Hiding Behind Her Superficiality novel Chapter 31

Chapter 31 Defending Her Dignity
Callum embraced Elspeth tighter and sneered coldly, “That’s fine. We’re not that desperate to work with you anyway.”
“We’ll see!” Dominic scowled nastily as he glared at Callum viciously before departing in a huff.
Elspeth didn’t expect Callum to speak up for her, and she swallowed the retort that was at the tip of her tongue. Instead, she turned to him and asked, “Hey, are you my knight in shining armor?”
Callum felt his heart skip a beat when he glimpsed at her smiling face, but he quickly looked away and grunted, “I can’t just sit back and watch my employees being molested.”
She knew his reticent character, so she stopped teasing him as she went straight back to business. “What should we do now? Our collaboration with the Alphascape Group has gone up in flames. This is such a mess.”
“I’ve already prepared a Plan B just in case. So, even if we lost the collaboration with Alphascape Group, it wouldn’t do much damage to us.”
“Plan B?” She was intrigued. “What is it?”
“I’ve decided to work with a foreign company. It’s a little more costly than we expected, but it’s still well within our budget.”
“Why not Azure Corporation?”
Callum paused for a second before asserting, “They have always been mysterious, and there’s no pattern behind their collaboration with others. As far as I know, their president has always made decisions based on their whims. So, I think it’ll be a waste of time to make an appointment to meet the president.”
A waste of time?! He honestly didn’t know the definition of perseverance even if it hit him, did he?! How could he give up just because she refused him once?!
Elspeth snorted. “Hmm, I’ll take care of it. I can guarantee to be able to keep in touch with the president of Azure Corporation tomorrow.”
“You?” Callum suddenly looked at her with a deep gaze.
She ignored his disbelief as she already had a plan brewing in her mind. “Alphascape and Azure are evenly matched, and they are the biggest and strongest competitors against each other in the jewelry market. So, if we can work with Azure Corporation, not only can we expand our market, but we can also give Azure Corporation a hand to develop their business and suppress Alphascape Group. Don’t worry. I’m sure the president of Azure Corporation will not refuse this kind of win-win situation.”
As he recalled the relationship between Elspeth and Harper, he nodded in agreement.
“Alright, then. I’ll contact the president of Azure Corporation in a moment.” With that, Elspeth rose to her feet and left to make the proper arrangements.
Everyone had assumed that Winthrop Group would face a slight financial downturn for some time after the failed collaboration with the Alphascape Group. Yet, to everyone’s surprise, Winthrop Group suddenly announced the news of a partnership with Azure Corporation.
Thanks to Elspeth as one of the masterminds behind this alliance, the official announcement of the collaboration was set in two days. A week later, the jewelry was officially sent into production.
She had planned to pre-sell some of them first. Then, if the response from their target audience was good, they could officially put their pieces into mass production.
Ten minutes later, she was suddenly called into the president’s office.
“Elspeth, that pre-sale jewelry…” Callum looked at her face and announced, “It is sold out within five minutes.”
“Really?!” Elspeth exclaimed in surprise.
“Yup. Not only that but there are also several comments on our official page demanding they be sold as soon as possible.”
She hurriedly clicked on Facebook and saw that the news of Winthrops’ jewelry sale was trending. She clicked on the comments and skimmed through the netizens’ replies.
‘Oh my goodness, the jewelry is stunning!’
‘Stunning is an understatement! The new jewelry wins among all the jewelry of this style.’
‘I still think Angel’s design is the best, although Winthrop Group’s products are quite eye-catching too.’
‘Angel’s products are extremely difficult to come by. You should be grateful to have a designer who can make something similar to her style.’
The comments went on and on.
As she scrolled down, she suddenly frowned as she read the latter comments.
‘Wait a minute. Don’t you think the jewelry is rather familiar? Angel’s prized work in last year’s international jewelry design competition is 70% similar to this!’
As she read the comments, a terrible premonition rose inside her.
‘We want a refund! We don’t want a plagiarized product!’
‘Yeah! She should just stay as a singer! Why did she have to be a jewelry designer? What a joke.’
At this moment, the phone in the office suddenly rang. Callum answered the call, and whatever he heard caused him to frown. When he hung up the phone, he said faintly, “The sales department is receiving a large number of refund orders.”
The news didn’t fluster Elspeth. After a long silence, she enunciated, “Tell the sales department to start selling ‘First Sight’.”
As he regarded her resolute stance, he knew that she had a trick up her sleeve, so he immediately informed the sales department to begin selling ‘First Sight’.
Once the jewelry was put on the shelf, the comment section on Winthrop Group’s official page was bombarded by hundreds of complaints and criticism.
‘What the hell?! Not only do they sell products that are almost similar to Angel’s, this time, but they also didn’t even bother hiding that they’re copying Angel’s work! This is ridiculous!”‘
‘Winthrop Group is really disgusting.’
‘They should fire the designer! But don’t tarnish the company’s reputation!’
Callum’s frown deepened when he read the comments, but she reassured him with a faint smile when she noticed that he was worried, “Trust me. I’ll turn this into a huge win for the Winthrop Group’s entry into the jewelry market.”
It was supposed to be a jewelry sale in the afternoon, but after the controversy, it instantly became a press conference. Everyone wanted to know how Winthrop Group was going to deal with this.
The reporters raised their cameras and clicked their shutters. They didn’t want to lose a single detail.
Elspeth took the microphone and slowly said, “The jewelry design is a—”
“Hold on!” a person interjected before she could even begin her speech. “We want to know why you copied Angel’s work! Don’t you have your own inspiration?”
Elspeth looked at the camera and said confidently, “I didn’t plagiarize her work.”
However, the woman who interrupted her obviously did not believe her words as she bellowed, “‘First Love’ and ‘First Sight’ are extremely similar to Angel’s award-winning design, and ‘First Sight’ is a completely fraudulent work! May I know how you’re going to explain yourself?”
Elspeth raised her eyebrows as she looked at the woman’s smug grin. “Have you ever thought of the possibility that I am Angel?”
“You’re lying! Angel has never made a public appearance and has always been abroad. You’re not Angel!” The woman barked at her with a ferocious glare.
Elspeth looked at her with amusement and chuckled. “What if I can prove that I am indeed Angel?” How does she know that I’m not Angel since Angel’s identity has never been revealed?
The woman snorted derisively, “How can you prove it? It’s impossible that you are Angel.”
Elspeth shook her head and took out a golden pen with large diamonds from her pocket. It seemed to be worth a king’s ransom.
Some people in the hall recognized the pen and gasped in awe, “This is the design that won the gold medal in the international design competition! She may really be Angel!”
Someone stepped forward and took a closer look at the pen. The logo engraved on the pen was indeed the official logo of the international design competition.
“Oh my, Angel! She’s really Angel!”
Elspeth ignored the crowd’s shock as she turned to the woman and asked, “So, do you still want to accuse me of plagiarism?”