Chapter 4
Tina's voice brimmed with anticipation.
Still clutching the stack of document folders, Tina's assistant nodded. "I met the designer today, but she already had plans tonight. She agreed to have another meeting tomorrow."
The moment the assistant confirmed that she'd personally seen the elusive designer—and had a meeting set—Tina broke into a triumphant smile.
"That's perfect!"
She turned toward Samuel, her eyes glittering with pride.
"See, Samuel? I told you I could do it. I'm definitely going to get her to agree to the collaboration tomorrow!"
My other classmates immediately erupted in eager praise.
"It's just as expected that you're able to do what others can't, Ms. Upton!"
"How incredible! We'll be relying on your support in the future, Ms. Upton."
"Samuel is so lucky to find a partner like you who can be of such great help to him, Ms. Upton!"
Their brown-nosing immensely satisfied Tina's ego. She glanced at me, who was sitting quietly in the corner, before addressing her assistant again.
"By the way, Lucy, do we have any entry-level positions open at the company? Maybe in the janitorial department?"
She paused and cast another meaningful glance in my direction.
"Irene over there helped my boyfriend out a lot in the past. I heard she still hasn't been able to find herself a proper job. Since she and Samuel were classmates, I figured I'd help her find a steady job just to help her out a little."
The room fell silent for a moment before everyone burst out laughing and chimed in happily.
"Heavens, no, Ms. Upton! It's good to be kind, but you really shouldn't get mixed up with people like her, and that family of hers, too!"
"That's right. You probably didn't hear about it, but when she ran off without a word back then, her parents came to the school and created such a huge fuss! They caused such a scene, even wailing outside the principal's office, insisting that the school had sold their daughter off to human traffickers!
"Even the reporters got involved, you know. I can still recall what happened that day… It was a complete circus, and so very disgraceful, too."
"Exactly! She and her family are all the same. They're completely unreasonable! Your fashion brand is just getting started, Ms. Upton. This is a pivotal point in the company's growth. What if her parents barged into the company demanding that you hand her over? What would happen then?"
Upon hearing that, Tina put on an expression of alarm.
"Is that true? In that case, I'm terribly sorry, Irene. It's not that I don't want to help you. But my company is finding its footing.
"We don't have a firm foundation in the industry yet, so we can't afford any scandals. We can't possibly risk getting caught up in trouble from you and your family." After saying that, she purposely scooted closer to Samuel, as if being near me would somehow bring bad luck to her.
Samuel simply looked at me. This time, his lips parted slightly. It looked like he wanted to say something to me, but in the end, he suppressed the urge with a stormy look on his face.
Everyone else was looking at me as though they reveled to see me being humiliated. Their gazes were filled with condescension and scorn.
I couldn't understand why Tina was so eager to give me a job. Still, I remained calm and repeated the rejection I had given Greg earlier.
"No thanks. That won't be necessary. I have a job."
Sighing, Tina remarked, "You should really quit that job of yours. I know that being young and beautiful gives you an advantage, but… It's easy to catch some kind of disease if you stay in that line of work for too long, you know."
The crowd snorted derisively. Even Tina's assistant, Lucy Ziegler, laughed along. But when she spotted me, her expression stiffened. She dropped the Lumina project documents she was still holding, and they scattered all over the floor.
The room went silent.
Looking utterly displeased, Tina snapped, "What are you doing? Can't you even hold onto a bunch of documents?"
However, Lucy completely ignored Tina's rebukes. Pointing at me, she exclaimed in terror, "I-It's you, the designer, Ms. Stewart! W-What are you doing here?"
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