Chapter 170 Do Your Best
Joanna tried her best to calm herself and said in a nonchalant tone, “That’s nothing. President Gardner is merely protecting her because the rumors are rife now. After all, if anything happens to Nicole, the Gardner Corporation won’t be able to answer to F&M Apparel.”
Seeing how Joanna was acting like she didn’t care, Queenie couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Director Schmidt, you’re still trying to lie to yourself and others at this point, huh? I might be Colton’s fiancée in name, and you know it as well that he doesn’t care about me, but he’s not the same toward Nicole.”
In order to pull Joanna to her side, Queenie even said self-deprecating things. Before Nicole was here, Queenie hadn’t bothered herself with Joanna because Colton merely treated her as a subordinate.
But with Nicole’s appearance, a sense of danger struck Queenie as Colton had never allowed a woman into his house before!
Queenie’s words dimmed the light in Joanna’s eyes, and she gazed into the distance; even Queenie could read her feelings, so how could Colton not know about it?
Seven years, Joanna thought. I’ve been in the company for seven years, which is even longer than Queenie.
Her love for this man had been ongoing for almost ten years. In the beginning, she was heartbroken when Queenie appeared, but with time, she saw that Colton wasn’t the least interested in Queenie, which was a relief to her.
She had thought that as long as she worked hard, assisting the Gardner Corporation to be the leader of the domestic fashion industry, Colton would then think highly of her. To her dismay, Nicole appeared out of nowhere.
“It’s up to President Gardner who he loves, and it’s not something a subordinate like me should meddle with,” Joanna said composedly. Turning to Queenie with emotionless eyes, she continued, “You’re more than welcome if you’re here today to ask for a custom-made dress from me, Miss Anderson. But if you’re here to gossip, I’m sorry because I’m quite busy and don’t have the time for that.”
Realizing that Joanna wasn’t the least swayed by her, Queenie frowned unwittingly. She came here to persuade Joanna to stand on her side so that they could drive Nicole out completely, but she was pretending to be holier-than-thou now.
With a smile on her face, Queenie said, “Now is the best chance. Nicole is tangled in this matter, and at least, she can’t make it for Wendy’s birthday. Don’t disappoint me, Director Schmidt.”
Joanna’s face remained unchanged. Previously, because Nicole cleared herself of plagiarism, she thought that the task of designing Wendy’s birthday dress would fall into Nicole’s hands again, but looking at the situation, it seemed like she would do it instead.
“Don’t worry. If Wendy needs me, of course I’ll do my best to complete it,” Joanna said in a diplomatic manner.
Snorting, Queenie didn’t speak anymore and turned to leave. After she left, only then was there a change in Joanna’s expression.
The dresses she designed for Wendy previously didn’t cause any ripples because they were simply for birthday parties. However, it was different this time since it was going to be Wendy’s eighteenth birthday party, and it would definitely be a grand event.
As the Gardner Corporation had a huge influence globally, the previous birthday parties had always been rather impressive, and Wendy’s eighteenth birthday would be an even bigger party for sure. At that time, all the media and journalists would be there as well.
A smirk tinged the edges of Joanna’s lips. Although she disliked Queenie, at least what she did was beneficial to her, and Joanna knew clearly the reason why she came to look for her today—it was nothing more than asking her to join her side to bring Nicole down together.
Joanna was never one to do something she had no confidence in, just as the incident with the plagiarism; she was that close to see Nicole being toppled, but things turned out this way instead in the end.
With Queenie’s flamboyant attacks, she’ll shoot herself in the foot sooner or later, Joanna thought. Why should I jump onto her bandwagon, then? Isn’t it better for me to sit by and reap the benefits of her actions?
