The Unforgivable Mate

Chapter 4

Rustle...

A stack of drawings was flung into the air and scattered around.

Pulling a long face, Asher Taylor crossed his fingers and snapped, "What are these people in the design department?"

Owen, the director of the design department, was standing in front of the desk with trepidation. Wiping the cold sweat off his forehead, he intended to defend himself but heard Asher continue, "All the previous masterpieces should be displayed in the most prominent place in the hall within an hour. The losers at the design department will see what real designs look like."

Owen nodded, came out of the CEO's Office, and hurried to carry out the order.

After all the design work was put into the display case, Owen nodded in satisfaction and looked back. "Hey, come over!"

"You, that janitor! Come here!"

Olivia looked around, confirmed that only she was doing the cleaning in the hall, and trotted over.

After she came in, the man in black-rimmed glasses glanced at her badge and said, "Olivia, right? I have an important task for you, which is cleaning the showcase. No stains or fingerprints should be on it. If I find it poorly maintained, you'll be fired."

Olivia's attention was all on the designs. She didn't listen to what the man was saying.

These were the best works of the Taylor Group since its establishment.

She recalled the days before she was imprisoned. She learned to draw from copying those famous jewelry designs. Not impressed by her creations, Aiden thought it was a waste of time. In his view, it was easier to make money by copying.

Owen left after giving his instructions. Olivia saw fingerprints on the glass and tried to clean them with the rag.

Just then, a group of well-dressed employees came over.

"Why did our boss want to showcase these previous works?"

"These are treasures of this company. Look at that Heart of the Ocean. That was created by Christy Moore! And she has been creating more great works."

"It's reasonable to showcase Christy's works, but why is Jackson Stiller's Angel Eyes among them? That piece of work is controversial, and his other works are just average. It's definitely not considered a masterpiece."

"That's right. Since the controversies over the Angel Eyes, Jackson hasn't produced any works for almost two years."

"Maybe he is depressed by the negative reviews."

Olivia, who had been standing there listening, retorted when she heard that, "That's not true. The jewels designed by Jackson are distinctive, and not everyone can appreciate his unique style."

But to the ears of those who had mocked Jackson, she seemed to be ridiculing their taste.

Vivian, who had just taunted Jackson the most, sized her up and sneered, "That's funny. I never thought my taste would be judged by a cleaning lady someday."

The others echoed her, saying, "We're professionals at least, and a cleaning lady wants to give us a lecture. Perk up your ears and listen, guys."

"We'd like to hear your opinion, cleaning lady."

"Rachel, I'm just a janitor, while they're all designers. Won't it be like teaching the fish to swim?"

Rachel saw through her hesitation and encouraged her, "Ollie, be brave! You have a lot of knowledge about jewelry!"

Olivia's face burned, and then she voiced her opinion in a methodical way. "Jackson is never troubled by traditional design thinking, and he doesn't follow the market trend to create homogeneous works. His Angel Eyes is unique, and the visual conflicts he uses are impressive. Even though it's not sold at a high price as the Heart of the Ocean is, it has garnered positive reviews from major jewelry magazines."

"Wow, that's a brilliant comment."

Vivian folded her arms on her chest and sneered, "If Jackson is as good as you say, why didn't he create more works? At the end of the day, his inspiration has dried up."

"If you've been following Jackson, you should know that he creates a masterpiece every two years. Usually, he just designs custom jewelry. Besides, he was mentioned in Bead and Glitter last month. I suppose you've read the famous magazine."

Olivia had been following various designers in the jewelry industry, and Jackson was one of her favorite designers.

Someone nodded and said, "That's true. I saw him in a magazine a few days ago."

Vivian's face changed. She usually just skimmed through magazines and never paid attention to the words.

Even so, she would not admit her inferiority to a cleaning lady.

"Humph, you're just a lowly Omega who is only worthy of lowly work. Wake up, and do not go beyond yourself. It's ridiculous to pretend to be knowledgeable after reading several magazines."

Vivian then left with a disdainful look.

Olivia was confused. She had just stated some facts. Did this woman have to be so angry?

It was just an episode. She soon forgot about it and continued her work.

"I see. Thank you for recommending that obscure designer's work to me. I've copied it and handed it in." Vivian talked on the phone while looking at herself in the bathroom mirror, "How am I doing today? Argh, terrible! An Omega in the company blathered in front of me just now. All her knowledge comes from magazines, and she flaunted it in front of everyone..."

She stopped halfway through her speech.

Olivia was standing in the doorway with the bucket in her hand. She gave Vivian a thoughtful look before she came in to do her work.

"Hello? Why did you stop?" The voice came from the other end of the phone.

Vivian came to her senses before she hung up the phone and fled.

...

The design department was on the 16th floor, and the employees were having their lunch break.

The cleaner in charge of this floor was on leave, and the supervisor sent Olivia over.

"Yo, isn't this the cleaning lady who gave her opinion? You're in charge of this floor today?"

Olivia looked back and saw the brown-haired designer she had met at the showcase in the morning. Before she could respond, footsteps were heard.

Vivian came into the office and changed color at the sight of Olivia. She thought of what happened in the bathroom, wondering if Olivia had overheard her talk on the phone.

She trotted to her cubicle and then came up with an idea. She shouted, "Ah, where is my Cartier bracelet?"

"What? What's wrong?" The employees came in one after another, concerned when they heard that.

"My bracelet was in this compartment, but it was gone after I came back from lunch."

As soon as her voice died away, all eyes were on Olivia.

Vivian looked at her and said in a pretentious tone, "You're not trying to get back at me by doing this because I said something unpleasant at the showcase, are you? I can give you everything you want, but that bracelet was bought for me by my boyfriend. Can you give it back to me?"

If Olivia couldn't figure out what was going on, then she had served prison time for nothing.

"I didn't take your stuff. Pull up the surveillance if you don't believe me," Olivia said in a calm tone. That was something she would never do.

"Return it to me now, and I won't hold you accountable. If you escalate this, you'll be fired."

"That's right. Everything was fine. Why did theft happen when you're on duty?"

"The surveillance broke down. Someone will come to fix it in the afternoon. You took the chance to steal things, didn't you?"

Olivia panicked because there was no evidence or witnesses. The working area was empty just now. What should she do?

Vivian's keen eyes captured the panic on Olivia's face. She disguised her smug look and said, "Admit it now, or I'll call the police. I'm pretty sure the company will not tolerate thieves!"

Olivia bit her lip, knowing that this woman was giving her a hard time because of what happened today. However, there was no other evidence to prove her innocence.

"My wolf, what should I do? How can I prove my innocence?" Olivia was perplexed.

"Don't panic, Ollie. Calm down!"

Olivia cooled down as soon as she heard Rachel's voice.

Just then, the deep voice of a man, as euphonious as the cello, came over, which broke the standoff. "What's going on?"

"Mr. Taylor!"

Startled, Olivia looked up and met a pair of dark eyes.

It was him! The man in the elevator!

"This cleaning lady had beef with me. She stole my bracelet and refused to admit it," Vivian accused her.

Asher's eyes fell on the stubborn face of Olivia, and he asked, "Is that true?"

"I didn't steal anything from her!" Olivia said, stressing each word.

She hadn't planned to wrestle with Vivian, but the latter kept pressing her just because of a trivial matter.

She retold what happened in the morning and added at the end, "It's my first time cleaning this floor. I didn't even know where she was sitting at. Besides, I just finished cleaning the conference room next door and came in to see this brown-haired lady. The others were following me to come in. I didn't even have time to steal. Although the surveillance here is broken, you can pull up the surveillance outside and check the time I came out of the conference room."

After she finished her methodical statement, Asher sent his assistant to confirm it.

"I'm curious about what kind of opinion Olivia expressed that rendered a designer we've spent no money to hire speechless?"

Asher's curiosity was piqued. His gaze moved back and forth between the two women.

"Designers' works are different, and so is everyone's taste," Vivian said with feigned composure.

"Oh? So, whose work was in dispute?" He pressed on with an interesting look and turned his head, asking, "Who else was there? What did they say?"

"Olivia thinks Jackson's work is excellent, and Vivian thinks it's average," a designer said.

Asher raised an eyebrow in understanding. "Why do you think Jackson's work is excellent?"

Olivia met his inquisitive gaze and braced herself to say, "Jackson doesn't follow the trend. His works are unique. The colors he uses are bold and offbeat. The shapes of the jewels he designed are remarkable and eye-catching."

Asher curled his lips in satisfaction and handed a design draft to her. "Look at this design. What do you think of it?"

The others all gasped in shock.

Their boss had never asked anyone for input on any design.

What was the background of this cleaning lady?