathaniel gave a curt response, “None of your business,” and promptly hung up.
Jadon looked at the disconnected phone and felt like he had been used as a messenger and discarded after fulfilling his role. Nathaniel was truly a man who prioritized romantic relationships over friendships.
Celica informed Elizabeth that she would be participating in the competition and would return in a week. She then took her luggage to the Golden Rose Holiday Inn.
An entire floor on the 23rd floor was reserved for the designers to rest and concentrate on their work.
Lily was responsible for supervising the competition and explaining the rules. “The theme of this competition is ‘A Young Girl’s Coming–of–Age Ceremony. You are responsible for both designing and creating it. We will determine the winner and loser in a week.”
After outlining the rules, she distributed room cards to the participating designers. Celica was assigned room 2088.
Tina’s room was right next to Celica’s. She stared at her and said with a mocking tone, “Celica, you won’t be as lucky this time. I will definitely defeat you and make you leave Shadearts.”
Oh?
In Tina’s eyes, was winning just a matter of luck for Celica?
Celica couldn’t help but smile. “Let’s make a bet then. If you lose to me, you’ll leave Shadearts!”
Tina had worked at Shadearts for many years and received numerous awards, so there was no way she would lose to a freshly graduated girl!
Furthermore, she was convinced that Celica had only risen through connections. “Let’s bet. Don’t cry when you lose.”
Celica left a cold smirk and picked up her room card before walking to her room.
After closing the door, the noon sun bathed the entire room. A faint citrus scent filled the air.
Chapter 30 A Young Girl’s Coming Of Age Ceremony
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She set her luggage down and took out her pens, paper, and sketchbook. Then, she started sketching after sitting on the small balcony with the curtains drawn.
The sunlight spilled over her, casting a beautiful shadow on the carpet. The soft light blurred her silhouette, and the sight of her bent over the desk with her half–lowered eyes was like a scene from a fairyland.
Celica didn’t step outside her room at all. She even had her meals delivered to her door.
For the first three days, she focused on drawing her design sketches. The next four days were dedicated to sewing. To ensure fairness, they all used the same fabric and color.
She had spent too much time sketching her designs in the first few days, so the following days were a rush of late–night sewing.
On the evening of the seventh day, Celica received a message from Lily. It stated that the competition garments had to be brought to the lobby on the second floor by 10.00AM the following day, and they wouldn’t accept any late submissions.
After reading the message, she continued her work of sewing, threading, and embellishing…
The early morning sunlight passed through the transparent glass and scattered onto the large bed. Celica, who had been dozing at the foot of the bed, woke up. It was already 8.00AM.
She hurriedly prepared herself and placed the carefully crafted dress into a bag. Then, she quickly left her
room.
Given the time, it was clear she was in a hurry. When she stepped into the elevator, two of her colleagues followed her.
They exchanged glances and noticed that they all carried large black bags containing their competition clothing. They cast wary glances at each other. Afterward, Celica pressed the button for the second floor.
The elevator started descending slowly, and the three of them stared at the continuously changing red numbers in silence.
When they reached the second floor, the elevator stopped, and they were prepared to exit. However, the doors didn’t open as expected.
Instead, the elevator continued its descent, and this time, it was noticeably faster than before.
The women’s pupils dilated, and their feet felt unsteady as the rapidly descending elevator compressed the air pressure. Before their brains could react, they heard a loud crash.
Then, silence enveloped the surroundings as if they were in an uninhabited wilderness.
The three women were startled by the unexpected accident. It took them a while to recover. Eventually, Celica realized that the elevator had lost control.
It appeared they were now trapped.
One of the girls on the side climbed to her feet. Her forehead was bleeding from the impact, and she screamed in pain.
Tina attempted to pry open the elevator doors. After several tries, the doors remained firmly shut, so she
gave up.
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Chapter 30 A Young Girl’s Coming Of Age Ceremony
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Celica quickly pressed the emergency button, but to her dismay, the phone was also out of order. Around the same time, all three of them took out their phones to seek help, but they had no signal!
They were like trapped birds, unable to fly away even if they had wings.
“What should we do? We’re trapped!” The girl clutched her bleeding forehead while letting out a painful cry.
Celica took a tissue from her bag to help cover the woman’s wound. The woman’s face turned red as she felt guilty, and she said, “Thank you.”
In reality, half of the designers participating in the competition were driven by their motives to prove themselves. The other half wanted to work together to get Celica out of Shadearts.
Now that she was accepting help from Celica, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of guilt.
Celica understood the woman’s thoughts, so she handed over the tissue and returned to her previous position while maintaining some distance.
Tina sneered coldly and taunted, “There’s no need for you to pretend to be a good person here. During the competition, there will be no mercy for you.”
In this dangerous situation, Celica had no desire to argue with Tina. “Now, we’re trapped in the elevator. There’s likely no exhaust fan at the top, which means that if nobody rescues us within a certain amount of time, we’ll suffocate and die inside this elevator!”
After her warning, both of them finally realized the severity of the situation.
Theoretically, with an elevator malfunctioning like this, there should be hope for a rescue as soon as possible.
However, if the worst–case scenario were to occur…
Once the oxygen inside the enclosed space was depleted, they would gradually experience oxygen deprivation, lose consciousness, and ultimately….
Upon realizing this, Tina and her colleague were terrified. They were still young, with so much time ahead of them, and now it could all come to an end. They were filled with regret!
Tina suddenly acted as if she had lost her mind. She pointed her sharp and claw–like fingers at Celica and cursed loudly, “It’s all your fault, you jinx! If we hadn’t ridden in the same elevator as you, we wouldn’t be in this predicament!” She continued, “You’re a real troublemaker. If I find myself in a bad situation, I won’t let
you
off the hook, even in hell!” It seemed like she really wanted to harm Celica right now.
Celica stood beneath the harsh light. Her face was illuminated, giving her an ethereal and chilling appearance. She glared at Tina coldly. “The more you talk, the faster our oxygen depletes. If you don’t want to die, keep your mouth shut!”
This finally silenced the two of them as they huddled together in a corner, trembling and covering their mouths to prevent themselves from speaking.
Time passed slowly. Celica closely monitored her phone, staring at the signal indicator, and waited in
silence.
