Chapter 394
She whipped around and shot Marina a vicious glare, then let out a huff at Niamh, her indignation barely contained as she stormed out of the hall.
Now, Marina stood alone–completely isolated.
All around her, people whispered and pointed, their judgment thick in the air.
She heard them say that even injured, Niamh was leagues ahead of her.
She heard them call her a fraud, a liar.
Marina desperately wanted to cover her ears, but it was pointless–even if she blocked out the noise, their stares told her everything she needed to know.
She knew she was finished.
She’d planned to use this antique restoration competition to destroy Niamh’s reputation for good.
Instead, it was her own career that lay in ruins.
And not just her career…
Marina’s gaze trembled as she looked for Jonathan.
The moment their eyes met, she saw Jonathan turn away, unable to face her.
It was like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over her head, chilling her to
the bone.
What did Jonathan see when he looked at her now?
A failure?
A compulsive liar?
A schemer?
A fool?
Tears welled up, sparkling and hot, spilling down her cheeks as she covered her face and fled toward the exit. In her hurry, her heel twisted and she stumbled, nearly falling.
Niamh watched Marina limp away, her gaze icy.
Serves her right, Niamh thought coldly. Some people dig their own graves.
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Chapter ya
Only when Marina’s ridiculous, stumbling figure had finally disappeared did Niamh turn away–only to find herself face to face with Jonathan.
“Your hand isn’t hurt,” Jonathan said, his voice calm and measured.
Niamh met his eyes, unflinching.
Of course her hand wasn’t hurt.
She was a renowned designer. If both her hands had been shattered, there was no way she could have performed so flawlessly today.
That night, Niamh had noticed two cars tailing her.
Her instincts screamed that they were after her–and they knew exactly what they were doing.
Fortunately, she’d had the necklace she’d designed for a client in her purse. The client had requested a last–minute change, so she’d put the finished piece back in her bag.
Her current car wasn’t powerful enough, nor had it been modified. There was no way it could outrun those two German sedans behind her.
Thinking quickly, she called Elmer while pulling the necklace from her purse. She snapped the chain, rolled down her window, and tossed the gemstones out onto the road.
Just as she’d hoped, the two cars slowed down, probably debating whether to stop and pick up the scattered jewels.
It worked.
While they hesitated, Niamh floored the gas and veered onto a side street, putting as much distance as she could between herself and her pursuers.
In the end, they caught up to her anyway–but by then she’d already abandoned her car and slipped into a nearby gas station.
Elmer traced her location and found her quickly, even managing to catch one of the thugs following her.
Under Elmer’s not–so–gentle persuasion, the thug handed over a contact account and confessed their orders: they were supposed to destroy Niamh’s hands.
The first name that sprang to Niamh’s mind was Marina.
Elmer asked what she wanted to do. Niamh decided to play along, to turn the
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Chapter 394
tables.
She faked an injury, curious to see how Marina would react.
Sure enough, Marina swooped in, trying to poach her clients and even challenging her to a live restoration contest.
Niamh showed up with her hands heavily bandaged, determined to prove in front of the whole industry that even injured, she was still better than Marina.
Everything had played out exactly as she’d planned.
What she hadn’t expected was that Marina, cornered, would resort to falsely accusing her of theft.
But Niamh seized the moment, revealing her credentials with BYC, and it was Marina who ended up cornered, with no way out.
Now, Niamh and Jonathan locked eyes.
That Jonathan would seek her out didn’t surprise her in the least.
After all, she’d humiliated Marina so thoroughly today–if Jonathan didn’t come to defend her, he wouldn’t be Jonathan.
19:51 #3
“So you think I bullied Marina?”
