NovelUSAChapter 206 Isadora's first official day on the job began the next morning.
Following the address Rowena had sent her, she found herself standing in front of a rather shabby office building. She took the elevator up to the third floor, and after spotting the "Seafarer Designs" sign on one of the doors, she let herself in.
A young woman at the front desk immediately stood up when she saw Isadora walk in, eyeing the newcomer with polite curiosity.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtIsadora's outfit was understated but elegant-a blue, mid-length blouse paired with a crisp white pencil skirt. A narrow gray belt accentuated her slim waist, and a black designer purse rested on her shoulder. Her whole presence gave off a cool, refined air.
"Hi there, are you looking for our manager?" the receptionist asked.
Isadora glanced around the space. The office was small, maybe just over a thousand square feet, with two tiny private offices and one open workspace. There were only five desks in the main room, and two of them were piled high with rolls of white drafting paper-abandoned designs, by the look of it, likely rejected by clients.
This was even more dismal than she'd expected.
"Yes, I'm here to see Rowena." At that moment, Rowena emerged from one of the offices, beaming. "Isadora, you made it!" She turned to introduce her. "Wendy, this is Seafarer Designs' new partner-your other boss, actually. You can just call her Isadora." Wendy, the receptionist, now gave Isadora a more respectful look. "Nice to meet you, Isadora. I'm Ms. Blaine's assistant." Rowena seemed like she wanted to chat more, but glanced at her watch and realized she was running late. "Isadora, I have a meeting with a potential client about a design proposal I arranged a few days ago. I'll catch up with you later- Wendy will show you around and get you settled." Isadora nodded. "Of course. Go ahead." Rowena grabbed a stack of sketches and headed out, but paused at the door. "Oh, by the way, the other office is yours. I tidied it up yesterday." Wendy looked to be in her early twenties-bright, cheerful, and eager to help. She gave Isadora an enthusiastic rundown of the company's history, from its founding all the way up to the present.
Isadora listened intently, and drew her own conclusions: there were no clients. None. She couldn't help but wonder if her ex-husband had deliberately tried to sabotage them. Every tthey were on the verge of landing a contract, something always went wrong at the last minute-the client would suddenly back out.
If her investment didn't cthrough this month, Seafarer Designs might not even make it to the next. And even if it did, given how things were going, the company wouldn't survive much longer.
At lunch, Isadora sat at her desk, propping her head on one hand, sifting through names of potential clients in her mind. Her other hand idly traced lines on a sheet of draft paper with a pencil. When she finally noticed what she was drawing, she realized she'd sketched Victor's sharp, angular profile.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmShe stared at the paper, momentarily lost in thought. His words from the day before echoed in her mind: "There's no one else. Just you."
Did that mean he hadn't been seeing anyone else while he was with her? That so-called childhood sweetheart must must have simply thrown herself at him.
But what did that matter, really? It just meant that, for now, she held his interest. Even as the true daughter of the Vaughan family, she was nowhere near the sleague as the Fitzgeralds-those pillars of high society. And besides, she'd spent twenty years as an outsider before being recognized by her birth family. With a little huff, she lowered her gaze and, out of spite, grabbed an eraser and rubbed out the lines of Victor's face from her sketch.
Suddenly, Wendy, who'd been scrolling through the news on her phone nearby, let out a shout.
"Oh my God! Dr. Gideon Solstrand-the famous surgeon and Elise Harrison, the illegitimate daughter of the Harrison Group, were just sentenced to ten years in prison for kidnapping and blackmail!"
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