CEO’s Regret After I Divorced (Serena and Ryan) novel Chapter 328

Chapter 328: Chapter 328 A Familiar Voice

Author’s POV

Maya’s office phone shrieked like a banshee just as she was reviewing the latest gemstone shipment samples. The moment she heard her assistant’s panicked words about Elegant Realm terminating their contract, her blood pressure went through the stratosphere.

"What? Because of a plagiarism accusation from three fucking years ago?" Maya gripped the edge of her desk, knuckles going bone white. "Not just pulling the plug on the contract, but threatening to drag us to court for fraud?"

Rage and disbelief duked it out in her chest. The plagiarism scandal had been Serena’s nightmare three years ago—before her disappearance. LUXE had managed to bury most of the fallout publicly, but within the industry, the rumors had spread like a cancer.

Time was supposed to heal all wounds, yet this particular accusation seemed burned into their reputation like a brand. Now even international jewelry studios were digging it up like fresh gossip.

"How can they just bail without even talking to us? We had a deal!" Maya snapped, shooting up from her desk. "Elegant Realm’s director has returned to her home country, right? Get me connected with her—I need to set the record straight."

Her assistant looked like she’d rather be anywhere else, shaking her head apologetically. "Mrs. Quinn, I’m really sorry, but they’re stonewalling all meeting requests."

Maya let out a bitter laugh. "So they won’t even give us a chance to defend ourselves? This Mrs. Lancaster must be a real piece of work."

After mulling it over for a hot minute, Maya decided to take the bull by the horns. "I’ll contact Mrs. Lancaster’s assistant directly. Send me the digits."

"On it, Mrs. Quinn."

Minutes later, Maya was pleading her case to Mrs. Lancaster’s ice-cold assistant, desperation creeping into her voice. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Please tell Mrs. Lancaster that the plagiarism thing from three years ago was a complete frame job. Someone deliberately threw Lazuli under the bus. There was absolutely zero plagiarism involved," Maya insisted, her voice climbing with each word. "Lazuli’s work has been phenomenal from day one, garnering widespread acclaim. She’s racked up tons of international awards—why would someone of her caliber ever need to steal?"

Maya couldn’t help getting emotional. Anything involving Serena always shattered her professional cool.

"Mrs. Quinn, I get your concern," the assistant replied with robot-like patience, "but Mrs. Lancaster feels strongly that the plagiarism issue will torpedo future collaboration. This isn’t my decision to make."

"If you agree to kill the contract now, maybe we can avoid a legal bloodbath."

Maya sighed like her soul was leaving her body, frustration mounting. "This partnership is make-or-break for LUXE. I can’t just waltz back to my company and say it’s over. There must be another solution."

After a beat, the assistant remained unmoved. "I’m really sorry, Mrs. Quinn, but this is way above my pay grade."

"Then give me Mrs. Lancaster’s direct line," Maya demanded, patience going up in smoke. "I’ll explain it to her myself."

The assistant’s continued brick wall routine pushed Maya to her breaking point.

"Alright, Mrs. Quinn," the assistant finally threw her a bone. "But heads up—Mrs. Lancaster has absolutely zero chill when it comes to plagiarism. It’s her nuclear red line."

"Thanks for the warning," Maya replied through gritted teeth, "but I’ll say it till I’m blue in the face—Lazuli never plagiarized jack shit." She hung up before the assistant could respond.

Within minutes, Serena’s assistant had sent over a phone number. Maya took a deep breath to get her shit together before dialing.

Serena’s blunt shutdown stung, her hatred for plagiarism practically radiating through the phone.

"Mrs. Lancaster, please don’t jump the gun," Maya pleaded. "I think we need to hash this out face-to-face. What you’ve dug up isn’t the whole story. Besides, you must have hand-picked LUXE from countless potential partners for this international collaboration. Wouldn’t it be a damn shame to throw it all away so easily?"

Serena paused, grudgingly admitting Maya had a point. Without the plagiarism scandal throwing a wrench in everything, they would likely already be toasting their partnership over dinner by now. Finding another European partner would eat up serious time and resources—something Serena hated to waste.

As Cedric Lancaster constantly hammered into her, European business waters ran deep and shark-infested.

"What would meeting accomplish? I don’t see the point, Mrs. Quinn."

"Mrs. Lancaster," Maya pressed her advantage like a poker player going all-in, "this would be Elegant Realm’s maiden voyage with a European studio. If rumors spread that you’ve bailed on contract negotiations this early, other studios will question whether you’re reliable. That won’t do your company’s expansion plans any favors."

"Are those the kind of consequences you’re looking for?"

Serena sighed softly. Contract termination would indeed torch her studio’s reputation—something she definitely wished to avoid. Maya had successfully found her Achilles’ heel.

After wrestling with it for a moment, Serena finally threw in the towel. "Fine. Tomorrow at two o’clock, we’ll sit down and talk."

"But Mrs. Quinn," she added with arctic precision, "I expect you to blow my mind with your explanation. Otherwise, I won’t change my mind about nuking our agreement, regardless of the potential fallout."

Maya exhaled like she’d been holding her breath underwater, quickly accepting the terms. "Thank you, Mrs. Lancaster. See you tomorrow."