The Billionaire's Pretend Wife (Isabella)
Chapter 61 Sixty One

Hearing Naomi's absolute words, Grace felt helpless. If the client was against using Isabelle's design, what else could she do?

When she had first received the rejection notice, she had thought it was something to do with the design, even though no clear commentary had been made on what Green Leaf found unsatisfactory. But now, after meeting the person who was in charge, she realised the design wasn't the problem. The designer was.

The CEO excused himself, and Naomi left with him. There was clearly no space for further negotiations.

It was either that the Larson Group presented a draft from a different designer, or the collaboration was off. The customer always came first, so Grace would have to go back and send them the second-best design from the submissions.

"We should get back," she told Isabelle. "Let's talk about it at the company."

She couldn't imagine how disappointed Isabelle was to have her design rejected for some trivial reason. She had worked so hard on it, and even though Grace hadn't worked with her for long, she could tell that she was quite passionate about her work.

They stepped back into the elevator to head to the ground floor. "It's okay," Isabelle told her as they began the descent. "She will never accept my design. You should choose another draft for the project." Grace sighed, not happy that a serious project was being derailed because of what she could tell was a personal grudge. "She acted like she had a grudge against you. Have you ever offended her?" Isabelle nodded. "You could say that."

Grace sighed again. How unlucky were they to meet a client who couldn't draw a line between their professional and personal life?

Was that any way to run a business? After what she had seen about the woman who was in charge of the project, she was sure working with her would not be easy. Or maybe it would once Isabelle was out of the picture.

"This is unfair to you," she told Isabelle. “You rightfully won the opportunity to be on this project. Green Leaf are making a big mistake by letting you go because of some personal vendetta. If they don't prioritise quality, at the end of the day, they will be the ones to suffer."

The elevator doors opened and they stepped onto the ground floor. Grace looked at her watch and realised that it was about time for her meeting with another client.

"You'll have to get back to the company without me," she told Isabelle. "There's a client I'm meeting elsewhere."

"Thanks for coming with me," Isabelle told her as they parted. "At least now I know there was nothing wrong with my design."

Grace gave her a gentle pat on her shoulder. "You're truly talented, and hard working too. Don't let anyone make you doubt yourself. I'll see you at work."

Isabelle nodded and watched her go. Before Isabelle could leave the building too, she noticed Naomi walking towards her. She must have taken a different elevator down.

Isabelle sighed, not being in the mood to entertain her sister anymore. "What do you want?"

Naomi's lips curled in a sneer as she came to a stop in front of Isabelle. "You're still so naive, aren't you? When will you realise that the success or failure of a woman depends on whether she has found the right man or not? My boyfriend gives me everything I want. I can even bar you from the industry if I want."

Isabelle crossed her arms over her chest and scoffed. "Is that so? You've had quite a number of boyfriends, how far along have you come?" She tapped a finger on her chin thoughtfully. "I recall that you dumped your first boyfriend because his family went bankrupt. You left the second one because he developed a serious ailment, and the third...ah. His parents were arrested." She tilted her head as she studied her sister's suddenly narrowed eyes. "Forget your failure and success, I believe you bring bad luck to everyone you date."

Naomi folded one hand into a fist and took a threatening step forward. "Watch your mouth."

"I wonder what bad luck you'll bring to this one who gives you everything you want," Isabelle mused, undeterred by the furious look on her sister's face.

Before Naomi could spout further nonsense, Isabelle walked past her and made it outside the building. Naomi went after her, probably desperate to have the last word. But Isabelle hailed a taxi and left her fuming on the front steps of the company building.

***

That evening at home, Jacob noticed that Isabelle was in a low mood. She hadn't said much after coming back from work, and as they had dinner, she picked her food, her mind seeming to be elsewhere. Since she had been okay when she left in the morning, he figured something must have happened at work.

"Is something wrong?" he asked eventually, hoping he could fix whatever was bothering her. He had fired the director who had been giving her a hard time and hired a new one. Isabelle wasn't still being bullied at work, was she? He would never tire of getting rid of anyone who caused her grief.

She looked at him and shook her head. "It's nothing," she said, "just some work stuff."

Well, that was his specialty, wasn't it?

He gave her a smile and arched an eyebrow. "You still consider me an outsider, don't you?"

"Uh?" she mumbled.

"Do you not want to share what happened since you still regard me as a stranger?"

"Oh, I... No, I..." she trailed off and sighed. "There is this new project at work. It's a collaboration between our company and another one called Green Leaf. All the designers in my department submitted drafts, and mine was chosen for the project. But when the director sent it to Green Leaf, they rejected it and demanded a redesign."

Jacob frowned. He had never known a design from the design department at the Larson Group to be rejected anywhere. If anything, other companies would give anything to have designers from Larson working on their projects. "Did they say why they rejected it?"

Isabelle sighed again. "Well, that's the thing. They rejected it because I was the designer behind it. My sister is in charge of the project over at Green Leaf."

"What?" That was absurd.

Isabelle shrugged. "You already know that she doesn't like me. I accompanied the director to Green Leaf to discuss the drafts and ran into her. She made it clear that if I was the one working on the project, her company would rather cancel the project. The CEO so happens to be her boyfriend, so he did what she asked. Now, the director has to send them another draft."

"That's not right," Jacob said, clenching his jaw.

Isabelle smiled sadly and waved her hand in dismissal. "What's done is done. I'm sure I'll have a go at another project soon."

Jacob shook his head. He refused to let Isabelle's hard work go to waste just because of her evil sister. "Don't worry, she won't be arrogant for long."

He already knew what to do to put her in her place.