Chapter 50
Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Good thing, just as Jeremy expected, Stella wasn’t even bothered. “Jeremy, relax, really-I don’t care about any of this.”
After enduring years with Ernest, a few ridiculous rumors didn’t even faze her.
Though she’d prepared herself for it, the moment Stella stepped into the company, the strange glances and whispered gossip made her chest tighten uncomfortably.
This was Lumière Group, a company built in the name of light-meant to be pure. But now, it felt tainted, more like a place where secrets and shadows were swept under the rug. Read full story at
No one around her had a clue about the mess of emotions she was dealing with. Seeing her remain composed, however, only fueled their gossip.
“Is that the newbie everyone’s been gossiping about-the one they say got a leg up from the boss?” someone muttered.
“Yeah, I mean, she’s pretty. If I were Mr. Ford, I’d probably let someone like her in too, if you catch my drift,” a guy snickered.
“Ugh. Knock it off, you creep. Stop grossing people out,” a woman rolled her eyes.
“We all busted our butts to get in. Why’s it so easy for her? If it was a secret, fine, but now she’s acting like it’s a badge of honor,” another voice jeered.
Hearing the unpleasant comments around her, even Jeremy’s expression darkened. “Stella, wait. Let me go take care of this —” Jeremy started, his protective side kicking in.
–
But Stella stopped him. “Jeremy, just leave it. Honestly, if it weren’t for me, none of this would be happening.”
“But you got in here on merit, not because someone pulled strings for you,” Jeremy insisted.
“Yeah, I know,” Stella nodded. “But they don’t.”
Her words were enough to make Jeremy force himself to chill-he held back the urge to jump in. He understood-he wasn’t the type to punish people for not knowing the full story.
Whatever. He’d just wait and let Stella wow them so hard their jaws would drop.
With that, the two of them made their way through the office, heading toward the design department, surrounded by curious stares and hushed whispers.
While the other departments were mostly just watching for the drama, the designers were on edge. After all, this directly impacted their work.
If someone useless waltzed in just because they had connections, they’d only end up dragging the whole team down.
Their silence spoke volumes-everyone in the room gave Stella the cold shoulder, as if she didn’t even exist. They kept working, ignoring her completely.
Jeremy could barely tolerate their attitude. He prided himself on being easygoing, but that didn’t mean people could treat him-or anyone else-like that, especially not someone he personally brought in.
Before he could say anything, a woman stood up from the center of the room, smiling warmly. “Hey, welcome aboard, new
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Gnapier
colleague!”
She glanced at Jeremy, a little embarrassed. “Sorry, Mr. Ford. I got so wrapped up thinking about this design draft that I didn’t notice you come in. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.” Jeremy laughed. “I should be giving you a shout-out for being so focused-you’re a real asset to the team.”
“Well, where’s my actual reward?” The woman teased with a playful wink, trying to lighten the mood. And she succeeded. The tension in the room started to ease.
One by one, the other designers slowly got up, their voices trailing in a half-hearted chorus, “Welcome to our new colleague.”
Jeremy’s expression darkened, but Stella just smiled. “I know none of you really want me here, and you all think I got in through connections.”
Everyone froze. They couldn’t believe she just said that out loud. Even more, they couldn’t understand how she had the nerve to confront them like that.
Even if she did have connections, no one believed that Jeremy would fire the entire design team just to protect her-unless Lumière Group was going through some major changes.
With everyone still staring, puzzled, Stella held her head high and went on. “But it’s fine. I’m here today to prove my ability, to show that I didn’t just get hired because of connections.”
“Well, well-!” A loud voice interrupted, cutting through the room and silencing everyone before they could react.
The crowd parted, and a man dressed in stylish, fashionable clothes strolled confidently down the aisle. His slow, deliberate steps were full of swagger as he approached Stella.
“I’m Cameron Nunn, chief designer,” Cameron said, a teasing, challenging smirk on his face. “Since you’re so set on proving yourself, I’ll give you that chance.”
Stella stayed silent, eyes steady, waiting to hear what Cameron would say next.
Cameron sneered. “Alright, since you want to join Lumière Group, let’s make it interesting. Your theme is ‘light’. Time limit -one week. No, I’ll give you a month.
“If you can create something that genuinely impresses me, I’ll not only accept you onto the design team, but I’ll even put my seat as chief designer on the line. You beat me, it’s yours.”
Then he looked over at Jeremy, eyes gleaming with challenge. “Mr. Ford, I take it you have no objections to that?”
Jeremy didn’t object-he actually thought it was a good idea.
But Cameron’s attitude rubbed him the wrong way. Jeremy cut in, his voice blunt. “Are you targeting her?”
“Yeah, I am,” Cameron admitted, not even flinching when Jeremy called him out. He just nodded, completely unfazed.
“She doesn’t have the impressive resume that Sylvia Jansen has, nor her exceptional skills. I don’t understand why you’d bring someone like her in when you could have recruited Sylvia instead,” Cameron added.
Sure, Lloyd Group might be the top dog in Seabrook, but when it came to jewelry, Lumière Group could compete head-to- head. Cameron believed that with his close friendship to Sylvia, and Jeremy’s sincerity, she’d have no reason to refuse their
offer.
But Jeremy never even tried. He knew all too well about Ernest’s relationship with Sylvia-she’d never agree to leave, and Ernest would never let her go anyway. More than anything, though, Jeremy wanted Stella to come back.
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That was how Cameron ended up pinning all the blame on Jeremy and Stella.
“So Sylvia’s mixed up in all this too?” Stella caught the familiar name and raised an eyebrow. It seemed to have started as business, but now it was turning into a personal grudge.
“Scared now?” Cameron shot her a frosty, challenging look.
Stella just flashed a confident smile. “Scared? Whether you want a public face-off or you’ve got some personal beef, I’m game
for all of it. But-”
Just when everyone started thinking maybe Stella wasn’t as useless as they thought-at least she’s got some guts-they heard that “but” and the room filled with scoffs and snarky laughs.
“A month? That’s just too much waiting around. Let’s settle it today,” Stella declared, her voice ringing out, full of confidence.
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