Chapter 11. Choosing disadvantage

(Ernesta POV)

The cancellation of the contract means what? It means that the party deciding to cancel will have to pay the cancellation fee, and once it's paid, of course, there's no connection between them anymore.

In other words, right now, in their eyes, I'm the one who ruined the product, so I have to compensate.

Yes, it's not Eulalia, it's me, Ernesta.

Farah doesn't want to tarnish Eulalia's relationship with the brands, and this is how she's making me suffer.

SW is just a new company, but they deal with jewelry, and their investment is not small at all, even the least expensive product costs five figures.

This amount is neither small nor large for me right now.

But I didn't do it, so why should I take responsibility?

"What's going on?" I furrowed my brows at Farah.

Farah seems to think I don't understand the situation, with a hint of mockery hidden in her eyes but appearing concerned on the outside.

"What are you still clueless about? Eulalia, how could you be so careless? The contract has been canceled, the company won't take responsibility for this incident."

Anise, standing beside her, reluctantly chimed in.

"I'm very sorry, but Ms. Willems must compensate for this product."

I glanced around, it seemed like everyone shared the same opinion.

Farah isn't done yet.

"Don't worry, this small amount is nothing compared to your handbag collection. How do you want to pay? I'll help you."

Ha, she acts like she's the good one?

In Eulalia's impression, I'm just a single mother abandoned, even though I've been taken care of by Larissa, I can't just freely use her money.

Eulalia thinks that way, and Farah probably does too.

She knows about my 'miserable' situation from Eulalia but still deliberately puts me in this predicament. She's truly insightful.

Seeing me remain silent, Farah assumes I'm afraid of not getting the money and says:

"If you don't have it right away, you can write a debit note and your father can pay later."

I glanced at Farah and gave a cold laugh.

"Why should I pay?"

The people around me all looked at me blankly. Farah tried to smile, but her eyes carried a warning light.

“Eulalia, what do you mean by that?”

I adjusted my dress, returned to the sofa seat, and calmly looked at them. “If I didn't ruin it, why should I pay?”

“You…” I could see Farah's disbelief and the fire igniting in Anise's eyes.

I snorted.

Excuse me, I'm already a mother, do they think I'm easy to bully? Even if I don't have the money to pay, I won't let them have their way.

Anise stepped forward, interrogating me.

“Ms. Willems, I still highly respect you, please understand. If you're the one who ruined this jewelry set, you should compensate. How can you shirk responsibility like this?”

I leaned back into the seat, staring at her. “What? Did you see me ruin it? Did you witness me dropping it?”

Anise looked flustered, then glanced at Farah, who immediately stepped forward.

“Eulalia, you can't be unreasonable like this. Whoever causes the damage should take responsibility, it's just a small matter, and that amount of money means nothing to you. Moreover…”

Farah paused for a moment. “Whoever damages it, everyone can see.”

The employees around suddenly chimed in.

“That's right, we all saw Ms. Willems drop it.”

“Farah just handed it to her, and she dropped it, it's obvious.”

“Why act so shamelessly? Dare to do but not dare to admit?”

At that moment, I saw triumph in Farah's eyes. Clearly, this could tarnish Eulalia's image, but it seems she no longer cares about it.

I casually glanced to my right and occasionally caught sight of a tall figure lurking outside the door, but I didn't pay much attention, focusing instead on Farah.

“Farah, regardless, you're still my manager, people may not believe me, but why would you do this?”

Farah hesitated for a moment.

"What do you mean by that? When I handed it to you, you dropped it."

Anise now stepped forward assertively.

"No need for more words, Ms. Willems. We have both evidence and witnesses. We hope you compensate our company, to avoid future complications."

I paid no attention to her, instead looking through her to the scene beyond the door; it seemed the other person had no intention of interfering. With time running short, I suddenly lowered my head.

"Oh, I forgot to turn off my phone."

The mocking glances turned toward me, as they likely felt I was deliberately steering the conversation in another direction. But my next words froze the person standing opposite me immediately.

"Huh? The camera is still on, it drains the battery."

I pressed the red button in the middle. Since the phone wasn't on silent, when the sound rang out, everyone knew it was the signal for the end of recording a video.

As a hand suddenly grasped my wrist, I smiled coyly. I suspected Farah had discovered it.

Since the end of Zelda's phone call, I had switched the phone to video mode and placed it horizontally on my stomach. When receiving the jewelry box, I only extended one hand, and the entire process was captured by my phone.

No camera in the studio? Well, I had my phone.

Now, I had evidence in my hands. Farah was the one who caused the damage, and she could only choose one of two options: either settle the compensation herself, which would tarnish Eulalia's reputation, or expose her lies.

And in this situation, I was not at risk.

As predicted, Farah grabbed my hand in a panic.

"Why are you so tense? It was just an accident. I believe you didn't do it intentionally."

I laughed as if I weren't laughing.

So, she chose to tarnish Eulalia's reputation. It was understandable; this was just a small act, and a tarnished image could be rectified in a moment, but if her reputation were damaged, no company would dare to accept her, including Eulalia.

Who would dare to accept a manager who set traps for their own artists?

Seeing that I didn't respond, Farah became more agitated.

"Don't worry, the company will support you in resolving this matter."

"But earlier you said the company wouldn't get involved." I deliberately raised my voice.

"That's because I forgot. The company belongs to your father, how could he not help you resolve it? Isn't that, right?"

Indeed, the company belonged to Arthur, but since Eulalia wasn't involved in this matter, he wouldn't intervene either. If she couldn't take advantage of me, Farah would only have to dig into her pocket to settle the issue.

Perhaps afraid that I might say something more detrimental to her, Farah didn't wait for my response and immediately pulled Anise aside to resolve the matter privately.

The eyes of the others still looked at me unfriendly, but no one dared to say anything. The person behind the door was nowhere to be seen.

Sensing that the situation had ended, I stood up to leave. Farah stopped me just as I was about to pass through the door.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Going home. The contract's been terminated, so why should I stay here?"

She terminated the contract and even forced me to change clothes for a photoshoot. I hadn't even blamed her yet, and now she wanted to confront me?

Farah shifted her gaze to the phone in my hand, speaking in a low voice for only the two of us to hear.

"Quickly delete that video, or I'll report this to Eulalia."

"Just handle the compensation first, then I'll delete it."

Without waiting for her reaction, I added, "If you don't want me to tell Eulalia about this, then transfer the debt to me."

I knew both she and Eulalia wanted me to suffer, but Eulalia wouldn't know about Farah's approach. I was still unfamiliar with Eulalia's personality; she might be willing to sacrifice a lot just for her reputation.

I smirked at Farah.

"I may not have much money, but that amount is still within my means."

Despite being angry, Farah couldn't do anything. She could only warn me once more before letting me go. It seemed she had made her decision.

After changing clothes, I left the studio with Eulalia's appearance.

Ultimately, Eulalia is still a famous person, so in this form, I still need to be careful, so I didn't go to the main door but chose the empty side door.

As the door closed behind me, I was about to turn around when a sleek black car stopped in front of me.

Damn, wasn't that the paparazzi?

Feeling a bit tense, I was about to turn and run when the car window rolled down, revealing a familiar handsome face.

"Get in the car!"

Marcus appeared unexpectedly, not even giving me time to think. He opened the car door, pulled me, pushed me inside, then got in and closed the door, a series of smooth actions that felt strange.

It wasn't until the car moved at a steady speed on the road that I reacted.

"Mr. Johansen, why are you here?"