Chapter 3
In the second photo, Ethan’s arm was around Olivia’s waist as they stood at the entrance of a boutique hotel.
This time Olivia was completely speechless.
“I can explain!” Ethan suddenly spoke up.
“Olivia had too much to drink that day, so I sent her back to the hotel!”
“Sent her back to the hotel?” I laughed.
“Did you send her to her room?”
“No!” Ethan waved his hands frantically.
“Just to the lobby!”
“Really?” I took out my phone and played a recording.
It was the voice of the hotel receptionist:
“Room 312, two guests, check-in time 10:15 PM, check-out time 10 AM the next day.”
The room fell dead silent.
“Anything else you want to explain?” I looked at both of them.
Ethan and Olivia exchanged a glance, neither daring to speak.
“Very well.” I put away my phone.
“Since you’re not saying anything, I’ll take that as an admission.”
With that, I left them standing there staring at each other.
A week later, it was the studio’s annual design exhibition.
The exhibition was held at the downtown art gallery, with over 500 attendees, all important figures in the fashion world.
I sat in the VIP section, with Ethan next to me, wearing exquisite makeup and the dress I had personally designed.
“This year’s Best Creative Award goes to our assistant designer, Olivia Wilson!” the host announced.
The audience applauded as Olivia walked onto the stage, beaming.
She looked especially beautiful today, wearing a white evening gown with flawless makeup.
“Thank you everyone!” Olivia took the microphone.
“This year our design department has achieved great results…”
She started playing a PowerPoint presentation. The first part showed normal design works.
I was about to applaud when suddenly the tone changed dramatically.
My early failed design cases appeared on the big screen.
A huge meme was added, with the word “FAILURE” written prominently.
The whole room burst into laughter.
“Haha, Rachel’s design back then was really ugly!”
“How much did that exhibition cost again? $500,000?”
“It’s still hilarious to think about now!”
The murmurs in the audience grew louder. Everyone was looking at me, some snickering, some pointing and whispering.
I sat there, expressionless, watching my past failures being displayed as a joke on the big screen.
Even worse, Olivia on stage pretended to be flustered:
“Oh! I’m so sorry, Ms. Green! This was an old template that wasn’t deleted properly! I’m really sorry!”
But while she apologized, her face showed a hint of smugness. It was clearly intentional.
Ethan not only didn’t stop it, but laughed along.
He covered his mouth, laughing so hard he was bent over, almost to tears.
“Ethan, you find this amusing too?” I turned to look at him.
“No, I just…” Ethan was still laughing.
“Just remembered that project from back then…”
People in the audience started commenting loudly:
“Rachel’s work quality has really declined these past few years!”
“I heard she’s lost quite a few projects!”
“She’s just riding on her past reputation now!”
“If it weren’t for her dad’s connections, she would’ve gone bankrupt long ago!”