Chapter 9: Birds Of The Same Feather.

Amelia could be seen getting out of a taxi in front of one of the biggest festival squares in New York City.

Getting down from the taxi, the first thing that caught her attention was all the luxurious cars parked at the parking lot of the festival square.

On seeing this, Amelia immediately regretted not purchasing a car before returning back to New York City; she was so focused on getting a good apartment that she didn't think of other things like getting a car that she would use to run her different errands till the end of the competition.

Thinking about this, Amelia sighed heavily before bringing out her phone and placing a call to the lady who had contacted her earlier to tell her that she was her agent and that they would be meeting at the party.

After some minutes of ringing, the lady finally picked up the call.

"Hello, ma'am, I'm here already," Amelia said through the phone after the call was picked up.

"Okay, I will be there in a minute," the lady said to Amelia before hanging up the call, and after some minutes, a lady who was probably in her late forties made her way out and walked towards Amelia.

"You are Amelia, right?" The lady asked Amelia, who nodded in reply.

"Well, you can call me Jane. As you already know, I'm your agent for the competition, so feel free to reach out to me if you need anything—I mean anything related to the competition," the lady said to Amelia.

"Okay, I will," Amelia said to her in reply.

"Also next time, make sure to put on a dress that is more attractive; you are a model, so you should dress like one," Jane said to Amelia, who furrowed her brows before looking at the dress that she was putting on.

"What's wrong with the dress I'm putting on? Is it too revealing?" Amelia asked her while still looking at the dress.

"No, it's not revealing anything at all. Let's go inside; the party has already begun," Jane said to Amelia before turning and walking away, and without hesitating, Amelia followed her from behind.

Meanwhile in the party hall, Richard, Amelia's father, could be seen discussing with some of his business associates he met at the party. Since his company was among the sponsors of the competition, he too was invited, and on arriving at the party, he decided to use the opportunity to meet with some of the most influential businessmen, who couldn't be easily met due to their very busy schedules.

Right beside Richard was Mira, his second daughter, who was also among the participants of the competition.

Since the party was specially organised so that the competitors would get acquainted with the judges and the sponsors of the competition, Richard was also using the opportunity to present Mira to some of the judges who he was already acquainted with in order to gain their favour and also for them to judge Mira favourably during the competition.

As Richard was still discussing with some of the judges, Mira turned around only to see one of the agents walking inside accompanied by a lady who resembled Amelia. Even though it has been five years since Amelia left New York City, she could still recognise her from afar; after all, Amelia was her sister, and they both grew up together.

On seeing Amelia, Mira had thought that her eyes were playing games on her, but then she decided to confirm it by asking someone else who is also familiar with Amelia just as she is.

"Dad, please excuse me, I will be back in a minute," Mira said to Richard, who nodded in reply, and with that she walked towards one of the tables in the hall where a man who was dressed in a suit was sitting while sipping the wine he was holding.

"Hey babe, how is the party going?" The man, who was none other than Andrew, Amelia's ex-boyfriend, asked Mira with a warm smile.

"Well, it was going well until I saw something that is going to end up ruining this beautiful party," Mira said to Andrew, who furrowed his brows in confusion.

"And what is it that you saw?" Andrew asked Mira before taking a sip of the wine he was holding.

"Amelia," Mira said to Andrew, who immediately choked on the wine he had just taken.

"What?" Andrew asked Mira after coughing for a little while.

"Well, I'm not sure if the person that I saw is her, since I didn't see her face properly, but still I have this strong feeling that it's her," Mira said to Andrew, who sighed heavily.

"That's what you could have said; instead of saying that you saw her, you just scared the hell out of me," Andrew said to Mira, who furrowed her brows at him.

"And why are you scared of her returning to New York City?" Mira asked Andrew with furrowed brows.

"Well, it's not as if I'm scared of her returning; it's just that," Andrew said to Mira as his voice trailed off.

"Do you know what? Let's go and check on this person you said resembles Amelia. Who knows, it might really be her," Andrew said to Mira as he stood up from where he was sitting and gulped down the remaining contents in the glass he was holding.

Meanwhile, after leading Amelia into the party hall, Jane showed her some of the sponsors who were around and also some of the judges, and with that she told Amelia to try and get acquainted with some of the judges and sponsors, as this will help her to earn favour from some of the judges and maybe close deals with some of the sponsors in the future.

Amelia, on the other hand, not knowing how to approach any of the judges or sponsors, talked less of discussing with them and only nodded in reply to everything Jane said before walking away.

After Jane's departure, Amelia collected a glass of wine from one of the waitresses and started sipping it while admiring everything that was going on in the party hall. Suddenly, she heard her name from behind, and with that, she turned around only to see Mira, who had disappeared on her wedding day, and because of this, she was forced to replace her and get married to Edward, and right beside Mira was Andrew, who could have saved her that day, but instead, he decided to choose money over her.

On seeing both of them holding hands together like a lovely couple, Amelia smiled inward before muttering, "Birds of the same feather."

To be continued...