She Said Yes To Her Cheating Ex’s Rival

05

Joe put Gracie on the desk chair and walked away to get some alcohol swabs and ointment. He cleaned her cut and carefully put some medicine on it.

Gracie’s skin felt cold as ice after she put on the ointment. She stared at the man in front of her, who had his head down and was concentrating on putting on the ointment. It looked like nothing to Joe since he had a blank look on his face.

Clive had never done anything like this for Gracie before, though, because he didn't care about her.

After putting on the ointment, Joe looked up and observed that she was lost in thought. "What is it?"

"Nothing..." Gracie shook her head and swiftly put her feet down. "Thanks."

"Thanks, but you don't have to say it because you're my wife. There's one thing I hope you'll remember, though," Joe added as he put the cap back on the tube of ointment.

"What is it?" Gracie asked.

"I don't care about the past, but now that we're married, you know you can’t be close to Clive anymore. And..”

"I know!" Gracie cut in before Joe could continue. "Don't worry. I promise to be loyal in this marriage. I hope you will too.”

Joe raised his eyebrows since he didn't think she would have the guts to ask for anything.

"I know our marriage is only good for you. I don't know what your goal is, but I hope we can stick to some rules in this marriage. I can accept divorce if you fall in love with someone else, but I won't put up with cheating in marriage." Gracie said again.

She had already been let down once. She would never let that happen again.

Joe lifted his eyebrows. "Sure."

She became lost in contemplation for a second when she saw him smile. She thought, "This man is God's greatest work of art. Not only does he have an amazing business mind, but he also looks perfect."

She had once turn Joe’s offer down, but she didn't think she would marry him. Maybe her bad luck had lasted so long that it finally started to turn around.

“Let’s go. It’s time for the competition.” Joe said.

“Okay.”

****

Gracie and Joe got to the location of the competition. She didn't think Joe would come here in person. This competition was nothing for Zenith Group, after all. Their jewelries usually only competed in competitions outside of this country.

Gracie just happened to see Clive’s car parked at the entrance to the building from inside Joe’s car. His hair was groomed and he was wearing a dark blue suit. He was good-looking, and as soon as he got out of the car, he turned around to help Winnie get out with care.

Gracie’s lips curled up in a sardonic smile. She was making fun of herself. She couldn't believe how blind she had been previously to think Clive loved her.

"Hope you’re good?"Joe turned his head and inquired while holding her hand.

Gracie shook her head. If she stepped out of the car holding Joe’s hand and walked in front of Clive and Winnie, they would be astonished. Even so, it wasn't what she wanted. It wasn't enough at all.

This was not the time she wanted them to know Joe was now her husband. She wanted to get back all the things she had done for Clive; the work she had done over the past few years, plus interest. Even if it wasn't a big competition, there was still a certain way to do things.

•••

To make sure the competition was fair and unbiased, the judges were specialists from different provinces in the business. Two hours before the competition started, each company's representative brought all of the jewelry that were going to be in the competition.

The judges would score and judge the quality of the jewelry. The results were in, but they hadn't told anyone yet.

Gracie did not go into the venue. She and Joe had a private VIP room. There was a big projection screen in the room that showed what was going on at the venue live.

Clive and Winnie were riding high, as if they had already won the honors. Gracie sat silently and observed. "Do as much laughing and smiling as you can, Clive and Winnie. Soon, days like this will be over.”

The lights in the hall got a little dimmer, which means the judges will shortly announce the winners. The crowd who were talking and having fun with each other switched their focus to the stage. As always, the event began with small prizes.

Clive was sure the jewelry Gracie created would win, because she had won a competition three years ago.

While clutching Winnie’s hand, he confidently stared at the podium.

The host cleared his throat and said, "We will announce the first, second, and third places in the competition." He then added, "Before we announce the winner, I want to stress that this competition is fair, just, and open. There won't be any limits. Any corporation, no matter how powerful, might enter the competition as long as they met the qualifications. We also want to let everyone know that the creator’s personality is more important than the jewelry. We will do everything we can to stop and find anyone who is accused of plagiarism.”

Gracie, on the other hand, tightened her grasp on her wine glass in the VIP room. She pressed her lips together as she watched Clive and Winnie on the TV.

Winnie and Clive know that what the host said had anything to do with them. Clive even started an applause.

"That's right! Even though C&C Group is a tiny business, we have always been dedicated to being innovative and coming up with new ideas. In this field, copying someone else's work is wrong,” Clive remarked, "We don't like that kind of behavior, even if the end result isn't good."

“Exactly.” Winnie added, in support of what Clive said.

People in the audience clapped, and reporters took the chance to shoot images that looked good together. But the host seemed serious when he asked, "Does that mean C&C Group guarantees that its entries are original and real?"

"Sure!" Clive said with confidence. He soon realized that something was wrong with the whole enterprise.

His company had taken part in a lot of competitions, but the presenter had never asked him those kinds of questions directly. He didn't want to say anything else, even if Gracie had made the designs, not him. Even yet, he still believed that the jewelry designs were original.

He looked proud again when he thought about this.

"Hmph." Gracie quietly sniffed, "He sounds like a good guy."

The emcee looked at Clive, then at the crowd, and remarked in a serious voice, "But there is an issue.

Two businesses have entered their identical design into the competition, and the names of the products are even similar.”

The host didn't immediately call Clive out, but they had just asked C&C Group. if they were being honest. Anyone may have guessed who the host thought had copied someone else's work. But no one knew who the other business was.

Clive’s face changed again. It would be even worse for his company to get caught plagiarizing than to not win an award.

The judges thought that C&C Group was being dishonest in front of a lot of other companies and industry media. As soon as word got out that they had plagiarized, it would harm their reputation.