She gave the gift to Levi

Realizing that Levi wasn't willing to give her his phone number, Ashley faltered slightly, and a touch of regret and disappointment flashed through her eyes. Just when she was about to withdraw her hand, however, he reached out and took the gift box.

"Mr. Stone!" Ashley exclaimed with renewed joy in her eyes. "I’ve written my phone number there. Please contact me after you cool off or when you feel you are ready to listen to what I have to say"

"Do you think the anger of five years can disappear in a moment?" Levi took the gift, clenching it with his slender fingers, and then set his glass down on the table with a thud, got up, and strode out of the hall.

He tightened his grip on the gift box until his blue veins protruded from his fingers.

“Anger of five years” Ashley wondered in confusion. Hadn't he said that he didn't remember her? In that case, how could he be angry at her for five years? Perhaps he did remember her, but he hated her for leaving without informing him. She had probably hurt his pride.

But Ashley was still baffled concerning Levi’s statement. “is that he already fell in love with or I’m confused” she wondered

After Levi left Ashley thought that it would be inappropriate to chase after him. Looking at his drooped shoulders as he walked away, she felt a little uncomfortable. It was indeed her fault. She had hidden herself from him for five years, and now, she had finally reappeared in front of him suddenly just as she appeared before him at the Marriage Bureau, but with the intention of putting a huge burden on him.

Although Alex was a smart and sensible child, he would still be a stranger breaking into Levi's life. After taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Ashley turned around and rejoined the party.

She chatted with the judges for a while. When it was almost time to leave, she walked over to Maria.

Maria, who was standing next to Lucia, said in a low voice, “Miss Brown, I've given it to Ashley. As long as she gives that box and the gift to one of the judges, she would never be selected" 

 A satisfied smile appeared on Lucia's gentle and tender face. Good. Ashley had no right to appear out of nowhere and compete with her. She turned to Maria to say “I would remind the Higher-Ups to give you more resources and another model to work with because I don’t think you would be working with Ashley after today” with a wicked grin on her face

“Thank you Miss Brown. I would forever remember this favor” Maria thanked Lucia with a smile on her face.

“Here, comes our beautiful model” Lucia said to Maria with a sneer

Seeing Ashley coming over with nothing in her hand, Maria asked knowingly, "Ashley, where is the gift box?"

"I gave it to someone," Ashley replied with a smile. Maria hadn't explicitly asked her to give the gift to any certain person. In order to not offend any of the judges, Ashley had given the box to Levi instead.

Not even knowing the contents of the wrapped gift, she gave it to Levi as a sign of apology to show her sincerity for disappearing for the past five years. She was happy that she gave the gift because she felt Maria was suspicious concerning the gift seeing that she was the only one with a gift from her company.

She thought that no matter what was in the box, she hoped that Levi could use it one day. Maria thinking she gifted it one of the judges beamed with satisfaction. "That is very good. You did well; you can go back and have a good rest. Start preparing for the first test. It's in three days."

In fact, there was no need for Ashley to prepare at all. By offering the gift to one of the judges which means ‘she’ Ashley wants to "sleep" with one of them, so Ashley had messed up her chance at this fashion show, and she would be blacklisted in a lot more shows in the future as well. After that, she would only be able to secure work by offering more similar "gifts" to people. There was no doubt that she would only be able to attend low-level fashion shows in the future.

"How are you, Ashley?" Lucia stepped in front of Ashley with tenderness and kindness in her eyes, as if they were old friends who had not seen each other for a long time.

Only then did Ashley notice Lucia. She was wearing a black gown, which made her look much more mature and noble than she had looked five years ago. Back then, she had looked fragile and weak

Ashley was taken aback from seeing Lucia. She never expected seeing someone from the Brown’s family so soon since she left five years ago especially the shameful illegitimate daughter who caused her downfall.

Judging by Lucia's clothing and the way she was standing next to Maria, Ashley could immediately guess what, she was doing. Even with high heels on she could barely reached Ashley's height. Only in this way did she have the confidence to compare herself to Ashley.

Moreover, she was now the only precious daughter of the Brown family, so she had received a lot of money and support. Any woman who received that many resources for five years would be able to look noble and elegant.

The corners of Ashley's lips turned up into a slight smile. "Not bad. Luckily, I haven't been killed yet. It turns out that you are also a model that Maria brought here."

Judging by Lucia's clothing and the way she was standing next to Maria, Ashley could immediately guess what she was doing here.

Note that all the judges are male that was why Lucia gave Maria a condom as a gift for Ashley to give one of the judges