“Niamh? You… you got here even earlier than me?”
Quentin barely finished his question before realizing something was off. He quickly
revised, “Wait–don’t tell me… you didn’t go home at all last night?”
Niamh stifled a yawn and rubbed the dark circles under her eyes.
“Work is my happy place,” she said dryly.
Quentin laughed, exasperated.
“Was it a last–minute order or something?”
“Nope. Still the Luminous Divas Fashion Week.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Didn’t you already settle on a theme for LD?”
“We did. Well, we thought we did…” Niamh couldn’t help but sigh.
They chatted as they left the building, searching for somewhere to grab breakfast. As luck would have it, they bumped into Peter at the entrance of Pinnacle Youth Tower, so the three of them ended up heading to a diner together.
“Niamh, guess what? Last night, out of nowhere, Miranda actually invited me out for a late–night snack, Peter said, grinning.
From the way Peter phrased it, Niamh could tell the midnight meal was probably
about her.
“Miranda knows you used to work with me, and she grilled me about you. I saw the ring on her right hand–the middle finger. That’s your design, isn’t it?”
Niamh gave a small nod, surprised that Miranda hadn’t tossed the synthetic emerald ring after leaving her studio.
She gave Peter a quick rundown of what happened with the ring’s design the day
before.
“No wonder she’s so impressed by you,” Peter said.
“Frankly, I don’t care about her admiration,” Niamh said with a wry smile. “I just hope she doesn’t revoke my entry whenever she gets moody. But honestly, I have her to thank. After yesterday’s… push, I realized my original theme for Luminous Divas Fashion Week was–well–pretty uninspired.”
110
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Chapter 252
“You’re going to change your theme now?” Quentin was floored.
Niamh nodded.
“But the deadline to submit samples is almost here!” Quentin protested. Starting over meant tossing out all her previous work and risking running out of time–or worse, running out of inspiration under pressure.
Despite Peter’s initial wariness toward Quentin–after all, Quentin had once been Marina’s corporate spy–for once, he found himself agreeing with him.
But Niamh looked resolute, stubborn as ever when it came to her creative vision. Both men realized there was no talking her out of it.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Peter said. “Marina must’ve heard you designed something for Miranda. She’s been reaching out to Miranda herself–through Jonathan, apparently. Today, I heard Marina’s holding a private jewelry show in the VIP gallery at the DJ Art Museum. Not many people invited. Looks like she’s out to impress Miranda.”
Niamh fell silent, thinking.
Yesterday, it was Michael who brought Miranda to her studio. Clearly, Michael and Miranda were close. And Michael was also friends with Marina. If Marina wanted to meet Miranda, she could’ve just asked Michael.
But instead, Marina went through Jonathan.
Niamh shook her head, wondering why she was even hung up on this detail. Marina was about to become the new lady of The Thomas Group. If she wanted anything, it made perfect sense for Jonathan to arrange it.
“Whatever moves Marina makes, it won’t change my decision to overhaul my theme,” Niamh said firmly, steeling herself.
“Pulling another all–nighter tonight.”
“Just don’t wear yourself out in the process.” Peter’s concern slipped out as he gave Niamh a light, lingering pat on the shoulder–his hand staying there a moment longer than necessary before he pulled away.
That night, Niamh did pull another all–nighter at the office. Quentin stayed to quietly helping her organize materials so she could spark some new inspiration.
Around 4 a.m., both of them finally crashed for an hour or so. When Quentin woke up, he noticed a WhatsApp notification blinking on his phone.
It was from Marina.
