Stella's expression turned serious."Stella, what's going on?" Felicity noticed the sudden change in her best friend's demeanor and felt a twinge of concern.Stella collected herself and said, "Tell me, how is Vermont treating you?"Felicity's eyes sparkled, as she responded, "He's... treating me well. I don't have to worry about cleaning or doing laundry. He's always there to lend a hand, even when it comes to cooking. After meals, he takes care of the dishes. He also handles things like changing the light bulbs and fixing the pipes, so I don't have to do it myself."Her words caused Stella to be surprised."Tell me something beyond being handy around the house.""He drives me to and from work and saves my favorite food for me. He's quick to apologize whenever he upsets me. He's just a bit too much of a smooth talker."Stella was not quite sure how to respond. Vermont seemed practically flawless. It was just his approach to courtship that was infuriating. 'How dare he deceive h
As the wind scattered the papers across the place, Stella and Felicity quickly joined in to retrieve them. After a thorough chase, they finally managed to collect all the blueprints.While Stella was gathering the papers, she was surprised to find that they were sketches for jewelry designs. She flipped through a couple of pages, glanced at the signature, and paused.Just then, the girl whose papers had been scattered about caught up with them. She abruptly snatched the papers from Stella's hand, and her face was tense. "Don't go snooping through other people's things."Felicity frowned. "You seriously lack manners. We were helping you with picking them up."The girl replied coldly, "None of this would have happened if she hadn't run into me.""You—"Stella held Felicity back and politely apologized to the girl. "I'm sorry. I was on the phone, and I didn't watch where I was going. Please check if any of the papers are missing."The girl seemed to appreciate Stella's decent attit
Felicity's initial irritation dissipated, as she listened to the story of Maggie Hart. "No wonder she reacted that way when we looked at her sketches."Just then, Darcie's assistant called to inform them that she had arrived at the store.Stella ended the call, turned to Felicity, and said, "Let's go. She's here."Felicity snapped back to her senses and quickly video-called Vermont before inserting a wireless earpiece into her ear.The Velvet was situated on the mall's first floor, boasting a spacious storefront covering at least two thousand square feet.When Stella and Felicity entered, they were warmly greeted and asked what they were looking for."I'm here to meet someone," Stella replied calmly.At that moment, a woman who had been taking a call by the counter suddenly turned around.She sized up Stella and said something to the person on the other end of the line before hanging up. She walked directly up to Stella and respectfully said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. H
Chris maintained his smile. "Ms. Hall, it's not that I'm unwilling to show you, but the key to this safe is with another team leader. She has taken a day off today, so... I'm terribly sorry. But it seems you might not get to see the piece today."Stella glanced at him and then inquired, "Well, there must be some accounting records in the store. Can you bring them over?""Ah, that's rather unfortunate. Those accounting records and the valuable jewelry are kept in the safe. Perhaps we could arrange for another day. I'll personally take you to have a look," Chris explained.Felicity furrowed her brows. "Who stores jewelry and accounting records together? Aren't you worried about dropping the jewelry when you're handling the records?"Chris replied, "It's always been this way in our store. We're used to it. Ms. Hall, everything will go smoothly once you're accustomed to it."Felicity clenched her teeth. 'He's clearly doing this on purpose! How dare he ask the boss to get accustomed to
Chris turned to Stella after he finished his statement. Stella cleared her throat and feigned, "You can sell a whole bag for ten thousand dollars?""The person in charge of recycling is a partner of our store, so the price they offer us is relatively high. The few newly established factories only offer six thousand per bag," Chris explained.Vermont's voice grew serious. "With this quality of scraps, unless they're too damaged to be used for jewelry, they should definitely not be sold by the bag. Their raw stones are of good quality. Even if they're considered scraps, a bag shouldn't cost only ten thousand dollars.""Let's not jump to conclusions just yet. Stella has just arrived, and the business hasn't fully started yet. The people don't trust her, and nobody will tell the truth even if we look into it."Felicity did not know how to convey such a long message to Stella. However, Stella would surely sense something fishy even if Felicity did not say anything."Chris, let's go tak
Stella followed the voice and found a young woman seated on the couch. Her arms, head, neck, and ears were adorned with extravagant jewelry. There were gemstones everywhere possible. The pieces were huge, and the quality of the stones was high. However, when combined, they appeared excessive and complex. Even celebrities like Stella did not wear such accessories.The woman's lavishness extended beyond her jewelry. Her dress was from a high-end brand that cost a minimum of six figures.At first glance, she did not exude grace and elegance but rather an extravagant display. It was a sign of affluence.The wealthy young lady looked somewhat languid. Seated beside her was someone almost half-kneeling, holding a design sketch and conversing with her.'She must be Barbara, the team leader of the design group they mentioned earlier.'Ms. Wilson glanced at the design sketch and frowned. "It doesn't seem quite right."Barbara immediately responded, "Please let me know how you want it, and
Chris paused and introduced the designer who had been speaking with Kayla. "Ms. Hall, this is Barbara, the head of our design team. She's our most sought-after designer, and many clients admire her work. Barbara, please greet Ms. Hall."Barbara gave Stella a discerning look and greeted her with a nod. "It's nice to meet you, Ms. Hall."Stella glanced at the design sketches on the table and politely asked, "Barbara, may I look at the draft for this design?"Barbara, who was somewhat disdainful of this young new boss, perceived her as someone who did not quite grasp the world of jewelry. She questioned how Darcie could entrust the store to such an inexperienced individual."Feel free to look, although I fear you may not fully understand it," she replied indifferently.Felicity stared her down and said, "There must be something wrong with your design if we can't understand it."Barbara was annoyed and wanted to fight back, but she held back due to Stella's status. Instead, she just
Barbara got so angry that her face turned red as she cried to Chris, "Mr. Poole, I designed this according to the customer's requirement. Did I do anything wrong? Does Ms. Hall have a problem with me because I was busy serving Ms. Wilson and didn't greet her right away?"Ms. Wilson is a VIP customer of The Velvet, and I only put her first for the sake of our store. It's not right for her to target me without any valid reasons just because she's our new boss!"I've been with the company for years, and you know me very well. You've seen how much effort I put into serving our customers. You probably realize how many of our clients only come here for my service, right?"I would've never come here to work if it weren't for Mrs. Saun's sake. If Ms. Hall doesn't appreciate my designs, I might as well quit!"Stella pursed her lips.She was initially dissatisfied with Barbara's obsequious service attitude. But after hearing what she said, she became unhappy with her as a whole.First, Bar