Dark Revenge Of A Jilted Bride: Till Life Do Us Part!-Chapter 52: Negotiations II

Was she demanding too much? Gianna contemplated, while the silence loomed in the boardroom, cutting into her skin, penetrating deeper with every passing second, making her almost wish that she hadn’t vied for Vance’s rights, that she hadn’t pushed her luck. He would have thought the same too.

Almost. Because she didn’t.

Vance needed to be paid full commission for his work, which bettered her idea of a collection, refined it, sharpened it—and would, if it worked, bring much revenue to the company, more than their wildest imaginations had dared to calculate.

"Gianna Aldo..." Arthur finally broke the silence, his voice measured, too calm to be harmless. "I hope, for your sake, that you are not taking advantage of the company’s leniency to you and your peculiar situation?"

His eyes pinned her in place. "I hope you are not getting prideful..."

A pause followed, intentional, sharpened. "Because that would be a problem—might puncture the very beautiful relationship we share."

Gianna knew a threat when she saw one, recognized it in the cadence, in the way his gaze didn’t soften. But she pushed it aside, tagging it under words borne out of pressure, stress, expectation—and shook her head.

"Not at all, Mr. Arthur. I wouldn’t do that. I am just asking for a good rate for my partner..."

She bit her lower lip under his chastening gaze, feeling suddenly aware of every movement she made. "He needs the pay more than I do."

She didn’t elaborate further, but seeing the cock of Arthur’s brow—and even the subtle shift among the others in the room—she knew he was beginning to see that there was a motive.

Would probably do some research on Vance, to know what exactly the motive was... but she wasn’t bothered, so long as it made him agree to her demands.

She heard him sigh, that agreeable grunt of his, familiar now, and knew she had won him over. She held back the smile tugging insistently at her lips. They might count it as smug.

And she wasn’t that—she was just feeling very victorious.

"Alright then. I will be holding you to your promises... considering you have raised my expectations so high..."

She smiled then, tilting her head in a slight bow, respectful. "Thank you, Mr. Arthur. I won’t let you down, I promise."

Arthur nodded, reclined fully into his seat, watching her with open assessment. "Do you need anything else?" he asked. "You know, to make your work easier—seeing you are a very huge investment now?"

It was said playfully, lightly enough, and so Gianna risked a chuckle, breath escaping her. "Not at all. I have everything I need, thank you."

She looked around the table, winking at Daphne, who gave her a thumbs up—subtle, her hand almost level with the table—winking too at a smiling Mason.

She could even wink at Richard with the way she felt, emboldened, buoyant.

And she did.

Almost purring when the latter bristled before excusing himself from the floor, as if her wink had lit some fire in his tail.

"Meeting dismissed," Arthur said.

But when Gianna got to stand up, he asked that she wait a little.

"I have some things to discuss with you..."

Gianna frowned somewhat but sat back down, her mind already wondering what her boss wanted.

When the room was emptied—including Mason, who had been just as curious—Arthur leaned forward and, for a few seconds, just watched her.

Gianna met his gaze, proud of her willpower to look into those sharp grey eyes without flinching.

"You are really making waves, Gianna... I’m sure you are aware of that..."

Gianna said nothing. Had no answer to that. Didn’t even know if she was required to speak.

"If you deliver on your promises, you will be the best designer in the country, and our company will be tagged along... it will be a great achievement to see in my time."

He paused, got to his feet slowly while she watched curiously, waiting for him to land at the point.

"I want that, Gianna. I want that."

"And I will give you that, Mr—"

"Arthur, when we are in private..."

Gianna swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. "I promise to give you that, Arthur... the best. It’s true I can be bold and impulsive, but I really appreciate you taking me in when I dumped myself at your company’s footsteps. None would have..."

Arthur chuckled heartily, turning to look through the window, to the streets far below. "Whitman might have... if they haven’t poached you already, they will poach you soon..."

Gianna shook her head. "They have already. I refused them."

Arthur looked at her then, confusion causing his brows to knit. "I would have thought you would like to work for Zane, considering you share mutual friends."

Gianna shrugged, easy, unbothered. "We do, but we are not friends. And I don’t want to depend on handouts—don’t want people relegating my rise to stardom to nothing, to think I am at the top because I had been helped... nepotism and all..."

Arthur nodded slowly. "You are definitely a different young lady. I can see why my boys are out for you..."

Gianna rolled her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest, knowing exactly who he was talking about. "I don’t have anything to do with them."

Arthur bobbled his head. "I know that too. Noah’s act was just a step into the biz scene. A well executed plan, which benefited you both—still benefiting you both... your social accounts have tripled in following, orders on our sites skyrocketed too... sure you have noticed?"

Gianna hadn’t. She had been too busy designing. But it would make sense, she thought.

"You are fast becoming an A-list celebrity, Gianna..."

His voice was... she couldn’t pinpoint the actual emotion she was getting. Grave? Sad?

"Would that be a problem, Arthur?"

Arthur shook his head slowly, returning to gazing at the streets below. "Not at all. It will be good for the company."

Silence reigned for a few seconds, in which Gianna wondered how long she was supposed to stay here.

"My boys... which will you pick?"

Gianna wasn’t comfortable with the line of this conversation. Was this an interrogation of some sort?

Mason was his blood son. Noah was his sister’s son—his nephew. He called them boys, but did he treat them the same way? If he did, why had Noah left the country?

"You are struck between two roads already?" he turned to her again, a small smile on his lips.

"Or is it three? After the marriage fiasco with Zane, I had a feeling you both had history... was I wrong about that?"

More uncomfortable. Gianna needed to make a getaway. She wanted out.

She inhaled, leaned forward, aware of his baring gaze on her. "Would my answer to these recent questions affect my work in any way? Or how you see my designs?"

A pause... then Arthur laughed, bellyful, surprising Gianna. "You, my dear, are really a breath of fresh air. Don’t mind this old man seeking drama... I was just curious. You can return back to your work."

Gianna happily stood. "Thank you."

In the hallway, though, she found her mind drifting back to those questions—and why they had come.

Why had Arthur been curious? Did he want her near the boys or not?

Her mind conjured up Herbert and his distaste for her and her unpopular family, the first time Zane had introduced her as his girlfriend.

She shook the memory away. Evil Herbert was dead, and so was whatever thread had bound her and Zane together.

At the door to her office, she paused, deciding to tell Vance the good news—only that she didn’t know where his office was. Did he even have an office?

She opened the door, popped just her head in, catching Lottie eating chocolate, typing away on the system.

"Hey, Lottie... do you know Vance’s office?"

Lottie startled, dropped the chocolate on the table, hand flying to her chest.

Gianna smiled. "Apologies..."

"No problem, Miss Gianna. I’m just clumsy." She picked the chocolate bar again. "First floor. That’s where most designers are. They share offices too... cubicles, somewhat..." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Gianna already got the picture. "Thank you." And she was out.

In the elevator, she smiled when her phone dinged with a message from Athena. See you in a few hours!

Finally. She mused, smile widening, whatever tension lingered dissipating away. She couldn’t wait.

Her steps were lighter as she strolled out of the elevator when it stopped at the first floor, to the station where basic designers worked from—cubicles, just as Lottie had said, filled every space her eyes took in.

Boards separated large spaces from the other. Assistants or marketing specialists. She thought as she watched them work on their systems. They didn’t look like designers.

So, where are the designers?

Then she saw the row of doors at the far end of the floor, by the right.

Without speaking a word to those on the floor, except returning greetings, she strolled purposefully to that end.

And when she opened the first door, she was greeted with the sight of a hall rather than an office, lined with more cubicles, only larger than the usual; just enough space for a designer but not personal enough.

At her entry, every designer, about seven, stopped whatever they were doing and looked at her.

Without asking, they knew who she was looking for—envied Vance, actually, for snagging the attention of Gianna Aldo with his ugly designs. They could never understand how that had happened.

"I am looking for Vance..." Gianna said when her eyes didn’t catch his beautiful hair or eyes.

"Right here."

The mutter came from behind her, startling her.

"Damn, Vance!" she cussed as she turned aside to face him. "Sneaking up on me now..."

Vance smiled, albeit nervously, not used to being the center of attention in a place where he was considered a pariah.

"Not at... all. Just came in... from the restroom. Is there a problem?"

Gianna smiled then, making Vance’s eyes twinkle with hope.

"They approved it?"

Gianna’s widening smile was just the answer Vance needed.

So happy was he, he didn’t know when he hugged her, tight.

"Thank you so much, Gianna!"