NO FUTURE

The moment I decided to give my grandmother a limited edition Sapphire and Pearl necklace from Star Light Jewels as a gift, I anticipated this kind of reactions from everyone. This necklace, a limited piece even among VIPs who are in queue to get this into their hands, but this is something I designed personally for my grandmother.

Britney glared at me, with suspicion, "Don't tell me you brought a knockoff as a present for my mother's birthday, you should be ashamed of yourself and your actions."

I smiled calmly being surprised by her confidence to call it a knockoff without any proper knowledge about what she is speaking, "A knockoff?"

Natalie sneered with a frown, "If it’s not a knockoff, do you really think you could get your hands on a limited edition necklace from Star Light Jewels? When even Joseph struggled to get one for me."

My father sighed in disappointment as always, "If you can't afford something like this, why embarrass yourself and us with your foolish actions? I'm sorry, mother, I’ve clearly failed in raising her properly."

Failed to raise me properly? He should be more concerned about his own daughter, who is so excited about climbing the bed of her sister's husband, why bother about me when he can't raise his own daughter properly? But I kept my thoughts to myself and said, "Every limited edition piece from Star Light Jewels has a signature mark of 'AB' on it right behind that piece of jewelry, if you own one, you should've known it already."

Britney snatched the necklace from my grandmother’s hands and examined it closely, her face turned pale, just by watching the face I can easily say that she watched the mark I'm talking about, Natalie grabbed it next still being suspicious of my words, equally stunned as expected, it was my signature on the designs I created, so I knew about it very well than anyone else.

"It’s real," Britney admitted reluctantly, her pride hurt because of me, still she can't help but to accept the truth, Natalie gritted her teeth in frustration, "How is this even possible?"

I took a sip of water being exhausted by their suspicions and questions, "Just because your man can’t, doesn’t mean no one can." My response was short and personal, I didn't even want to mention his name and I made sure her to know it through my words.

"How dare you speak like that?" Natalie shouted at me understanding the meaning behind my words.

My grandmother reclaimed the necklace from her, "if you can't keep your mouth shut, I suggest you to leave this place," her anger turned into a smile as she looked at me, "You still remembered about my love for sapphires and pearls?"

I smiled back, holding her hand, "I would never forget your likes and dislikes, grandmother" I grew up hearing her talking about the finest jewels and the jewelry she loves to wear, maybe my interest in designing jewellery is all thanks to her desire and interest in jewellery.

She caressed my face gently with a proud smile, "why don't you help me in putting it on?"

I carefully helped her wear the necklace, which looked stunning on her, Minerva, the eldest daughter-in-law, glanced at the necklace, as always that expression on her face is quite hard to study, "It’s indeed a beautiful piece, mother, it suits you well, but my dear Bella, how did you manage to get something so expensive from Star Light Jewels after leaving home with nothing? Don’t take it to heart in the wrong way dear, I’m just curious and appreciate your effort to get something mother loves."

The sweetest venom can be easily extracted from this woman, her words sound gentle and polite while they're the most offensive weapon she uses to destroy people's pride and everything,

Minerva's sweet yet venomous question, was answered by Abigail, "Because my Mommy is one of the chief designers and COO of Star Light Jewels."

I wish I could have recorded their expressions perfectly to watch it whenever I'm bored, so that at least I could've laughed for sometime watching those funny reactions, seeing their stunned and disbelieving faces upon learning my true identity was something I would never get tired of.

"So you’re that famous jewelry designer from Starlight Jewels?" My grandmother asked, being surprised just like everyone, I smiled warmly at her, "Not so famous yet, Grandmother, I’m still learning."

She laughed at my reply, "You’re as humble as ever, still not accepting your achievements with pride." My mother, however, let out a sigh watching me getting praises more than her own daughter, "How can you believe everything she says, Mother? That girl must be bluffing, you shouldn't trust her blindly."

"Yes, Grandmother, don’t believe her,” Natalie also joined, backing up my mother as usual like singing corus to her mother's lyrics, "She always loves to show off in front of everyone" excuse me, is she talking about me or herself? She continued, "Don’t you remember how she disappeared without a trace when she was found guilty that day? She just didn’t want to face anyone's questions about that incident. Now, she’s pretending to be a COO with a piece of jewelry, which we aren't even sure how she got in her hands."

I wasn’t surprised by their accusations maybe it's because I knew them too well, but before I could respond, Alexander reacted with anger because of their words, "Why do you keep insulting my mother? Do you even know if she’s lying or telling the truth? How can you be so sure of your accusations?"

"Alex, please relax, sweetheart" I said, smiling at him, "let Mommy handle this" he nodded, but still fuming with anger, I took out my identity card and placed it on the table, "This is an exclusive card for chief designers, including with the personalized logo, if you scan the logo, you’ll get all the details of my employment, now do you believe me?”

Seeing this, I'm certain they wouldn’t accuse me of lying again. My mother and Natalie were still in disbelief, struggling to understand how a person they considered trash is in a position like that, Natalie, still not ready to accept spoke, "I still don’t understand how someone as incompetent as you could become a COO of such a huge company, you must have seduced a man to get that position."

She had crossed a line which she shouldn't, and I wasn’t going to tolerate it anymore, "Well, I’m not as talented as you in that kind of seduction" I retorted, cutting her off before she could respond, “If I were incompetent, my so-called ex-husband whom you seduced would never have become a CEO without exploiting my talent. Don’t push me to the point where I’ll have to prove it, leaving him with no future.”