He Stole My Jade, I Exposed His Affair

Chapter 4

I hate betrayal more than anything, and I never let a slight go unavenged.

Forgiving Howard once was already the height of my mercy. There's no way I'd ever forgive him a second time.

Besides, I firmly believe a leopard can't change its spots.

And sure enough, Howard lived down to my expectations. He pretended to delete all of Giana's contact information, but in reality, he was still secretly meeting her in all sorts of ways.

I hired a private investigator to collect evidence of their trysts, and at the same time, I took over full control of the Davis Group on my father's behalf.

I had been swamped with work for months, and I never expected that someone would rob me blind right under my nose.

Before I decided to take over the family business, my lifelong dream had been to become a jewelry designer.

I had dozens of unreleased design drafts stored in the study at home. The next time I heard news of Giana, it was that she had joined a project under the Hayes Group under the title of jewelry designer.

When I saw my shoddily produced works hanging on models in the live stream, a sharp ringing buzzed in my head. I immediately hit the gas and drove straight to the press conference venue.

By the time I arrived, the models had already finished showcasing the pieces, and Howard was greeting the reporters on site full of vigor and confidence.

The chief designer sitting right next to him was none other than Giana.

I was trembling with rage, and without a second thought, I rushed up and interrupted the conference.

"Howard, passing my work off as that of your little kept canary? You've got some nerve!"

When Howard saw me, a flash of panic crossed his eyes, then he quickly regained his composure.

"Kara, what on earth are you rambling about? All these works are Giana's. We've been funding her this whole time, and everyone has seen how talented she is. You're the one trying to steal her work. I did this for your own good, making the call to release the pieces ahead of time on her behalf."

Just then, Giana started sobbing. "Miss Davis, I know you don't like me, but you can't wrong me like this. I drew all these drafts day and night."

The media on site immediately turned all their cameras towards me, and the crowd of unknowing onlookers who'd swarmed to the event shot me looks of contempt.

"I wasn't aware Miss Andrews had studied drawing. How about you design the simplest style of necklace for us right here, right now?"

I'm not someone who can be taken down with a few half-baked words.

Seeing this, Howard pulled Giana behind him to shield her at once.

"Kara, how much longer are you going to pick on this girl just because of me? You're the esteemed young lady of the Davis Group. How can you be so vicious? Giana is a talent I've trained for my own company. I know better than anyone whether or not she has a gift for design."

The two of them played off each other perfectly, their act seamless.

Watching the tide of public opinion shifting in his favor, Howard gained the confidence to risk everything in a showdown with me.

He went on to accuse me.

"You're far too possessive. You cut off Giana's funding over a trivial matter. She didn't even have money for college, so she had no choice but to trade her work to me for cash. Then, when you found out, you wanted to steal all her designs from her.

"Kara, you have everything. Why would you pick on a girl who's just started college like this? Everything I've done today is cleaning up your mess, and now you have the nerve to come here and make even more trouble!"

I laughed in exasperation. "My conduct is above reproach. Rest assured, I will have plenty of opportunities to prove to the public who the real author of those design drafts is. You, on the other hand, have the nerve to spin cheating on me with a girl who's barely even an adult as some kind of virtuous, blameless thing. Have you forgotten the sight of you kneeling on the ground begging for my forgiveness?"

My words carried weight, sending the entire venue into an uproar. All eyes turned to Howard and Giana, now filled with scrutiny.

Howard's face flushed red instantly, choked with shame and rage.

"Kara, you've lost your mind! If you keep this up, don't expect me to marry you!"

"Great," I replied loudly, "that couldn't be better."

This response caught Howard completely off guard, leaving him stunned.

I knew exactly why he was so bold and unafraid. When he was secretly meeting Giana, he had told her I was a simp who could never live without him.

Giana, for her part, had smugly sent me a recording of those words, and followed it up with more provocation. "Simp, get out of my way already, simp."

I stared straight at Howard, the warmth in my eyes gradually fading to ice. After a long moment, the corner of my mouth tugged up in a cold smirk.

I dialed the number of a senior executive at Davis Group.

"Uncle, take back all the benefits we've given to the Hayes family. That ungrateful cur deserves to go bankrupt."