Seduced By The Competition

Chapter1

Morgan Reed stood, champagne flute in one hand, scanning the opulent ballroom of the world-renowned Royal Oasis Hotel. The glittering, palatial space was filled with dignitaries and personalities from all over the world who had come for the exclusive Bellini gala that was held annually. She had been pleased when the invitation had come in the mail. Pleased, but not surprised. She had been aiming for it all year. It was the best place to meet high-powered investors and grow your connections. Her company, Glow, has been taking the beauty industry by storm, and pulling in a few more investors to fund her next project wouldn’t hurt.

Project confidence, she told herself, as she took a swig of her champagne, getting ready to mingle when she saw Damian Bellini approach her.

The host of tonight’s gala and the bane of her existence. Donning a tailored tux that complemented his lithe, imposing figure, and his short, dark chocolate hair styled to perfection, he seemed more alluring than usual. It was always annoying, watching how well he could command a room. It was more than just his face held the type of devilish beauty that demanded you put up defenses to keep your cool or his dark eyes that seemed to leave you mesmerized. It was the way he walked. Powerful, graceful strides that mandate you acknowledge him as ruler of this empire. Which wasn’t entirely false, as he was one of the heirs to the Bellini Empire, a conglomerate group that was practically royalty in the world of everything beauty and fashion and the CEO of its subsidiary, Bellini Cosmetics. He was also a royal pain in the ass who has been looking for every opportunity to buy her company and gobble it up. As he reached her, he flashed his signature, infuriatingly charming smile. He had the kind of smile that did yummy things to your insides and made it hard for you to breathe.

‘Reed, I see that you made it. It is a pleasure to see you could make it.I have to say, you look lovely tonight. Quite different from your usual.’

She wanted to smack him over the head, but they were in civil society. She couldn’t even tell if he was complimenting her or offering a backhanded insult. Ever since he took interest in her company two years, it was like he took turns between annoying the hell out of her and trying to get her to sell.

‘Dan.’ She smiled, knowing how much he hated to be called that.

‘You Americans do know how to ruin a good name, don’t you?’

‘We try. So, I read People’s magazine termed us rivals in their latest article. Are you sure you want to be seen with the competition?’ She had been ecstatic ever since the issue had arrived on her desk. Other phrases used to describe Glow were ‘rising star’ and ‘revolutionary’ and those words she needed to bring in the money people. Being mentioned on par with the Bellini Empire didn’t hurt either. And she wouldn’t be lying if she said that egging Damian Bellini didn’t give her a thrill.

Damian’s smile slipped a little. ‘Well, we all know that writers have a penchant for exaggeration. Anyways, any thoughts on my offer?’

As much as he irked her, his persistent offers helped boost her ego. She knew her products were amazing. She made them after all. But she liked that the industry giant felt threatened enough by her to constantly attempt to buy her out. ‘The answer will always remain no, Bellini.’ She spotted the chairman of Nexus Capital. He was one of the investors she had been planning on chatting up tonight‘I would love to stay and chat but I have other matters to attend to. Hold on to that number one spot tightly.’

She strolled away into the crowd, a smirk on her face.

Alessandro watched Morgan as she headed across the ballroom. Something about her felt enigmatic. The way he always seemed pulled into her orbit. He had been aware of her from the very moment she had entered the ballroom in that gorgeous black number of a dress. He had only ever seen her in pantsuits and suit pieces. Her auburn was pulled into an elegant style he had never seen on her before with a simple diamond piece adorning her graceful neck. She was entrancing, the way she exuded confidence like it was a second skin and he was always shocked at how much he wanted her. And how much more he wanted her brain, too. She was not just beautiful but also one of the smartest people he knew. He didn’t like to admit it but People magazine was right when they had called her brand revolutionary. His youngest brother, Jared walked towards him, handing him a glass of scotch.

‘I saw the article. Must be tough, being compared to a startup. Give it a few years and she is going to be a very real problem’ his brother commented, as they watched Morgan play nice with Sal Roman from Nexus. She was laughing at something he said and Alessandro wondered what that sounded like.

‘I know,’ he took a sip of his drink.

She seemed resistant to his charm and influence, though he didn’t mind their little banters. She seemed out of his reach, but not for long. He always got what he wanted. In business and life. And he wanted Morgan in both.

The next day, Morgan woke up with a headache. It turns out networking came with downing a lot of champagne. She groaned when she realized she still had to head into work. She grudgingly got out of bed and got herself ready. It might be a Sunday but the new scar removal serum was in its final stages of production and every minute she had, she poured into making it perfect. Normally, her partner and Glow’s CFO, Carla Sinclair would be in charge of gathering investors and the financial aspects of the company. But ever since the interview she had given five months ago, her face was the one that convinced people to take a chance on her ideas. It turns out that being called a genius makes people more generous with their funding. Which helped since after this serum hits the market and Glow turns a profit, she was thinking of considering Carla’s advice of going public. It would give wings to the next project she had in mind. Pace yourself, she chided herself. Her mind had the tendency to run full speed ahead. And right now, she needed to put all her energy into making sure the scar removal serum was an absolute success. She took an aspirin and headed into her office. As she walked into the building and headed to her offices. It might have been the weekend but it was filled with her team who looked like they hadn’t been home in days. The sight put a smile on her lips. Everyone was working their hardest and pulling their weight to make sure their efforts over the past six months becomes a success and that always gave the fuel to push forward.

She entered her office and sat down to give herself a minute. The aspirin seemed to be taking its sweet time working. At that moment, her secretary, Laura, a petite, curly blonde who looked like she belonged in some woodland forest and the best hiring decision she had ever made, wandered in with a cup in a tray.

‘My special hangover tea. I assumed after last night’s event, you will be needing one. You tend to use champagne as a filler for awkward moments.’

‘Laura, you are magic.’ Morgan immediately reached for the cup and downed the contents. It was slightly bitter and a little repulsive but she will take anything over this headache. Her head immediately felt better. The pounding wasn’t gone but she no longer felt in danger of seeing spots.

‘Also, a Mr. Reese from Nexus Capital called to set up a meeting to talk about investing. And Mr. Bellini called to remind you that his offer still stands.’

She didn’t have the energy to respond to Damian’s annoying persistence. She just took nowadays as part of her weekly routine. ‘Find out the earliest free time I have in my calendar and schedule the Nexus Capital in for then. Please, ignore Bellini’s message.’

She saw Laura fight back a smile. She knew her petite secretary well as she was also one of her closest friends. Morgan knew she had something she wanted she share, but was probably deciding against.

‘What?’

Laura gave her a sly look. ‘I heard you and Mr. Bellini were flirting at the party and making goo-goo eyes at the party. I give my blessings.’

Laughter burst out of Morgan’s mouth. ‘What?! Flirting? Me and him? Laura, you really need to start checking your sources of information. That was the most ridiculous thing I have heard.’

Laura shrugged. ‘Well, I have seen the way he looks at you. It isn’t that far-fetched. And he is straight up gorgeous. That man looks like he stepped off the cover page of a GQ magazine. Besides he is always looks like he is ready to gobble you up.’

Morgan shook her head, still chuckling. ‘What he wants to gobble up is the competition. Speaking of work, do you have the progress report on the launch of the new product?’

‘Yes. It's right here. Arrived first thing this morning.’ Laura handed her a file that she had had with her when she walked in.

Morgan looked over the report. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. The earlier production hiccups they had faced had been sorted out and the serum was almost ready for launch. The new product would hit the market in two or three weeks tops. A spark of excitement lit up in her, one that always came when everything seemed to be coming together.

At that very moment, her door swung open. Dan Steinberg, the head of her R&D team walked in, panic written all over his face.

‘I think you really need to see this.’ He held out a video playing on his phone.

Morgan took one look at it and all that excitement churning inside turned into instant dread.

‘How is this even possible?’ she asked as she watched the video that Dan had shown her. It was an ad for the new ‘mystery’ product that Covet Beauty had been teasing for the past three months. Only it was exactly like her new product. Content, design, even the name sounded similar. Theirs was called The It Look while theirs was The Covet Look.

‘I don’t know.’ Dan answered. He looked like he was on the precipice of a full- blown panic attack. ‘All I know is that we are royally screwed.’

‘Calm down. Go out and take a breather for a minute.’ She could feel his panic start to affect her. Right now, she was fighting every urge to get up and start pacing. Covet Beauty was a legacy brand, just like Bellini Empire. If push comes to shove, they will be a tough opponent to face. ‘Laura, call Legal and find out if we can work out a solution. And get your hand on a sample of that serum. Dan would analyze after he gets himself together. Let’s know how similar their product is to ours so we can figure out our next plan of action.’

Laura nodded and left the room with Dan and Morgan let out a huge sigh. Right now wasn’t the time to collapse under pressure. Her mind raced with a dozen ways she could salvage this situation. She picked up

her phone and started to make some calls.