Since Nicole had already made such a decisive statement, Henry couldn’t make any more excuses. Lifting up the things in his hand, he said embarrassedly, “I’m sorry, Nicole. I… I was too anxious.”
Nicole didn’t speak, and she didn’t look at him either, but simply turned to look outside.
Henry understood Nicole’s meaning, so he turned around and left with the food.
His grip tightened. Fortunately, he had copied all the design drafts when he came to Nicole’s office last time. Otherwise, he certainly wouldn’t have a chance.
He had yet to hand over the design drafts to Queenie because he still wanted to catch up with Nicole. But since she had no consideration for his feelings, he figured he’d show her no mercy.
After all, the money Queenie gave him was enough to cover his salary for a year.
When Nicole saw Henry leave, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. In the next few days, she had to confirm and revise the designs, and she had to go to the factory to finalize the fabrics too. It was all a mess, so she truly had no energy to continue the ambiguous relationship with Henry.
Scarlett came in after Henry went out, and she was looking at Nicole with a small smile on her face. “Nicole, is he gone?”
“Yes.” Nicole nodded.
Scarlett stepped forward and said, “I just saw him. He seemed very angry.”
Nicole wasn’t surprised. After all, she had refused him quite decisively.
Curling her lips, Scarlett said, “Nicole, it’s right to be quick and decisive. I always feel that he doesn’t have good intentions anyway.”
As people would say, those who were unaccountably solicitous must be hiding evil intentions. Nicole always believed that if she didn’t have anything to be taken advantage of, Henry wouldn’t be so eager to approach her.
“Well, if he comes to the Design Department again in the future, don’t let him in.” Nicole nodded as she spoke.
She had mentioned it to Henry once or twice before, and she had politely asked him not to come to the office again. However, Henry treated it as if he didn’t hear it, or as if he didn’t understand it, and he came again and again.
Nicole had to make this clear today to prevent him from coming repeatedly.
“Okay, got it,” Scarlett responded happily.
…
The weather in late March had gradually warmed up, and the clothes in the factory had gone into production. After Nicole discussed with Colton, they decided to announce the new product launch in early April to warm up the heat of Labor Day.
But, a few days before the product launch event, the design drafts were suddenly leaked on the Internet.
The Design Department held a meeting overnight to discuss what to do about this.
In the conference hall, there was a touch of tranquility in the air. Upon listening carefully, there was only the sound of breathing.
“Let’s all think about how to solve this matter.” Joanna took the lead and spoke.
“We’ve never experienced having our design drafts leaked before.”
“Yes, the Design Department has never allowed outsiders to come in before. After so many years, there has never been a leak of the design draft.”
There was a lot of discussion, but all of their speculations pointed at Nicole.
After all, in the past few days, there had been an outsider in Nicole’s office.
Although there was no expression on Joanna’s face, she felt unusually happy. She didn’t expect Queenie to act so quickly!
The leakage of the design draft would definitely cause Gardner Corporation some losses. They would like to see what Nicole would do to deal with this.
“Miss Lisa, although I shouldn’t question you, this new product is the painstaking effort of the entire Design Department. You should explain why a person from the Logistics Department enters the Design Department so frequently.”
Nicole knew that Joanna was talking about Henry, so she didn’t didn’t shy away but replied instead, “I got to know him through your introduction, Director Schmidt.”
Joanna’s expression changed. Narrowing her eyes, she said coldly, “Miss Lisa, you are the Chief Designer of F&M Apparel after all. You can’t defame people like this.”
Nicole didn’t hesitate at all as she stared straight at Joanna, then she smiled and said, “In order to prevent outsiders from entering, the people from the Design Department are required to open the door by swiping our staff cards, or it can only be accessed by someone above the manager level.”
She fixed her gaze on Joanna and continued, “Hence, I’m very curious: How could Henry, a measly employee from logistics, enter the Design Department?”
Joanna’s heart tightened when she was questioned by Nicole, but her face calmed down. After all, she didn’t get involved in this matter.
“Well, we’ll have to ask you this, Miss Lisa. After all, he always came to you.”
“I asked Scarlett to check the surveillance footage of the door and found that Henry swiped his card every time he came in. Besides the employees, the rest of the Design Department’s cards are with you, Director Schmidt,” Nicole shot back with a smile.
Joanna was taken aback. She suddenly remembered that Queenie had asked her for an access card a few days ago, saying that she had a way to deal with Nicole, but she didn’t expect Queenie to give the card to Henry!
But, in the current situation, she couldn’t admit it. “So what? Are you saying I gave it to him, Miss Lisa?”
“No, I’m just analyzing objectively, Director Schmidt. Don’t get too emotional,” Nicole said and smiled.
She scanned the crowd, then promised, “In three days, I’ll find out the person who leaked the design draft.”
“So what if you find out about it? The design drafts have already been leaked, and Gardner Corporation’s factory has also begun to make the clothes. Who should make up for this loss?” Joanna asked.
Nicole didn’t panic at all. She looked at Joanna, and the two of them just stared at each other. “Director Schmidt, things have to be solved step by step, so let’s take it one step at a time.”
After the meeting, Nicole went up to Colton’s office.
Colton appeared calm, and he didn’t seem anxious because of the leaked design drafts. When he saw Nicole coming in, there was a gentle smile on his face.
“You’re here. Would you like to try some coffee I recently bought?”
Nicole shook her head. “No, thanks.”
Dressed in a white suit, Colton had a tall figure and a handsome face, which made him look like a prince who had walked out of a fairy tale.
“The matter this time is really as you predicted. The design drafts were leaked before our new product launch,” Colton uttered slowly, his dark eyes gleaming.
“It’s just as well. Just think of it as a warm-up for the new product launch.” Nicole laughed.
Her office didn’t have surveillance cameras because it was newly renovated, but after the first time Henry came to her office, she had secretly installed one in a hidden corner.
At that time, she wished that it was just her overthinking, but she didn’t expect… in the surveillance footage, she actually saw Henry making a backup of her designs…
However, she didn’t expose him on the spot, but played dumb instead. She figured there must be someone else manipulating him behind the scenes, so she couldn’t wait to find out who they were.
“Are you suspecting Joanna?” Colton suddenly asked.
Previously, after Joanna left the factory, Nicole made changes to the previous designs. Although the materials required were the same, the styles were completely different.
“I don’t suspect her, but I’ll be more certain if one less person knows.”
Colton nodded, not having much to say about Nicole’s approach. This time, the public was closely monitoring the cooperation between the Gardner Corporation and F&M Apparel, so there could be no mistakes.
The person who leaked the design must be watching the show. They didn’t need to spend any money for the public to cause an uproar for them.
There was a smile on Colton’s face. He quite admired Nicole’s style of doing things straightforwardly.
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