Chapter 34

Liam said seriously, “I agree. There won’t be any pressure on Mia if she doesn’t know

anything about our actual identities.”

Ultimately, Dominic gave in. Shortly after, Mia found that the competition’s results

had been announced on the official website. There was no mention of the placing,

though.

Mia received an invitation from the organizers to attend the awards ceremony next

week. She sent a screenshot of the announcement on the website to Gina. “I made it

through, but there aren’t any rankings.”

Gina replied excitedly, “You have to be in the first place! It’s weird that they’ve

suddenly changed the rules this year, though.”

Mia found it weird as well. But it didn’t really matter. This competition was only

held once every three years, and many designers couldn’t wait to win an award from

1. it. After all, all the big names in the industry recognized this competition. It was a

hefty accomplishment to place in such a competition.

“Mia, the people from Barrett Group have contacted me again to ask whether you got

through. This time, they’ve offered even better conditions than before to get you to

join them. I think it’s an opportunity that’s hard to come by, Mia. Are you still

thinking about it?”

Mia couldn’t come clean to Gina. Though Gina knew she’d been married, she had no

idea it was to Timothy. After some thought, Mia replied, “I want to go back to college

and complete my education, so I don’t intend to get a proper job for now. It might

delay my studies; I want that degree.”

Gina said, “Alright, then. I’ll support you no matter what you decide to do.”

Mia took a photo of the invitation to the awards ceremony and shared it on her

Instagram with a caption that read, “Three years upon three years. This time, I won’t

give up halfway.”

Timothy also soon received news that the list of finalists had been announced. He

saw Mia’s name among the finalists and was surprised. He hadn’t expected her to

get this far in the competition.

Timothy pulled out his phone to see a notification that Mia had a new post on her

Instagram. For an inexplicable reason, he clicked on it to see what she’d posted.

Then, he narrowed his eyes. Three years upon three years?

Mia had married him three years ago, which was when the Fleur International

Design Competition had last been held. He could guess why she’d given up on the

competition the last time. As he stared at her caption, he couldn’t help feeling

irritated.

At this moment, Heath entered the office. “Mr. Barrett, Zoe made it into the finals but

refused our olive branch.”

Timothy frowned. “Is someone competing against us for her?”

“I would think so, but we’re definitely offering the best conditions. No one should be

able to say no to that. I’m guessing someone’s going for the personal approach. After

all, no one knows why exactly she disappeared three years ago.”

“Disappeared three years ago?” Timothy glanced at Mia’s Instagram post. Could it

really be that coincidental?

The following day, Dominic and Eya arrived with plenty of gifts for Mia.

Eva said, “Mia, these are some of Nord City’s local specialties. Congratulations on

getting into the finals!”

Dominic said cautiously, “You mentioned something about three years upon three

years in your Instagram post, Mia. Did you participate in this competition three

years ago?”

Mia nodded, “Yeah, but there were too many things going on at home at the time. I didn’t have time to

prepare any designs for the finals, so I had to drop out halfway.”

Dominic didn’t expect to have been so close to Mia three years ago. It was too bad he

hadn’t managed to track her down back then.

Patricia wiped her tears. “It’s all our fault for troubling Mia. If not for what happened to us three years

ago, she wouldn’t have-” 1

Mia cut her off. “It’s all in the past now.”

Dominic’s expression shifted as he watched them. “What happened three years ago?”