Chapter 8
"Sydney, do you two know each other?"
A colleague looked at her curiously, and Sydney Ramsey sneered: "Of course, she's one of our outstanding students from the Jewelry Design Department at Imperial University... Oh, I almost forgot, she was suspected of plagiarism during a competition and lost her chance of guaranteed postgraduate recommendation!"
The atmosphere of the whole office shifted at these words. The welcoming vibe was replaced by contempt in an instant. Everyone's gaze on Brittany was filled with disdain.
Brittany stood stiffly, her ears ringing.
"Sydney, shut up."
William sternly rebuked, "Brittany is my schoolmate. I know whether she plagiarized or not."
Sydney didn't expect William to stand up for Brittany, "William"
"During work hours, call me Mr. Dillion."
William was not pleased. Sydney was always arrogant and domineering, but he didn't expect she would say these things in front of everyone.
He led Brittany to another desk, "just work hard."
"Understood, Mr. Dillion."
Brittany recovered from her initial shock and smiled. For a moment, William seemed lost, then he regained his composure, "If you need anything, let me know, okay?" "Sure, I'll keep that in mind."
After William left, Sydney approached Brittany, "Brittany, I'm warning you, William is going to be my husband. Stay away from him!"
"Sydney, are you and William together?"
Brittany asked, recalling how Sydney used to claim to be William's girlfriend back in university. She wondered if their relationship was official now.
That made Sydney think Brittany was laughing at her. "Regardless, William is not someone you can covet!" Sydney crossed her arms, "Don't think you can just coast by now that you're in the company. I'll get you out of VelvetGlow Jewellery sooner or later!"
After saying this, Sydney left. Brittany held only respect and gratitude for William, who had helped her countless times in the past. VelvetGlow Jewellery might not be as big as it used to be, but the salary and benefits were still decent. Brittany took some time to adapt to the pace of VelvetGlow Jewellery and reviewed all of the company's designs from the past few years to gain more knowledge.
Her colleagues knew about her past and kept their distance. But she was used to this kind of life. It was lunchtime at 12 o'clock.
After Brittany left, Sydney immediately marched into William's office.
"William, why did you hire Brittany?"
Sydney, who came from a well-off family, had lowered herself to work at VelvetGlow Jewellery just to be close to William. She hadn't expected Brittany to suddenly appear and disrupt her plans. William was reviewing some contracts when Sydney burst in. He didn't even look up, "Brittany has exceptional talent. You should know, as her classmate, she was the top student in our department." "But she plagiarized!"
Sydney gritted her teeth. Was academic excellence a free pass to everything?
"Sydney, Brittany is my junior, and I am very optimistic about her. Don't always have opinions on her," William's tone softened slightly, "Besides, as the Director, I have the right to decide who works here. I don't need to report every decision to you."
Sydney's face turned red with anger, "But we're going to get married!"
Her father had told her they would visit the Dillion family soon and their engagement would be announced.
William looked confused, "Sydney, I've always seen you as a friend. We're not a good match."
Sydney clenched her teeth in anger. She didn't want to be his friend.
She stormed out, noticing Brittany's empty seat and a plan forming in her head.
Dream on if you think you can establish yourself in VelvetGlow Jewellery, Brittany!
In the cafeteria, Brittany sat by the window, texting Hannah, "Got a job at VelvetGlow Jewellery. I'm working with William."
Hannah replied immediately, "Congrats!"
"How's William doing these days?"
Hannah was having lunch and felt a bit uneasy at the mention of William. She had always felt that William liked Brittany, but Brittany had only had eyes for Finn. If William had come back earlier, maybe Brittany would be married to him by now.
Brittany replied, "He's doing well."
Hannah checked her schedule, "Do you have time for dinner? We could ask William to join."
"I'll ask him."
After lunch, Sydney threw a file on Brittany's desk when she returned to the office, "This is a full set of jewelry that a certain client wants. You're in charge."
This client was notoriously wealthy and hard to please. Everyone in VelvetGlow Jewellery, including William, had made personal attempts but couldn't satisfy him. She wanted to see how capable Brittany was. Brittany knew she wasn't popular and that Sydney wouldn't make things easy for her. So, this so-called client probably wasn't going to be easy to handle.
"Got it."
No matter how difficult, she had to do it! Otherwise, she could lose her job!
Seeing Brittany's nonchalant response, Sydney gritted her teeth in anger, "Brittany, if you can't handle this contract, you're out of VelvetGlow Jewellery!"
"So if I get it done, you'll hit the road?" Brittany retorted.
Sydney was her sworn enemy. For years, they had been at each other's throats, neither one able to claim victory.
Sydney scoffed, thinking Brittany was daydreaming. "Sure, as long as you get it done, I'll leave!"
With that, Sydney left proudly.
Brittany agreed to the bet, but as soon as she glanced at the file, she regretted it. The client was a young, wealthy pain in the neck, with sky-high demands. His design requirements were a wild goose chase. No wonder the whole VelvetGlow Jewellery team couldn't satisfy him!
Brittany spent some time getting the lowdown on the client's needs and didn't clock out until she had a preliminary plan.
Back at her apartment, Isaac was still out. She picked up some groceries and texted him, "Are you coming home for dinner?" If he was, she could start cooking.
"Nah." Isaac responded quickly. He was meeting up with some buddies for a party.
Brittany, after seeing his message, made pasta by herself, filled her belly, and then began to draw design drafts in the living room.
Grandeur Capital.
As Isaac left the building, Nathan had been waiting on him.
"Mr. Salter, Mr. Chase and the others are waiting for you at the bar."
"Alright, let's go."
Moonlight Club.
Isaac got out of the car and walked into the bar with Nathan. When the manager saw them, he quickly ushered them into a private room.
Inside, three men were already there.
Each had their own style, but all were top-notch.
"Zac, you made it."
A man in a white shirt, Chase, stood up. Isaac nodded, "Yeah."
After the manager left, they exchanged a few words. Wesley Tueley sidled up to Isaac, "I heard you're eyeing VelvetGlow Jewellery?"
"Indeed."
Isaac lifted his glass and took a sip, "Are you interested?"
"I wanted VelvetGlow Jewellery to design a jewelry set for me, William personally took charge, but I was still not satisfied."
Wesley frowned, "This afternoon I got a call saying they have a new designer who will provide me with a design proposal this week. I'm wondering, will her proposal arrive before you buy VelvetGlow Jewellery?"
"That's none of my business."
Wesley shrugged, "Alright then."
They started discussing some business matters. At eleven, Isaac got up to leave.
Nathan escorted him downstairs, he gave some instructions, then went upstairs.
Opening the door, he saw Brittany still burning the midnight oil on her design drafts. "Zakky, you're back."
Isaac paused, "Why are you still up?"
"I got a job."
Isaac was nonchalant. He had looked up Brittany's background and knew she was a top school graduate. Even with her checkered past, she wouldn't be jobless. "Don't you want to know what job I got?"