Chapter 7
The signing on Thursday went off without a hitch.
It was all there in the contract. A salary of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year, plus a 6.5 percent share of the profits.
After signing the contract, Charlotte was just leaving Starlight Tower when she ran into someone she really wished she could avoid. It was David.
He stepped out of a taxi, holding a folder in his hand, with a middle-aged man trailing after him.
The two nearly collided.
David froze, caught off guard. "What are you doing here?"
Charlotte glanced at the middle-aged man behind him, dressed in a sharp suit with a Starlight Jewelry Group badge pinned to his lapel.
"You're at Starlight too?" she retorted.
"My company sent me to drop off a partnership proposal," David said, eyeing the folder in her hand. "What's that you're holding?"
"A contract."
"What kind of contract?" David asked.
"I signed a design deal with Starlight," Charlotte replied.
David stared at her for a couple seconds, then laughed like she had to be joking. "You? With Starlight?" he scoffed.
"Yeah," she said.
"Charlotte, since when did you start dreaming big? Do you even realize what kind of company Starlight is? Every one of their designers is an Ivy League grad or—"
"Ms. Lane."
A voice came from behind.
It was Ethan, walking out of the building with two bottles of water in his hands.
He walked over to Charlotte and handed her one. "I forgot to grab you some water earlier. It's scorching out. Don't let yourself get heatstroke."
Ethan turned to David. "Who's this?"
"My husband," Charlotte replied. "For now."
Ethan gave a polite smile and extended his hand. "Ethan Cooper. I work in the investment department at Starlight Jewelry Group. Ms. Lane is the chief designer for our Aurum brand."
David's hand froze in midair. "Chief... designer?"
"That's right," Ethan replied, withdrawing his hand and glancing at the middle-aged man behind David. "Victor, is this your guest?"
The middle-aged man, Victor, hurried forward. "Mr. Cooper, this is Mr. David Clark. He's here to discuss a printing and packaging partnership."
Ethan nodded, not sparing David another glance.
"Ms. Lane, I'll head upstairs now. Just send me the first draft of your design proposal to my email next week."
"Got it," Charlotte replied.
Ethan turned and walked away.
David stood there, his face flickering with shock, disbelief, and anger. "When did this even happen? You never said a word to me."
"Yeah? Well, you never mentioned Grace to me either," Charlotte retorted.
David froze, his expression going stiff. "Who told you that?"
"Doesn't matter," Charlotte said, twisting open her water bottle and taking a sip. "I agreed to split everything, and I've already moved out. So what else do you want from me?"
"I'm not stopping you from moving out, but you're still part of the Clark family. You can't just mess around out there," David snapped.
"Mess around? What do you mean by that?" Charlotte shot back.
"You and that Ethan Cooper—"
"He's my boss. I'm just doing my job," Charlotte replied, locking eyes with him. "David, have you got this backwards or what? You're the one having an affair, not me."
David opened his mouth but couldn't get a word out.
"Go on, deliver your proposal," Charlotte said, moving aside for him. "I won't keep you."
She walked over to the curb and hailed a taxi.
Before getting in, she glanced back. David was still standing at the entrance of Starlight Tower, the folder in his hand crumpled in his own grip.
A couple of blocks down the road, Charlotte got a message from David.
David: [We need to talk.]
She didn't respond.
David: [Just so you know, you're carrying a Clark baby.]
She didn't bother to reply.
David: [Don't do anything you'll regret.]
She muted him.