Sweet to the heart

Chapter 12

Emily internally cursed at the scheming man, but since he wasn’t around, she had no outlet for her frustration. She threw off the covers, got out of bed, and walked sleepily towards the bathroom.

As the weather grew colder, she felt perpetually tired no matter how she slept, and she found herself somewhat admiring Frank. After washing her face, she felt much more awake and took her time applying skincare in front of the mirror. A woman’s face is her calling card, and no matter how busy she is, she can’t afford to be careless.

After taking care of her skin, she chose an outfit from the walk-in closet, did a light makeup touch-up, and finally, slowly picked up her bag and headed out.

The company was less than a fifteen-minute walk away, so she didn’t want to waste time on commuting. It was because of the proximity that she chose this place for their wedding home.

Arriving at the company just in time, the editorial office was already empty. Every Monday, they had a routine morning meeting where Susan would lead the discussion on the week’s work arrangements.

Emily put down her bag and went straight to the meeting room with her notebook.

Lily was sitting by the door in the meeting room, craning her neck to look outside, occasionally checking her phone. The meeting was scheduled for 9:10 AM, and Susan was punctual, never allowing even a minute’s delay. With everyone else already present, Lily was worried Emily would be late.

As soon as Emily stepped into the meeting room, she saw Lily, looking excited, standing up with a cup of coffee. Lily lowered her voice and said, “Emily, you’re here! I sent you a message but didn’t get a reply. I thought you might be late.”

Emily smiled and patted her shoulder. “I was about to be late and didn’t have time to reply.”

The sound of high heels clacking down the hallway signaled Susan’s arrival, dressed in professional attire and carrying a laptop.

Lily glanced at Emily and, without saying more, handed her the coffee. “The editor-in-chief asked Shanshan to tally everyone’s coffee orders, so I got you a caramel espresso cappuccino with no sugar.”

Emily took the coffee, thanked her, and walked to her seat.

Her seat faced directly across from Lisa, who turned her head away, pursing her lips when she saw Emily approach.

Emily was accustomed to Lisa’s reaction, placed her notebook and coffee on the desk, and sat down.

Lisa had been with the company for two years longer than Emily, graduating from a prestigious university with outstanding work abilities and strong social skills. She quickly established herself at Beauty Magazine, becoming the most influential person in the editorial department under Susan, with the company’s tacit agreement that she was seen as Susan’s successor.

Lisa was thriving at Beauty Magazine, waiting for Susan to step aside, but a year ago, Emily started interning at Beauty Magazine and gradually gained Susan’s favor. Although Emily had only recently become a full-time employee, her momentum was beginning to overshadow Lisa’s.

It’s hard for two tigers to share one mountain.

From the moment Emily joined the company, Lisa had sensed the threat she posed. Leveraging her seniority, she would often give Emily a hard time, deliberately asking her to buy coffee.

To Lisa’s dismay, Emily ignores her completely, making her lose face in public.

Since then, Lisa had become increasingly resentful of Emily, frequently sabotaging her. She thought it would be a piece of cake to get rid of an inexperienced intern, but Emily was a tough opponent, clashing directly with her. Emily not only corrected errors in every article Lisa had worked on since joining Beauty Magazine but also actively offered opinions during weekly meetings, seizing many topics previously under Lisa’s purview.

Lisa was frustrated. Despite her extensive knowledge from daily research, Emily’s understanding of fashion and luxury brands far surpassed her own, putting her under immense pressure.

At the recent fashion charity gala, Susan deliberately introduced Emily to several industry insiders, making it clear that Susan intended to cultivate Emily. Lisa was unhappy and entered the office today with a sulky face, giving everyone a hard time, especially Emily.

Susan soon walked in, and the atmosphere in the meeting room instantly became serious.

Susan had a rigorous attitude towards work and expected the same from her team. During meetings, anyone could be questioned, making the weekly meetings stressful for the editorial department, especially for the new interns, who were apprehensive and kept their heads down to avoid making eye contact with Susan.

However, today Susan had more important work to discuss. She dived straight into arranging next month’s topics and then looked at Emily and Lisa. “The editor-in-chief plans to launch an additional year-end special edition this year. The main content of this magazine will differ from our current one, focusing more on art and music. This will be our top priority for the remaining two months. If it’s successful, we’ll have an extra issue each month next year. We need to be very careful in choosing the cover star for this special edition. Emily and Lisa, you two should draft a list of potential invitees after returning.”

The implication was clear: with an extra magazine issue next year, someone would have to be chosen from the editorial department to take charge of the new magazine. Currently, the only candidates for this position are Emily and Lisa.

The final choice would depend on whose proposed celebrity would be selected for the cover.

Emily nodded and began considering which stars in the entertainment industry would be suitable for Beauty Magazine but had not yet appeared on the cover.

“Editor-in-chief, I have a suitable candidate.”

Lisa spoke up suddenly. Susan looked up from her computer and asked, “Who?”

Lisa glanced at Emily and smiled confidently. “Rachel.”

As soon as she spoke, everyone in the meeting room looked up at Lisa.

Lisa straightened her back and said with assurance, “Rachel has been developing well since entering the industry, and she has not yet accepted invitations from other fashion magazines. This would be her first cover. I happened to meet her at the fashion charity gala the other day and chatted with her. She seems to already know about our year-end special edition and is very willing to collaborate with us. I believe she would be the best choice for the cover of our year-end special edition.”

With these words, it was clear to everyone that the editor-in-chief’s sudden addition of the year-end special edition was likely to promote Rachel. By befriending Rachel first, Lisa had effectively secured the planning rights for the special edition.

It seemed Emily had lost even before the competition began.

Susan did not immediately respond and looked at Emily. “Emily, what do you think?”

Emily held a pen, the tip resting on her notebook, making a dark mark. She smiled slightly and said calmly, “The cover star for December is Mary. For the year-end special edition, the celebrity we invite should be at least as famous as Mary. In terms of fame and acting ability, Rachel is miles behind Mary. She might not be the best choice.”

Lisa’s expression darkened, and Emily continued with a smile, “I do have a suitable candidate in mind, but his schedule is hard to arrange. We need to discuss it in advance before presenting it to the editor-in-chief.”

Susan glanced between Lisa and Emily. “Alright, then you both prepare further. We’ll finalize the candidates at next week’s meeting. Meeting adjourned.”

Susan left the meeting room with her laptop, and Emily approached the door. Lisa stood there with her arms crossed, sneering, “Emily, are you really that naive or just pretending? Do you think Rachel is just any small star? Even if she’s not a top-tier celebrity now, getting a cover for the year-end special edition would be easy for her. I suggest you don’t waste your time. Don’t end up offending people you shouldn’t.”

Emily took a sip of coffee and asked puzzledly, “Who should I not offend? I’m an editor at Beauty Magazine. It’s my job to plan and invite the most suitable person for our cover. How is that considered fighting?”

Lisa lifted her chin provocatively. “You can waste your effort if you like, but I’m determined to secure this year-end special edition.”

Seeing Lisa’s confident demeanor, Emily guessed that Rachel had probably already hinted at something to her. After all, Rachel was known for making ambiguous statements.

Colleagues around them stopped to watch the confrontation, fearing a clash between the two.

Lily approached Emily and gently tugged at her sleeve, trying to defuse the tension. “Emily, have you had breakfast? I bought an extra portion this morning.”

Everyone could roughly guess that if Rachel wanted the year-end special edition, she had most likely secured it already. Otherwise, Lisa wouldn’t be so high-profile. Lily was worried that Emily might get provoked by Lisa and publicly make a statement, which could damage her reputation at Beauty Magazine if she lost.

Other colleagues who were friendly with Emily were also secretly concerned about her.

Of course, some were waiting to see Lisa’s drama unfold.

“Is that so? It seems we really have the same goal,” Emily said with a smile. “I’m also determined to secure this year-end special edition. You should do your best, and don’t lose to me.”

“……”