Chapter 6
Liam hadn't expected Mia to suggest something like that. He snorted, muttering under his breath, "How proper."
With that, he got up, swayed a bit, and staggered off to the guest room, slamming the door shut behind him.
Those words, "How proper," echoed in Mia's mind, mixing with Gabriella's mocking voice from the airport restroom: "Ms. Steele is way too uptight and proper. She can't even let loose in bed."
A violent spasm churned in her stomach. Mia dashed to the restroom, dry-heaving over the toilet, unable to bring anything up.
In the conference room, all the executives sat up straight, the atmosphere heavy and tense.
Liam sat at the head of the table. "As for the design director position, I think Gabriella, though young, has fresh ideas and isn't afraid to take risks. She's exactly what the company needs for the future."
One of the senior executives hesitated before speaking up. "Mr. Reed, if we have two design directors, who's going to be in charge of the projects?"
"Me!" Liam snapped, his face darkening as his sharp gaze swept over the room. "I'm the one who makes the decisions here. What I say goes."
After that, anyone who so much as hinted at disagreement got put in their place by Liam, sometimes with a blunt warning, sometimes with a sly jab.
It was Mia's turn to speak.
She calmly listed all the key projects she'd landed for the company over the years, the profits she'd brought in, and the major awards she'd won both at home and abroad.
Liam let out a cold, dismissive snort. "That's all ancient history. Why keep dragging that up?"
Mia's heart twinged, but she kept her expression perfectly composed.
She suggested, "Alright, let's talk about now. For the project we're bidding on, Gabriella and I will each form our own teams. In three days, we'll hand in our designs, and the client gets to choose whose plan they want. Fair competition, sounds good?"
Liam narrowed his eyes at her for a moment. "Fine."
But when Mia got back to her office to call her team together, she found out Liam had sent all her team members over to back up Gabriella.
Mia paused for a moment, then just chuckled.
He wasn't just helping Gabriella climb the ranks. He was making sure Mia had to fight solo, setting her up for a brutal loss.
Mia stared at the initial designs on her computer screen. She didn't mind if she was flying solo.
Back when they had nothing, she was the one burning the midnight oil, getting everything done on her own.
She sat down, took a deep breath, and threw herself into the design.
Outside, the sky went from bright to dark and back to bright again. But inside the office, the only sounds were the clatter of the keyboard and the click of the mouse.
When Mia got hungry, she'd grab a few bites of bread. When she was thirsty, she'd take a sip of cold water. When she was tired, she'd just rest her head on the desk for a bit.
Late on the third night, Mia finally wrapped up all her designs and the presentation.
She went over everything one last time, made sure it was flawless, then saved it all onto a flash drive.
She was wiped out, so she just passed out right at her desk and slept like a rock.
In a daze, Mia felt herself being scooped up into a warm embrace.
Her first reaction was to struggle, but she froze when a soft voice murmured above her head.
"Easy, don't sleep here. You'll catch a cold. Let's go home." It was Liam's voice, filled with a tenderness she hadn't felt in so long.
Days of pent-up frustration and exhaustion finally overwhelmed her, and she couldn't stop the tears from falling.
She thought he didn't care about her anymore. Maybe all the trouble and pressure were just his way of trying to prove he's the boss.
Clinging to that last bit of hope, Mia let herself relax in Liam's arms and soon fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
By the time she woke up, daylight was streaming through the windows.
Mia shot up in bed, only to find herself in the master bedroom.
She immediately checked her pocket. The flash drive was still there.
She quickly washed up, changed, and headed to the office, feeling confident.
But when she pushed open the conference room door, the client's representatives were already packing up.
Mia froze, a bit stunned. "Sorry, did I miss it?"
Gabriella let out a soft laugh. "Ms. Steele, the presentation's already over. The client's time is precious, so we moved it up an hour."
No one told her it had been moved up one hour earlier.
Her heart dropped, but she refused to let herself fall apart now.
She walked up to the front, plugged in her flash drive, and said, "It's fine. As you're all here, allow me to present my design concept and proposal."
She opened her presentation and began walking them through her ideas.
Her explanation was clear and her reasoning solid. Her designs not only met every project requirement but also showcased a distinctive blend of culture and artistry.
But as Mia spoke, everyone started giving her strange looks. Even the client's rep was frowning now.
She paused and looked at the client's representative. "Mr. Moore, is there something wrong with my design?"
The client's rep shook his head, a hint of irritation in his voice. "Ms. Steele, your design itself is fine. The problem is, your whole concept and the designs are a carbon copy of what Ms. Burke just showed us."
Exactly the same? Mia was frozen in shock, just standing there.
"No way! I did this all on my own!" Mia protested.
"On your own?" Liam finally broke his silence, his voice cold as ice. "Then how do you explain why your proposal is almost exactly the same as Ms. Burke's?"