Take Me Away novel Chapter 72

Fiona felt intimidated by Charles the same way Spencer intimidated her. She said, "The size of diamond doesn't match the ring. If we follow the original design, it will affect the company's profits severely. Besides, it might affect the shape of the ring."

Charles gave a slight nod after listening to her explanation. "That's a very good assessment. Professional designers need to have that kind of attention to details."

"Thank you, Mr. Wen," Fiona replied with a nod.

Sophia poked Fiona on the waist and teased, "Charles usually doesn't praise people. You probably don't even have to wait to graduate to get a spot here!"

Her voice was not loud, but it was audible enough for all three of them in the meeting room. Embarrassed, Fiona gave Sophia a sideways glance before looking at Charles. But the faint smile on his lips reassured her that everything was fine. After sighing with relief, she turned to Sophia and reminded her to keep quiet.

"Mr. Wen!"

Just then, the door of the conference room swung open. In burst Allen Du, the company's design director, who looked like he was sweating bullets. He was older than Charles by a few years but he regarded him with utmost respect. "I heard that the design was flawed..."

Charles threw a folder in his direction and it landed before his feet with a loud thud.

Upon seeing Allen, Charles' faint smile turned into a blatant scowl. "See for yourself! How could you make such a simple mistake? The meeting with the board members is about to start. How do you intend to fix the issue? Tell me!"

Allen wiped the sweat on his forehead and replied, "I'll take back the papers and have them redone."

"Do you think we have time for a new design? Huh?" Charles raised an eyebrow. "The design has already been sent to the factory. Do you see what you've done? You know that we imported the gems for the new collection. You know how much they are worth. I don't want a repeat of this mistake! Next time, if you want to quit your job, just tell me! I can easily replace you with someone younger and more ambitious!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wen." Allen bowed. "I promise I won't make the same mistake."

"Withdraw the design from the factory now. Suspend the manufacture of this ring collection. We'll resume production with a new design!" Charles narrowed his eyes. "Also, tell my secretary to cancel the meeting. I'll have to explain this myself to the board members."

"Yes, Mr. Wen."

Without saying a word, Charles dismissed him with a wave of his hand. Allen rushed out of the room, looking a bit relieved.

"Well... do you want me to put these documents away?" Sophia asked Charles.

"No, I'll have someone else do it. Go and get some rest," Charles answered.

"As you wish." Sophia nodded and nudged Fiona to leave.

"Goodbye, Mr. Wen," Fiona said as they walked to the door.

"Wait!" Charles suddenly called out. "F City International Jewelry Exhibition will open in a few days. Tell Allen to select one or two people to attend the exhibition with the purchasing department. Inform me once everything's ready."

'F City International Jewelry Exhibition?' Sophia thought.

"Isn't that the biggest jewelry exhibit in the country? The one that's exclusive only to the biggest names in the industry?" Sophia asked excitedly. "It's the jewelry show that has more diamonds than attendees, right? I heard that thousand-year-old ores will be up for display!"

"You heard right." Charles smiled. "Would you like to go, Sophia?"

"Can I?" Sophia walked up to him and grabbed him by the arm. "Can I go with you, Charles?"

"Of course." Charles nodded.

"Can Fiona come with us? I think she'd like the exhibit, too! We can all go together!"

Blushing, Fiona muttered, "Sophia..."

"Well, do you want to go?" Charles asked Fiona.

"I..." Fiona hesitated for a moment but realized that it was a good opportunity to study design. She looked decisively at Charles and replied, "Yes, I do want to go."

"Then that's settled. You two can go." Charles smiled at them. "Go with the purchasing department."

"Yes! This is awesome!" Sophia almost jumped to her feet. She ran back to Fiona with excitement. "Fiona! Fiona! We're going!"

"Yes." Fiona smiled, happy to see Sophia so hyped. She turned to Charles and said, "Thank you, Mr. Wen!"

Charles merely put his hands in his pockets and shook his head. "It's nothing."

Two days later, at the tea room of ZR Company's design department

"Have you heard that Mr. Wen gave the last two slots for the exhibition to the interns?"

"Are you talking about the girl who doesn't speak to anyone?"

"That's her! She must be sleeping with Mr. Wen!"

"Oh my God, you're right! Why else would she be allowed to go?"

"And there's also that intern who always calls Mr. Wen 'Charles.' She was also told to attend. What do these interns have over us?"

Celine had heard the news as she passed by the tea room on her way to Charles' office. Walking past them in her high heels, she couldn't help but frown.

Reaching the door to the office, she knocked before entering.

"Come in," came the voice from inside.

"Here are the documents you asked for, Mr. Wen. I've arranged them all for you," Celine said as she walked towards Charles.

"Put it here." Charles didn't raise his head and kept to his work. When he didn't hear a response from Celine, he looked at her, only to see a bitter expression on her face. "Anything else?" he asked.

"Being able to go to jewelry exhibition is a great opportunity for any of the designers in our department. I think the slot should go to a full-time employee and not just some intern. I hope you'd reconsider," Celine said seriously and frankly.

Charles set aside the pen in his hand and stared at her with a knowing smile. "Are you talking about Fiona?"

"Yes," Celine nodded. "I think it's a total waste to send her to the jewelry exhibition when we have more capable designers to represent the company."

"Ha-ha!" Charles laughed as he leaned back to his chair. "Why are you so against Fiona? Is it because of personal reasons? You look jealous, Celine. There's no hiding it from me."

"Jealous? I'm not jealous!" Celine protested. "Why would I be jealous of her?"

"Because she's young, she's married to Spencer. And maybe..." Charles stood and walked up to her. "You're jealous because you think she could surpass you in jewelry design someday. Did I get anything right? Tell me."

It was as if Charles' words had pierced through Celine's heart. She was jealous of Fiona and it was driving her mad! She had returned to the country after six years, expecting to finally have everything she'd ever wanted. She didn't expect that there would be a girl named Fiona who would stand in her way.

Sensing that Celine was getting more and more tense, he smiled at her and said, "I can help you, you know. I can send you to the exhibition and help introduce your work to important people. You used to climb into my bed for things like this." Charles placed a hand on Celine's shoulder and continued, "How did you get the silver award for the Gold Smith's Craft and Design Competition? Have you forgotten?"