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1683 Words
Gracie didn't know what Joe was up to, but she nevertheless said. "Y-Yeah, I brought it."
“You want revenge for what your ex-fiancé and best friend did to you right? Marry me, and I’ll help you to take revenge.” Joe said.
“W-What?” Gracie was completely stunned by Joe’s sudden proposal.
No wonder there was a courthouse across the street and Joe picked that place purposely and instructed her to bring her passport since he wanted to marry her.
"Leave now if you don't want to." Joe opened the door for her to go.
Gracie quickly responded as she gripped onto the door handle, scared that Joe would kick her out of the car, "I-I didn't say anything like that.”
"That means you're ready." Joe said with a sneer on his face. "Let's finish this up quickly. I have a meeting.”
Gracie couldn't imagine that someone would be rushing to marry her. She was flabbergasted. She held on to the car door and looked at the man in front of her. She asked without taking a breath, "Why do you want to marry me? Why me? Why so quickly?”
"Isn't this a business conversation? You need help getting back at your cheating fiancé and best friend and I need a wife. I think it's a fair deal.” Joe’s voice was relaxed and sounded real.
There would be no more future for her and Clive anymore. Because of Joe’s background and prestige, marrying him would not cost her anything, no matter what he sought from her. She had a look of determination in her eyes. "Deal!"
She would make sure to take down Clive and Winnie.
****
Within five minutes, they signed the marriage certificate.
As they walked out of the courthouse, Gracie said. "Mr. White, let's talk about working together..."
Joe suddenly stopped walking and turned to face her. Gracie could see that Joe’s look was getting colder by the second through his sunglasses.
"You need to get used to your new persona from now on. Is that correct, Mrs. White?”
Joe put his arm around Gracie’s shoulder.
Gracie was in a trance for a short while.
"Give Luke the jewelry draft, he'll take care of it.”
After that, Joe let go of Gracie and got inside the car.
Gracie followed, but instead of getting in the car, she stayed outside.
"Is there a problem, Mrs. White?" Joe turned his head to gaze at her. His phone was vibrating in his hand, waiting for him to pick up.
"H-Honey? Can we keep our marriage a secret for now?” Gracie asked. "I still have some personal things to take care of, so it won't take long."
She couldn't see Joe’s eyes because he was wearing sunglasses. It was hard for her to tell what mood he was in and what he was thinking.
"Come to Zenith Group before 6 pm later," Joe said before picking up the call.
"Okay?" Gracie nodded and the car door was shut by Joe. She saw the Rolls-Royce drive away, but it wasn't time for her to relax yet. She still had to fight.
She had meal first and then bought some new clothes before calling her driver, to come pick her up from the boutique and head back home. Clive called her a few times during that period, but she didn't answer.
Clive’s PA, Kenneth Holt, rushed up to Gracie as soon as the car stopped in her compound. "Finally, Ms Swan, you're here! Mr. Jones is going mad trying to find you”
"What's wrong?" Gracie asked.
Kenneth shook his head. "I don't know, but it seems important. He asked me to bring you.”
Only Clive, Winnie, Kenneth and Gracie’s assistant designer, Jade Myers, knew that Gracie was the designer and the one who always broke sales records for the company.
Gracie could hear Clive’s loud voice when she got to his office.
"You're with her every day, and now you're telling me you don't know where she is? What kind of assistant are you then?“
After that, they heard Clive smash something hard in his office. This made Gracie frown. "He can't find me, so he's taking it out on my assistant?”
Gracie knocked and walked inside Clive’s office. Kenneth knew he shouldn't be here, so he shut the door behind her and left with Jade. She wasn’t surprised to see Winnie in Clive’s office.
Bang!
A cup broke just next to Gracie’s feet. The broken bits of porcelain even touched her skin and it bled.
Clive yelled, "where did you keep your phone? I’ve been calling you for a long time now.”
Gracie looked down at her foot and then gently raised her head. "What's the matter?"
"Where are the new jewelry designs draft? We can't find it. Do you know what day it is? You choose to walk about instead of creating more designs.”
Clive looked at where Gracie was looking and saw the little cut on her instep. He felt bad but then he remembered the competition that was coming up, which was more important to him than the wound.
Gracie wasn’t even surprised that Clive was after the draft of her new jewelry design rather than care for her even when it had been long they saw each other. She wondered how he’d behave when he found out she was already aware of him and Winnie’s affair and her marriage to Joe White.
This was going to be so much fun.
"Isn't the competition starting tonight? I thought I had more time, so I bought some new outfits to get ready for it.”
Winnie next to Clive giggled before he could say anything. "Why? Do you also want to attend?” She asked.
“Can't I?" Gracie asked back.
Winnie’s smile got bigger. "That's not it. I'm just scared that you won't fit in. Also, didn't you stay away from doing things like this in the past? Yeah, you've never enjoyed these places or wanted to be famous. You can wait for our fantastic news at home! Where are the design drafts now?”
Clive walked up to Gracie and reached out to pat her shoulder, but Gracie moved back so Clive wouldn’t touch her.
Clive stopped, and the envelope that Gracie was holding right away caught his attention. "Is this the draft?”
“Yes.” Gracie responded.
Clive took the bag from her and looked it over before giving it to Winnie.
Winnie took it and looked at it. She smiled with satisfaction.
Gracie saw that the couple was excited as they looked at each other in front of her. It will not take long now before she expose them. But for now, she still had to play along as if she didn’t know they were having an affair and their plans.
"Clive, I’ll like to attend the competition this time around. can't I come tonight?" Gracie asked.
Clive blanked out for a while and then grimaced right away. "Gracie, what's wrong with you? Did you forget about your scandal three years ago? You..."
“Of course, I remember, but….” She paused.
Clive didn't say anything.
"It’s fine if you don’t want me to come. Good luck to you tonight!" Gracie said with a smile. After that, she turned around. "I'll head back home now."
Clive quickly nodded. "Okay. I’ll see you later.”
Gracie curled her lips and sneered. She called Jade on the way, and Jade on the other end sounded worried. "Are you okay, Ms. Swan? Mr. Jones has been looking for you for all day.”
"Yeah I’m fine. Jade, did you get the things I asked you to?"
"It's ready, but you've changed Shiny Pearls design a lot,” Jade inquired with concern, "Are you sure it’s okay?”
Jade had worked for Gracie for a long time and knew for sure that she must have made modifications in the designs of shiny pearls new jewelry for a reason.
"Do you believe in me?"
"What do you mean? Of course! I believe you, but are you sure you won't compete in person?”
Even though Jade knew the answer would be no, she had to ask again. She understood how hard Gracie worked to make each new designs.
Gracie had done a lot of best-selling jewelry, but no one knew about her because Clive was the star and took the credit as the designer.
Just thinking about it made Jade angry. Gracie grinned because she knew Jade was on her side.
"Clive and Winnie will get the shiny Pearls drafts later. Just do what I told you to do. Thanks, J." Gracie said.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of it!"
Gracie turned into Zenith Group's subterranean parking lot once she hung up the phone. Zenith Group was a huge building. The parking lot was even big.
Luke was already there, waiting for her.
"Ms. Swan, come with me, please." Luke said as soon as he saw her.
As the elevator took them to the office, Luke told her what was going on. "We've sent the project department the design drafts. Your shiny pearls jewelry will be added to the other two Zenith Groups jewelry for the competition.”
"Really? Thanks." Gracie nodded with a smile.
Gracie spotted Joe seated behind his big desk at his office. There were a lot of documents on the table. When they walked into his office, he was going over the documents.
Joe looked up as they came in. Gracie was a little anxious at that moment.
"Come here." Joe dropped the documents on the table.
Gracie came forward to where Joe was.
Joe squinted and looked down at her feet. "Are you hurt?"
Gracie suddenly remembered the wound on her feet from Clive’s office. The wound wasn’t deep just a little scratch. She was going to tell Joe that she was okay when her body suddenly felt lighter and she fell down.
Joe quickly held her before she fell to the floor.
- Writer
