Because of the dress designed by Nicole, Wendy totally stood out in school and even became one of the popular topics within the country. The girly and youthful dress received the praises of everyone unanimously, and it also turned Wendy into a huge Internet celebrity all of a sudden.
‘This dress is amazing. It’s so pretty!’
‘Yeah, a girl around the age of eighteen should be dressed like this. So youthful and energetic!’
The comments on the Internet were overwhelmingly positive, and after someone later revealed that this dress was designed by the Chief Designer of F&M Apparel, Lisa, everyone couldn’t help but crowd to her social media profile and fawn over her.
Even Nicole didn’t expect that the dress she simply designed for Wendy would be so popular because there wasn’t so much commotion when she usually launched new designs at F&M Apparel.
After attending her own graduation, Wendy flew back home and went to look for Nicole at the Gardner Corporation right after touching down.
Meanwhile, Nicole was making coffee in the pantry when she heard the sounds of footsteps behind her. Turning her head, she saw that it was Wendy, who broke into a smile upon seeing her and greeted her sweetly, “Hi, Nicole.”
Even though there weren’t many people in the pantry, they all saw Wendy, and they were surprised to find that Nicole was so close with her.
“Hey, how was your graduation night?” Nicole asked casually. Although she had already seen the news on the Internet, she still showed her concern in person.
At the mention of graduation night, Wendy put on a wider smile, and she hugged Nicole’s arm with both of her hands, saying happily, “Nicole, let’s talk inside. There are so many things that I want to tell you.”
Because she wore the dress designed by
Nicole, Wendy became the talk of the town at the graduation night. Nicole chuckled as she gazed at the young girl, who was acting spoiled to her. “Sure,” she said softly.
Back in the office, Wendy plopped herself onto the couch jauntily and looked at Nicole, saying, “Nicole, I love the dress you designed. My birthday is coming in a month; please design another dress for me.”
Nicole didn’t turn her down. Despite the fact that she was now the Chief Designer of F&M Apparel, she would often accept a few special orders, so she wasn’t unfamiliar with this.
“Sure. Tell me what style you would like this time, and I’ll draft you the design in a few days’ time when I’m free.”
Hearing that Nicole had agreed to her request, Wendy quickly voiced out her own ideas. “I hope it’s something different from the last time, and everyone would be amazed by it – “
Her sentence was interrupted by someone knocking on the door from the outside, and before anyone could answer, the door swung open and Joanna came in.
Twisting her head, Wendy saw her and greeted politely, “Hello, Joanna.”
Joanna didn’t seem one bit surprised to see Wendy, and she flashed her a smile. “Wendy, when did you come back? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Both of them were on rather close terms; after all, Joanna was the designer for the dresses on her birthdays before this.
“I planned to look for you after chatting with Nicole,” Wendy answered sincerely.
Joanna’s gaze fell on Nicole, and her eyes dimmed a little, but there was still a trace of smile on her face. “Okay, since you have some business with Nicole, then I won’t bother you girls.”
Even though it was not obvious from Joanna’s face, Nicole still noticed her change in expression, and she stood up, saying to Joanna, “Is there anything you need, Director Schmidt?”
Joanna raised the document in her hand. “It’s not something important – just some general directions for the summer designs. I came over to speak about it with you, but since Wendy is here, you can have a chat first, and I’ll be back when you’re done,” she said and walked out directly.
Closing the door behind herself after going out, Joanna looked a little displeased as her face fell. Suppressing her emotions, she returned to her own office and growled in a low voice after shutting the door, “Damn Nicole Anderson!”
In the previous years, Wendy would always come looking for her whenever she wanted to attend any important event, and because of this connection between them, their relationship had always been close. Furthermore, Wendy grew up under the tender care of the Gardner Family and wasn’t scheming at all. Basically, she would believe anything that she was told.
Step by step, Joanna had set up good relationships with the people around Colton, but she didn’t imagine that Nicole had snatched Wendy to her side in a mere few days.
While she was abroad, she had heard the news that Nicole would be designing the graduation dress for Wendy, but she didn’t pay too much attention to it and thought that Wendy had no other choice but to look for Nicole because she wasn’t in the country. However, Wendy was now even asking Nicole to design the dress for her first adult birthday party.
The Gardner Family was considered one of the best and most influential companies globally, and as the youngest child of the Gardner Family, Wendy’s first adult birthday party would definitely be very spectacular.
Unfortunately, this opportunity was now wrenched out of her hands by Nicole.
Trembling from the anger, Joanna felt helpless because Wendy had always done what she wanted, and it would be difficult to change anything she had set her mind on.
After all her achievements in the Gardner Corporation for seven years, it couldn’t be compared to an outsider who was here for barely a month!
No matter if it was Colton or Wendy, Joanna had spent seven years on them, but Nicole had managed to bewitch them in a few days’ time!
It’s not fair! This is unacceptable!
Just as her fury was boiling, a soft chuckle echoed from behind her, followed by a soft, hypocritic voice. “Director Schmidt, from the looks of it, it seems like you’re angry.”
Hearing that there was someone else, Joanna hurriedly recollected herself and spun her head around, only to see that Queenie had appeared in her office without her noticing.
Raising her eyebrows, she cast an icy stare at her. “Miss Anderson, don’t you know that you should knock before entering?”
From the bottom of her heart, Joanna utterly looked down on Queenie because she was a woman who relied on her body to get to higher positions, after all. However, she decided to set aside her contempt for her on the surface.
“Based on what I know, the dress Nicole designed for Wendy turned out to be a big hit,” Queenie said slowly and giggled as she took a seat, ignoring Joanna’s attitude.
On the other hand, there was not a trace of anger on Joanna’s face, and she smirked. “I heard about it. It’s not surprising since she’s the Chief Designer of F&M Apparel.”
The nonchalant look on Joanna’s face made Queenie burst out in laughter, and she laughed for a while with her hand over her mouth as Joanna’s face turned sullen amidst her laughter.
Narrowing her eyes, Joanna sounded a little aloof as she said, “Queenie, what do you mean by this?”
Hearing her question, Queenie finally stopped laughing, but the edges of her lips remained upturned. “I’m so sorry.” Waving her hand, she apologized, but she didn’t sound apologetic at all. “I just thought that you look funny when you’re angry but could only bear with it.”
With her narrowed eyes, Joanna watched as Queenie mocked her, but she didn’t blow her top and simply took it lightly.
“I can’t be compared to you, Miss Anderson, who can still come out of the house brazenly even after news came out that you were having an affair with the young master of the Mann Family.”
Even though Colton had suppressed this news in the media, the rumor had already spread out within the industry.
The expression on Queenie’s face changed, and the smile disappeared from her face. With gloomy eyes, she gritted her teeth and hissed, “Director Schmidt, our common enemy now is Nicole, so there’s no reason for us to rip open each other’s wounds here.”
Joanna chuckled before she raised her voice and said, “Common enemy? I think you’re mistaken, Miss Anderson. Nicole and I are on good terms. What do you mean by enemy?” Sitting back in her seat, she slightly leaned back and looked up at Queenie.
After being in the industry for so many years, she had long been able to customize her treatment toward every person she met, and she wouldn’t easily give herself away.
“Director Schmidt, we’re all sensible people, so don’t pretend to be confused,” Queenie refuted.
She didn’t bother beating around the bush, but went straight to the point instead.
“As soon as Nicole came, she drove away your confidant, Sabrina, and humiliated her in front of so many people. Besides, you personally helped to design clothes for Wendy during every important event and birthday over the years. Now, not only are you not needed for the graduation party, but also her 18th birthday party. Can you stomach it?”
Although Joanna still appeared calm, she figured Queenie was right. She truly wasn’t satisfied!
Looking up, she cast Queenie a sweeping glance and spoke in a dull voice.
“So what? Nicole is cooperating with the Gardner Corporation on behalf of F&M Apparel, and she will go back after half a year at most. Why should I care about her?”
“If you don’t care about her, then why were you so angry earlier, Director Schmidt?” Queenie smiled. Since she couldn’t tackle Nicole alone, couldn’t she try to get herself an accomplice?
Seeing as Joanna was reluctant, Queenie immediately added, “Director Schmidt, I don’t need you to do anything. Nicole stabbed me in the back, and I will definitely get my revenge. I only need you to make it worse. I’ve already arranged everything else.”
Joanna peered at Queenie, undeniably tempted by Queenie’s suggestion. She blinked, neither agreeing nor rejecting.
She didn’t want to get involved in bad deeds like this. After all, it could be seen from Colton’s attitude that he valued Nicole a lot. It would be okay if they could tackle her with one blow, but if Nicole turned the tables, whoever was involved would probably get into trouble.
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