Chapter 377

"Hey, you know Bruno?" Isabella asked, kinda hesitant.

Ophelia just shot her a look full of disdain, clearly not in the mood to spill any beans. Instead of answering, she snapped back, "How long you think Nina and Isabella Jewelry's gonna last? How long can Nina keep it together? If I were you, I'd sell it off cheap before it totally crashes. You clawed your way up from the bottom; I get it. Folks like you, once you get a shot, you hustle hard to climb the social ladder. You wanna rebrand yourself, ditch that lower-class image. But Ms. Miller, you know what's really important in life?"

Isabella stayed quiet. She didn't need to think twice to know Ophelia wasn't about to say anything nice.

Ophelia shook her head, smirking. "It's self-awareness! But sadly, neither you nor Nina get that you can't really break into high society. Relying on men won't cut it."

Isabella frowned, couldn't help but snap back, "Nina's originally a lady from the Jose family."

Ophelia scoffed, "The Jose family? If I remember right, they came from some small place too, didn't they? It's a joke."

Isabella knew whatever she said, Ophelia would just mock her.

"And you?" Isabella shot back, "From what I know, you've always been a slacker. Besides your decent background, haven't you been living off Nathaniel all these years?"

Ophelia laughed, full of scorn. "I'm not like you. Everything Nathaniel has is because of me; everything you have is from pleasing men. There's no comparison."

"Enough. Instead of wasting time yapping with me, you'd etter go back, check Nina and Isabella Jewelry's assets and selling them off cheap," Ophelia said, smoothing her hair as she walked away.

Isabella stood there for a moment. Amy came running back, looking downcast. "I couldn't stop Ms. Hawkins. It's really over this time."

Thinking of Ophelia's smug face, Isabella frowned and asked Amy, "Is it true if we don't secure this deal, the company's really in trouble?"

Amy nodded, looking serious. "Yeah. That whole Harmony Jewelry mess really screwed us over. Even though Esme later cleared things up, it still left a nasty mark on Nina and Isabella Jewelry. In design, being called a copycat is the worst. Once you're labeled, your future work's always under suspicion. Plus, Harmony Jewelry's been secretly messing with us, ruining a bunch of our deals. Nina worked hard to land Ms. Hawkins."

Isabella said, "Nina never told me about this stuff."

"Nina's been under a ton of pressure. We all see she genuinely wants the company to thrive. She never told anyone about the hurdles she faced," Amy sighed. "I really like the company's vibe and Nina. She always manages to encourage me, making me feel like I'm not so inadequate. My colleagues and I all want to keep the company going while Nina's away. But with things going south like this, I really don't know how heartbroken Nina will be when she gets back."

Isabella thought for a moment and patted Amy's shoulder. "We'll figure something out. There's gotta be a way."

Already freaked out by Nina vanishing, Isabella now felt totally swamped with all the extra drama hitting the company.

She spent the whole afternoon at the office, sifting through all the papers on Nina's desk, but she was still clueless.

Victoria had already jetted off on an afternoon flight, and the deal between Victoria and Harmony Jewelry was a done deal.

How the heck was she gonna win back this order? Isabella was seriously stressed.

Seb, who had snuck up behind her at some point, bent down and hugged her from behind. "What's on your mind? Sighing like that."

Feeling suffocated, Isabella spilled everything to him.

Seb pulled up a chair and sat next to her. "If it doesn't work out, I'll invest. How much do you need, a few million?"

"This isn't just about money." After a pause, Isabella suddenly remembered what Ophelia had said. "Besides, the Landon Group and Nina and Isabella Jewelry are in totally different leagues. I don't want people saying I'm just leaning on a guy to do business."

What Ophelia had said earlier was harsh, but it hit home.

Nina was the eldest daughter of the Jose family; after going back home, she had Richard.

But what about Isabella? Sure, she had Esme, a famous designer, as her mom, but besides Seb and Sweetie, she had nothing. In this light, she did seem like a leech, always relying on Seb. If they ever split, she'd be left with zilch.

Seb grabbed her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed it. "Silly, what's mine is yours. We're getting married; no need to be so formal."

Isabella pushed him away. "That's not what I meant. I just feel..."

Halfway through her sentence, Isabella suddenly paused, then leaned closer to Seb, pressing her nose to his collar and sniffing.

"Perfume? And it's a woman's?" Isabella asked.

It wasn't that Isabella had a super sharp nose, but the scent was too obvious. And this perfume wasn't hers, nor could it be Seb's.

Isabella sniffed again. "Is it gardenia?"

"Is it?" Seb's confused look didn't seem fake. He pulled up his collar and sniffed. "I don't smell anything."

Seb thought for a moment and said, "It's very faint. Maybe it got on me from one of the assistants during a meeting."

Seb said it casually; Isabella listened casually.

In fact, besides the perfume, she often smelled a scent of aromatherapy on Seb's shirts.

Isabella had asked Marvin; he said that in psychological therapy, aromatherapy was often used for hypnosis.

The scent on Seb was very unique and rare, mixed with a faint medicinal smell. Isabella knew he had been disappearing frequently lately, and he must be secretly undergoing treatment.

Having come this far with Seb, she was committed to spending the rest of her life with him, so she would trust him and thought it might just be a coincidence.

Isabella said, "I'll be spending the next few days at Nina's company. No matter what, I have to do my best to get the collaboration back."

Seb didn't stop her or discourage her; he just asked, "Need my help?"

Isabella firmly shook her head.

Seb said, "Alright. If you need help, just holler."