The audience gaped in awe as the president walked on stage. Meanwhile, Sophia flinched in her seat below the stage as she was surprised to see that a number of snipers had taken their positions. That explains why I’ve been feeling an odd, tingling sensation under my skin this whole time, she thought. This is amazing. I wonder how many snipers and undercover agents are here; even Joel is here. Meanwhile, Stanley was so shocked that he dropped the melon seeds snack that he had been munching on. “N-Never in my life have I seen such a sight!”
The audience applauded with all their might once the president appeared. Once he got on stage, he lifted a hand up to silence the crowd before he picked the mic up. The cheers died down as everyone was waiting for the president to announce the winner of the ‘Light of Cethos’ award.
“He is the first Cethosian to have won an Oscar for being the Best Actor,” the president said. Everyone could guess the identity of the winner from the first sentence itself—the audience cheered and clapped as some found the announcement shocking, while others thought that it made sense. After the first wave of cheers ended, the president continued. “He is the only Cethosian actor to have won two Best Actor awards at the Oscars. He’s a long-term advocate that fights for the rights of actors and actresses who are ethnic minorities, supporting his beliefs that they deserve the same jobs and salaries without discrimination. He’s been fighting for the revision of such laws for Cethosian artists to be able to find better workplaces and greater equality in their workplaces when they travel out of the nation! He isn’t the only benefactor of his hard work and success; our entire entertainment industry benefits from it! He is none other than Taylor Murray, the winner of our ‘Light of Cethos’ award!”
The crowd applauded as Michael got on stage to receive his award for the second time. After greeting the president in a friendly manner, Michael took the most valued award of the night into his own hands—the ‘Light of Cethos’ award. At that moment, awards such as the Best Artist or Best Male Actor felt like nothing in comparison to what he had received. Nicholas Yates was dumbfounded as he watched Michael receiving his award on stage. The existence of the ‘Light of Cethos’ award itself blew Nicholas’ mind; he didn’t even know that there was such a thing before that night. But it was clear that the award was an important one since the president was the one who handed it out.
Sandra was probably the one who was the most stunned by this entire incident. All the confidence and pride that she had just developed within her was crushed into pieces by the blinding golden trophy of the ‘Light of Cethos’ award! No! I haven’t been defeated! I’m still the one who got the endorsement job for Dragon Eye! Nicholas is impacting the entire world while Michael is simply getting a tiny, worthless award that allows him a chance to show off in Cethos!
The director was rather shocked as well. He only found out about this award 3 days ago, but he hadn’t expected it to be given to Taylor! Isn’t his Grandpa dead? I thought he’d lost all the backup and support he had! How did he get this award, then? This isn’t just any award; it isn’t decided by a single individual. They have to go through meetings and discussion before handing it over to the president, who has to then make any required changes before approving it. But… The director was close to collapsing onto the ground once he thought of the ridiculous, silly behaviors he exhibited earlier.
Michael had to give a speech after collecting his award. He stood on the podium for a while and glanced at Sophia before he smiled and picked the mic up. “Up until today, my greatest achievement in life isn’t just receiving the ‘Light of Cethos’ award.” The audience fell silent as they hadn’t expected his first sentence to start off so straightforwardly. The cameras captured Michael’s handsome features as he glanced down the stage over to someone seated in the first row. The crowd saw how calm he appeared to be as the camera footage was projected onto the huge screens—he seemed even calmer than when he had received his tiny award earlier. “Up until today, my greatest achievement is… the fact that I have a perfect family. Although I’d lost my parents at a young age, I still have a happy family. I have my sister, my nephew, my wife, and my beloved daughter. Getting married to my wife and having a daughter with her has been the greatest honor of my life.”
The cameramen were alert in doing their jobs—they initially focused the shots on Michael, but they then shifted it to Sophia’s face once he mentioned his wife. Sophia’s face appeared on the big screen, showing tears of joy in her eyes. Michael continued his speech. “I want to thank my parents. I want to thank my father for educating me, for teaching me not to give up. I want to thank my mother for blessing me with all her talents. I want to thank my wife and daughter for all the years they’ve spent with me… From today onward, I hope to continue striving for equality and recognition for the ethnic minorities and Cethosians. I want to create a world in which Cethosians are allowed the right to be proud of their ethnicity all across the globe. Thank you.”
After the short acceptance speech, the emcee then announced the end of the award ceremony before inviting all the guests onto the stage for a group picture. Everyone was quick to move as they wanted the opportunity to grab a picture with the president. Even the laziest, most arrogant artists sped up onto the stage before they arranged themselves according to their own socially assumed statuses. Michael, of course, took the center spot right beside the president. Nicholas tried his best to get closer to the president, but Sam took his spot. Sam was, in fact, one of the people who had supported the idea of handing the ‘Light of Cethos’ award out that year. With his influence within the scene, he managed to implement the award that Michael had just received. Michael had to thank Sam for his help in ultimately making this win possible.
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