Just when the two of them were silent, the door was suddenly pushed in. “Miss Joanna!”
As soon as Wendy opened the door, she saw Queenie. She frowned, and the smile on her face immediately vanished while she asked with a hint of disgust in her tone, “Why are you here?”
Wendy didn’t have a good impression of Queenie at all because previously at the Anderson Residence, she saw Queenie and Joseph on the same bed and Anna even fell sick for a few days because of this matter.
When Queenie heard the disgust in Wendy’s tone, her expression stiffened, but she controlled her temper and answered gently, “Your 18th birthday party will be in another month, so I was thinking of asking Director Schmidt to have a custom-made dress.”
Wendy’s expression was still tense, and she didn’t look kind as she muttered in a low voice, “I don’t even want you to come.”
Queenie appeared a little upset with Wendy’s remarks, so Joanna stepped forward to mediate the situation. “All right. Wendy, it seems like you’ve become a sensation since the graduation party. Come and tell me what happened.”
When Wendy heard her mention the graduation party, she immediately became excited and tugged on Joanna as she began to talk. “Joanna, let me tell you…”
Watching the two of them engage in an exciting conversation, Queenie knew she wasn’t welcomed here, so she walked out instead of staying.
Whatever the case was, she had already said what she wanted to say just now. Judging from Joanna’s behavior earlier, it seemed like a deal had been made.
The smile on Queenie’s face grew. Now, Henry was almost done with his part, so when she leaked Nicole’s draft after he obtained it, they would be able to accuse her for plagiarism.
Plagiarism was a major crime in the design industry. Even if the person was the Chief Designer of F&M Apparel, she could still be humiliated.
Nicole felt that Henry had been a little too attentive for the past few days. Every time she went to work, he would be downstairs waiting with her breakfast in hand.
Nicole retrieved her breakfast, pursed her lips, then looked at Henry with a trace of helplessness in her eyes. “Henry, you don’t have to bring me breakfast.”
Smiling sheepishly, Henry rubbed his head as he looked up at Nicole with a sincere gaze. “Nicole, you always had the habit of skipping breakfast, so I was worried…”
Nicole glanced down at the breakfast he brought her. Although it wasn’t anything luxurious, it was the buns and soy milk she used to love.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like eating breakfast. In the past, her family was poor, so their life was hard, and they would even save up on meals.
“I don’t skip them now. Don’t worry,” Nicole said enigmatically.
She had experienced too many things, so she didn’t trust anyone much now. Even if this person was her first love and her first boyfriend, she still couldn’t let down her guard.
The smile on Henry’s face stiffened. Gritting his teeth, he looked slightly aggrieved. “Nicole, do you dislike me because I’m poor?”
Nicole was so flustered by his question that she didn’t know how to answer, but she stood firm and shook her head. “Henry, don’t overthink. It’s just that it’s been five years, so everything’s changed. We’re no longer suitable for each other.”
Undoubtedly, Nicole knew why Henry was being so attentive, but it was impossible for her to be with him now.
She let out a soft sigh, then explained, “I’m only in Gardner Corporation because of my cooperation with the Gardners. After the cooperation is completed, I’ll be going back.”
Henry wasn’t bothered by Nicole’s blunt rejection. Instead, he smiled and said, “Nicole, I know that. I’m not planning on getting back together anymore. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. Five years ago is different from now. I just feel that it’s a shame and want to relive the feeling.”
Nicole couldn’t bring herself to refuse, so she could only purse her lips and hurriedly say, “Thank you.”
…
Wendy’s graduation photos set off a wave of imitations on the Internet. Many beauty bloggers copied her look and outfit, and they even brought up the name ‘Lisa’.
Nicole didn’t expect that she would suddenly go viral, which amused her a little.
F&M Apparel’s clothing line was relatively high-end. Their custom made outfits and fashion apparel had a huge price tag.
Previously, her name was only famous among people of the upper class; after all, some rich people had their clothes custom-made with F&M Apparel.
Now, because of Wendy’s outfit, her brand was known all over the country.
The Gardner Corporation did not waste the resources this time as they released the brand earlier than scheduled, taking advantage of the situation to announce their cooperation with Lisa.
It was also because of Wendy’s outfit that she received a lot of orders at once. They were pretty much wealthy people who wanted Nicole to customize clothes for them.
However, Nicole refused all of them, saying that she didn’t have time because she was too busy with her cooperation with the Gardner Corporation.
In the past few days, Henry had become more and more enthusiastic, and he even sent the food directly to her office several times. Nicole couldn’t bring herself to refuse, so she let him come.
Gossip was spreading in the office, saying that when Henry was in the private room, he hooked up with Nicole, and that the two of them had an affair.
“Nicole, why don’t you talk to Mr. Cooper and tell him not to come to the office anymore?” Scarlett suggested out of concern.
Even she felt that Henry was being too attentive, so how could someone as intelligent as Nicole not know?
Nicole reached out and rubbed her swollen eyes. She had heard some of the rumors, but she had abandoned Henry for her mother and money last time, and it was for this reason that she couldn’t bring herself to hurt him again.
Seeing how troubled Nicole was, Scarlett pursed her lips and continued, “Nicole, even though there’s nothing going on between you and Henry, you can’t let him come to the office at noon every day. Even if there’s nothing going on, you’ll be suspected of having an affair with him.”
Nicole lowered her gaze and thought for a while, then figured that what Scarlett said made sense. Thinking that it was time to deal with this, she nodded. “Okay. I got it.”
With the release of the new summer line looming, both Nicole and Joanna began to get busy.
During lunch break at noon, Nicole was looking through the design drafts on her computer when the door suddenly opened, and Henry came in with her lunch.
When Nicole saw him, she quickly turned off the computer screen.
“Nicole, you didn’t come out at all, so I just thought I’d bring your lunch in. You haven’t eaten yet, right?” Henry smiled warmly and placed the lunch box in his hand on the table.
Staring at the computer for a long time made Nicole’s eyes a little uncomfortable, so she reached out and rubbed her eyes to relieve the fatigue.
“I’ve eaten. Scarlett brought me food,” Nicole answered in a hoarse voice.
She had been too busy these few days, so she stayed in the office almost the whole time she was at work, and Scarlett would bring her breakfast and lunch.
Henry smiled indifferently and continued, “It’s okay. I’ll bring it over to you earlier next time, Nicole. Just tell me if there’s anything you’d like to eat.”
Looking up at Henry, Nicole paused, then remembered Scarlett’s remark. “Henry.”
When Henry heard Nicole call him, he immediately raised his head and smiled. “Yeah, I’m here.”
“Don’t come to my office anymore,” Nicole said bluntly. In the next few months, the summer line was going to be launched, and they had to work on the winter collection right after the launch. She had no time to beat around the bust with Henry anymore.
When Henry heard Nicole’s statement, the smile on his face vanished. His expression tensed up as he looked up at her and asked softly, “Nicole, is there something I’m not doing right?”
Nicole shook her head. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Right now, we’re just friends at most, so you’re overstepping a little.”
Henry studied Nicole. The person in front of him seemed to have changed all of a sudden as she had become calm and confident. Originally, he thought he could always take advantage of Nicole’s guilt, but he didn’t expect that this woman would turn away and deny him so soon.
In the past few days, a lot of gossip had spread in the Gardner Corporation because of his frequent visits to Nicole’s office. Queenie was satisfied with this and had given him a sum of money.
After getting a taste of that, Henry was even more reluctant to let her go.
Pretending to be pitiful, he put on a guilty expression. “I’m sorry, Nicole. I-I didn’t think that far…”
When Nicole looked at him, she found the atmosphere to be a little stiff. She sighed slightly before continuing, “Henry, I’m now representing F&M Apparel at the Gardner Corporation. Let’s not get too close to each other since people in the office are gossiping.
After this project is completed, we can properly spend some time together.”
More Kickass Romance Reads
Dive into irresistible romance stories packed with possessive heroes, forbidden passion, billionaire obsession, mafia intrigue, and heart-stopping twists. One chapter is never enough—your next addiction starts here.