Chapter 17 The Dance Gala

“Are you sure you don’t wanna tell Reynaldo about this?”

“Yes!” I said firmly.

Johnathan snickered quietly, looking as sly as a fox.

I was sure Reynaldo was on a business trip in Steelville right now, or I’d almost think he was already here.

Johnathan quickly had someone bring over the costume.

My lips twitched as I looked at it. “Uh… Did they get the wrong costume?”

It was a sexy, kind of provocative maid outfit.

The skirt was super short and came with black stockings.

This didn’t look like something for dancing at all.

Johnathan smiled at me innocently. “Everyone has outfits like this. This is the most decent and good-looking one I could find. I saved it just for you.”

I ran out to check, and sure enough, he was right.

Other people’s costumes were even more revealing and crazy.

Some were just wearing bikinis.

Johnathan grinned at me. “Do you believe me now? Yours is the most conservative one.”

I asked uncertainly, “This is really a dance gala?”

“Of course. You guys are gonna perform on stage, and the audience is gonna vote for you.

“The one with the most votes gets the prize money of 500 thousand dollars.

“So, if you wanna win it, you’d better give it your all when you dance.”

It was only then that I realized this might not be a proper dance competition at all.

There were no professional judges.

To get the most votes, it seemed like just dancing well might not be enough. I’d probably have to please the audience as well.

Seeing me hesitate, Johnathan chuckled and said, “Don’t worry. If you don’t wanna do it, that’s cool. It’s just 500 thousand dollars. You could always act cute with Reynaldo and get it from him…”

“I’m in,” I cut him off, keeping my tone casual.

No matter what, I wanted to give it a shot.

If I could avoid asking Reynaldo for anything, I definitely would.

Given how things were between us now, it’d be embarrassing to ask him for even a penny.

Johnathan grinned at me. “Now that you’ve decided, go get changed. I’ll have my buddies vote for you as a favor.”

“Thanks,” I replied with a polite smile, then headed to the dressing room with the costume.

I had never worn anything like this before.

It was one thing if it were a normal maid outfit, but this design felt sleazy.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I felt so embarrassed that I didn’t even want to go out.

I must have spent too long in the dressing room, because there was a knock on the door.

“Hey, Esmie, are you done changing yet? The makeup artist and hairstylist are waiting for you, and the gala is about to start.”

I took a deep breath in front of the mirror.

I thought, “Whatever, it’s just a dance, and it’s only happening once.

“What can I say? I really need the money.

“Since I’m broke, 500 thousand dollars is a huge deal.”

I got myself together, opened the door, and walked out.

As soon as I stepped out, I could feel a few pairs of eyes on me.

I turned my head and saw Johnathan and his buddies staring at me without blinking.

Their looks were anything but innocent.

I touched my nose and cleared my throat awkwardly, and they finally snapped out of it.

Johnathan smirked. “Whoa, not bad. Esmie, you look so gorgeous!”

The guy next to him got all excited. “More than that! Check out her legs, and that waist… Man, if she were to…”

Smack!

Before he could finish, Johnathan slapped his hand over his eyes.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed? You’ve got the nerve to eye up Reynaldo’s girl?”

“What? Reynaldo’s girl?” The guy turned pale. He quickly covered his own eyes. “I’m not looking. I don’t dare. I’m outta here!”

With that, he bolted out like a shot.

I walked up to Johnathan and said seriously, “Don’t go telling everyone I’m with Reynaldo. I don’t have anything with him anymore. If it gets back to the girl he truly loves, that’s gonna be awkward.”

“Wait, his true love isn’t you?”

Johnathan looked at me in surprise. The next second, he quickly looked away, a flicker of awkwardness crossing his handsome face.

I guessed he might not know about Reynaldo’s crush, so I didn’t say much more.

“It could never be me.”

With that, I walked over toward the makeup mirror.

Behind me, Johnathan muttered in confusion, “If not you, then who? I’ve never seen him act so humble in front of anyone else.”

Hearing this, I almost wanted to laugh.

Was Reynaldo humble in front of me because he liked me?

No way! He was poor, powerless, and lowly back then, so he had no choice but to be humble.

Look at him now–he was anything but humble!

He acted like a boss, always expecting me to wait on him hand and foot.

And if I didn’t do it well enough, he’d get moody.

To be honest, I couldn’t imagine Reynaldo liking me.

If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t like someone who had once bullied and mistreated me like that.

In fact, I’d probably be even more ruthless than him. I’d make sure everyone who had ever wronged me paid for it.

Compared to that, he had been incredibly kind to me.

The makeup artist did a sultry look for me. With the maid outfit, it made me look even more provocative.

I glanced in the mirror and quickly looked away.

The reflection was too much to handle.

A lot of people outside hadn’t finished their makeup, so I ended up waiting in the lounge for another half hour before the gala officially started.

Johnathan showed me the schedule, and I was listed as the last performer.

There were 36 people in total.

I guessed I had a long wait ahead. I should have changed into this outfit later.

It made me feel really uneasy.

Johnathan was being nice. He didn’t want me to get bored, so he found me a quiet spot to watch the other performers first.

The place was packed, and it was all guys.

When the music kicked in, the whole room got lively.

Soon, the first girl got up on stage.

She was pretty, but she didn’t seem to know much about dancing. She just kind of wriggled around a bit.

But even that got her some cheers from the crowd.

Then it was the second girl, the third…

I was sitting in my chair, almost dozing off.

Most of the girls didn’t really know how to dance; they were kind of flailing around.

But the audience seemed to love it.

For 500 thousand dollars, I was starting to think maybe I should do the same.

After what felt like forever, it was finally my turn.

When I stepped on stage, I was a bit nervous, especially in this outfit.

It felt like I was standing there naked in front of everyone.

I glanced down at the audience, and the next second, my breath caught in my throat.