Natalie’s eyes flickered with annoyance as she watched the girl leave.
Tiffany put down her bag, took off her coat, and sat on the seat Cindy had been sitting on just moments earlier. “What’s wrong?
What happened? Who was that girl?”
Making sure that Cindy had left the restaurant, Natalie told Tiffany how the girl had provoked her for no reason.
“Oh, I see how it is. Initially, you were married to Sebastian Klein-an ordinary, unknown man. But now, you’re married to Brandon
Larson, the CEO of Larson Group. Do you know how intimidating this title is? Brandon is young, promising, and rich. Many rich families have tried to get him to marry their daughters, but he was too aloof. He showed no interest in being with anyone, nor did he show any interest in getting married. All the women who hoped to marry him eventually had to give up.” After such a lengthy explanation, Tiffany found herself thirsty. She gulped down a glass of water and then continued, “Yet now, he announced out of the blue that he’s married, and his wife is not from a prominent family. It’s unheard of-it’s like breaking the barrier between social classes. Naturally, those rich families feel that they’ve been robbed by you.
Natalie sighed. “It was stupid of Cindy to outright provoke me, and I can deal with a small fly like her. But, my worry is that she’s not the last one. I think I’ll encounter a lot of similar situations in the future.”
Tiffany smiled at her knowingly. “It’s good that you know that. Since you can’t change your fate, you have to learn to embrace it.”
With knitted brows, Natalie rested her chin in one hand and mulled over things carefully.
After a long while, she finally said, “Sebastian— I mean Brandon has announced to the public that I’m his wife, but they don’t seem to be okay with it. Because Brandon is an excellent man, people think he should’ve married someone from the same social status. Now that he’s married to me, an ordinary woman, everyone’s in disbelief. I guess I can see where they’re coming from. It’s true that I don’t deserve Brandon in terms of social rank’. But I can’t change where I came from.”
“Don’t belittle yourself. One can’t change where they came from. Besides, rich and powerful families didn’t start out rich and powerful. You’re a talented designer. What you need to do is to work harder. Soon, the public will acknowledge and accept you-
whether they like it or not.” Tiffany waved her hand dismissively, Just then, the waiter came to serve black truffle, foie gras and a bottle of aged wine. Swirling the glass of red wine in her hand, Tiffany’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“This is expensive. Is Mr. Larson paying for it?” Natalie shook her head.
“My money is mine, and his money is his. I just wanted to thank you for all of your help. I doubt I’d be where I am today without you.” Tiffany clinked her glass against Natalie’s and smiled leisurely.
“You don’t have to do this. I didn’t do much.” Sipping her wine, Tiffany nodded in satisfaction.
“But I won’t say no to a bottle of Lafite. So, what’s the real reason why you invited me to dinner? Ask away.”
Rubbing her fingers, Natalie smiled sheepishly.
“Okay. Well, here’s the thing. I want to be an independent designer.” Hearing this, Tiffany pursed her red lips.
“Has it been a year since your graduation?”
This question made Natalie’s heart sink to her stomach.
“No. It has only been ten months.” Natalie was so nervous that her palms started to sweat. Generally speaking, becoming an independent designer was no easy feat.
Except for those extremely talented, no one in their right mind would be arrogant enough to open their own studio within a year of graduating. It was expected that they gain experience from working in a company for a few years before going independent.
Tiffany fell silent for a second.
‘That’s a little tricky. Experience is important for a designer. Plus, it’s somewhat an insult to those experienced designers if you become a successful independent designer at such a young age.”
After a while, she smiled gently. “If it were up to me, I wouldn’t see it that way. You’re clearly a talented designer and I’m sure you had a lot of ideas even back in college. But my experience tells me that it’s still early for you to set up your own studio. What if you work for another design company to gain experience first?”
Hearing this, Natalie’s expression was complicated.
“It seems that you have something on your mind, Natalie.” Tiffany saw through her immediately.
“Mr. Larson doesn’t want you to work for anyone else, am I right? That’s so macho of him.”
“No, it’s not that. Rather, he doesn’t want me to work outside of the city. A long-distance relationship is not for us. If I had the chance, I’d want to go to Barnes. But Seacisco is in the south and Bames is in the far north. It will not be easy for us to see each other in the future,” Natalie explained dejectedly.
She didn’t want to be separated from Sebastian, but she didn’t want to be dependent on him either.
Tiffany shook her head and sighed.
“You managed to marry a rich man yet you still have a lot of things to worry. Men are indeed the stumbling block to a woman’s career.”
Natalie was amused by her opinion. She looked at Tiffany carefully.
Tiffany was beautiful and sexy, but she always seemed to cast aside worldly desires and lived independently. She was a tough woman. She was professional and capable and it was as though she didn’t need a man at all. Nobody knew whether she was born like this or it was because of something she had experienced.
The two of them proceeded to have a nice dinner. Finally, it was time to say goodbye.
Before getting in the taxi, Tiffany turned around to warn Natalie.
“This is no small matter. You two had better discuss it and make things clear as soon as possible.”
“You’re right. I’ll see what I can do. Be careful on your way back.” Natalie waved goodbye to Tiffany.
When she got home, Natalie was preoccupied with thoughts on how to discuss her predicament with.Sebastian.
Sebastian was wearing a dark blue suit and tie, looking tall and mature. With his shiny leather shoes, he was the epitome of a cold, meticulous CEO.
When he saw her come in, Sebastian wrapped his arms around her waist and ki*sed her on her cheek.
“It’s good you’re back in time. There’s a charity party tonight. Let’s go there together.”
“Did you just say a charity party? Is it being held by the Larson Group?”
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Putting away the coat she had just pulled off her body, Natalie thought it over for a few seconds and then added, “But I don’t have an evening dress for such an occasion. When you were Sebastian, it was no big deal for me to wear my usual dress to attend a formal event. But today the situation happens to be very different. You’re Brandon Larson now. If I underdress, it will go on to be a huge disgrace to you.”
In fact, Natalie didn’t want to go at all. If she went to the party, she’d have to face those who looked down at her.
After adjusting his tie, Sebastian asked in a very gentle voice, “Didn’t I buy you a custom-made dress before? If it’s not something you like, I’ll ask my assistant to send over a few more for you to choose.”
Sebastian quietly looked at Natalie for a few seconds and as if sensing her thoughts, he touched her hair and asked her, “Don’t you want to go to the party? A distinguished guest from Barnes will be there. Joanna White happens to be a famous philanthropist in
Barnes. I want to introduce you to her.”
With a sweet smile on her face, Natalie leaned her head against Sebastian’s shoulder and said, “I nearly forgot about the dress you gave me. Wait a minute; I’ll go get changed.”