Chapter 6

All the board of directors looked at Celeste in surprise when she entered. They knew Hannah, but you could see the difference between Hannah and the woman who had just entered the conference room. Hannah rolled her eyes because she didn't know how she would explain Celeste to the BODs.

“Can you explain Miss Marquez what is happening? We are asking about Mia Moda not your—is she your twin?” an old man asked, unable to contain his curiosity. Hannah cleared her throat and stood in front of them.

“Let me introduce myself,” Celeste answered. Hannah swallowed because she was nervous. What if Celeste spoke and told everything about her?

“She’s my twin sister, meet Celeste Marquez.” Hannah quickly introduced Celeste. Celeste clenched her fist slightly. She was creeped out by Hannah's words. When did they become twin sisters? Well, who would believe them that they were only half-sisters if they looked exactly alike?

“Like you, I was also surprised that Mia Moda and my twin sister are one and the same. We haven’t heard from Celeste for seven years so we don’t know what happened to her. We didn’t know that she and the famous Mia Moda are the same person. She is my older sister, Celeste.” Hannah added, Celeste noticed Hannah playing with her fingers, so she could feel Hannah's fear now.

She just smirked because she enjoyed seeing Hannah flustered. Celeste raised an eyebrow.

‘Okay, I’ll let you do what you want, Hannah, for now. Enjoy being our twin for now because once I find out your real reason for imitating my face, I’ll make sure you lose everything you have.’ Celeste thought to herself.

Celeste smiled when the board of directors turned their gaze to her.

“I didn’t think Mr. Marquez was blessed with children. Who would have thought that his eldest daughter would become a famous designer while the second is the CEO of the company? How lucky he is. Anyway, nice to meet you, Miss Celeste. It’s good that you still chose to work in your family business even though you’re already famous in different countries.” A man said happily. Celeste smiled and accepted the man’s outstretched hand.

Hannah rolled her eyes because of what she saw, it seemed like Celeste was quickly winning over the BODs of the company.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all. Shall we start?” she said, which the board of directors quickly answered. They started their meeting and it only stopped when Maximus entered.

“Max,” Hannah called out to Maximus softly. Hannah stood up and greeted Maximus, but he sat down blankly in the chair opposite Celeste. Hannah smiled because Maximus sat beside her.

“Mr. Lim,” the BODs said to him.

“Just continue with your meeting, don’t mind me here.” he said blankly. Celeste spoke again as if Maximus wasn’t in the room. Maximus smirked slightly because out of all the people he knew, Celeste was the only one who seemed unaffected by his charisma or his intimidating gaze.

Celeste spoke directly and even though her eyes met Maximus’ while she was talking, she didn’t care. She continued explaining the company’s plan and out of all the Marquez company meetings Maximus attended, this was the first time he listened.

Why did he feel like he was being affected by Celeste’s charisma, especially the way she spoke? She was too authoritative in her speech and it was as if she could make anyone obey. Hannah secretly looked at Maximus and her teeth gritted when she saw him staring intently at Celeste.

They had the same face but they were very different. Celeste was really born for business while she had to study everything just to get the attention of the people around her, especially Maximus’ attention, but Celeste did what she wanted without any effort.

“You want to buy expensive fabrics, but do you know the company’s current condition? I want your plan, Miss Marquez, but I don’t think the company’s funds can handle it.” A woman said. Celeste stopped talking.

“Why can’t it handle it? The company has a lot of funds and it can still buy any fabric.” She replied.

“You just started working at the company, Celeste, so how do you know the company has a lot of funds? You abandoned the company for seven years, you left as if you didn’t care, then you’ll come back as if you know everything that’s happening in the company?” Hannah tried to embarrass Celeste without making it seem like she was embarrassing her.

“I left when the company was still thriving, Hannah, even though I haven’t worked here, I know what’s going on and I know how much the company earns because I know you know that I stayed at the company for a long time even though I wasn’t an employee here. Should I tell you why and how I know a lot about the company?” Celeste’s voice was threatening, causing Hannah to swallow.

Hannah wanted to embarrass Celeste, but Celeste was too smart because she could retort with many words to Hannah.

“The company isn’t like what you think, Celeste. A lot has changed since you left.” Hannah said, causing Celeste to frown.

“What do you mean?” Celeste asked, but it wasn’t Hannah who answered.

“In the past year, the company has been trying to rise again. We believe in Hannah that she can find a way to solve the company’s problems because if the company’s profits continue to decline, it’s possible that all their shares will be pulled out.” A woman answered. Celeste looked at Hannah sharply, she thought she could protect the company, but she was wrong.

They took the company from her and this is all they would do to the company her mother built?

“Okay then, I will use my own money to buy all the fabric I said earlier.” Celeste said without hesitation. Maximus’ eyes narrowed because he could see how determined Celeste was for her plan.

“If the company has been struggling for years, let me do my job.” Celeste added, looking at Hannah. The board of directors were happy because it seemed like the company’s hope had arrived.

“Let me give you a capital, just tell me exactly how much capital you need.” Maximus said seriously, causing everyone to turn to him. The BODs of the company became even more hopeful because this was the first time Maximus spoke and agreed to the company’s plans.

Maximus was good in the field of business, so if Maximus trusted Celeste, the BODs would trust her even more.

Hannah also looked at Maximus in surprise because he never supported her when it came to her projects. Maximus gave her money for the company, but he never supported her in her projects.

Hannah couldn’t help but be jealous, so she just crossed her arms in her seat. Celeste met Maximus’ eyes seriously, as if she was trying to read his mind because she didn’t joke when it came to business.

For the first time, Maximus was the first to look away from Celeste because it was as if she was taking him to another dimension.

“Thank you for supporting me, Mr. Lim. I really appreciate it and I hope you keep your promise, and you have your one word. That’s all, meeting adjourned.” Celeste said then she took her bag and was the first to leave the conference room.

The board of directors became noisy because they were discussing Celeste’s good plan. This was the first time their meeting became noisy, especially the BODs after the meeting. They all had smiles on their lips and it was as if they were already thinking that the company would be successful again because of Celeste.

Hannah angrily followed Celeste. Celeste was in a hurry because she had somewhere to go when Hannah suddenly pulled her.

“What the hell is your problem?!” Celeste said angrily when Hannah pulled her.

“You know, you’re always the center of attention. You’re showing off again to everyone. Why do you have to lie to them? You know your plan is impossible because it’s not that easy to get everything back! Are you showing off because Maximus is there?” Celeste laughed wryly at Hannah.

“What do you think I am, cheap? I’m not showing off just for Maximus. Your boyfriend is all yours and I’m not here to steal your boyfriend from you because you know my real reason why I’m here at the company now. Everything is impossible for you because let’s admit it, you don’t really know anything about running a business and you don’t know anything about designing, you don’t know anything about fashion, Hannah. Just wait for the blooming of Celestial Elegance again because the true root of this company has arrived. In a plant, it won’t live without roots, especially if it has fake roots because no matter how much you water it, no matter how much you take care of it, it won’t bloom and live. You’re the fake I’m referring to in a plant.” Celeste said with a smirk.

Hannah was so angry that she slapped Celeste. Celeste’s teeth gritted, so she slapped Hannah back, which Maximus saw.

“Miss Marquez, what do you think you’re doing?!” Maximus said. His jaw clenched when he saw Celeste slap Hannah. Hannah played the victim, as if she was the victim and Celeste was the bad one.

“Is that how you love your twin? Why do you have to slap her when you can talk to each other calmly?” he said, Hannah hid behind Maximus as if she was afraid of Celeste.

Celeste smirked, which made Maximus even more annoyed because it seemed like Celeste didn’t care who she was facing. Celeste looked up at Maximus bravely to meet his gaze.

“Do you really know your girlfriend, Mr. Lim? Don’t raise your voice at me if you don’t know what really happened. And yes, this is how I love my twin.” Celeste emphasized the word twin then she looked at Hannah.

Hannah just smirked at Celeste because Maximus couldn’t see her.

“Anyway, I don’t have time to talk to you two. If you want to know what really happened and I don’t have time to tell you. Go to the cctv room and check it for yourself.” She said bravely.

“I don’t need to, I trust Hannah more than you because I’ve been with her for seven years.” Celeste just shrugged because she wasn’t forcing Maximus to believe her.

“Okay, whatever.” Celeste simply said then she left. Maximus looked at Hannah’s cheek and because she has white skin, you could see the marks of Celeste’s fingers.

“Go to the clinic, now.” Maximus said authoritatively.

“Where are you going?” Hannah asked curiously.

“I just need to talk to your twin.”

“What?” Hannah’s eyes widened because why did Maximus have to talk to Celeste? What did he want to tell her? “But what will you tell her?”

“Just go to the clinic and put ice on your cheek.” Maximus ordered and left to follow Celeste while Hannah just stomped her feet and followed.

She wanted to follow Maximus, but she knew Maximus would be angry with her if he saw her following.

“Why is that woman still here!” Hannah said angrily again, she had no choice but to follow Maximus’ orders.