The One He Dismissed Became The One He Died For novel Chapter 212

Inside the conference room, the employees watched Yvonne march in with overwhelming confidence, and their morale plummeted even further.

OCHH was bleeding staff, production was dead, and debts were piling up. Now the Zimmerman Group was personally knocking on their door, clearly intending to drive the final nail into the coffin.

Everyone felt that Claire's bold claim about OCHH surviving had just been shattered before it even began.

Yvonne clicked forward in her high heels, casting a side-eye at Julian, who stood next to Claire. She offered a loaded smirk.

"Julian, why are you always lingering around Claire?"

"Are you really so obsessed with a married woman that you're willing to touch the toxic wasteland that is OCHH?"

Julian pressed his lips into a tight line, forcing his anger down and keeping his composure.

"And the rest of you—" Yvonne sneered, crossing her arms as she scanned the remaining staff. "Did you see Nati's social media post and delude yourselves into thinking she was coming back to save OCHH?"

She raised her voice.

"Stop dreaming. The Zimmerman Group will officially sign Nati within three days."

She locked eyes with Claire, her tone vicious.

"Once Nati joins Zimmerman, OCHH will be entirely erased from the fashion world."

"Claire, compared to Nati, you are nothing but dirt on her shoes. Take my advice: pack your bags, crawl out of OCHH, and save yourself the public humiliation."

The atmosphere in the room hit rock bottom.

Even the legendary, elusive Nati was being poached by Zimmerman.

The last shred of hope they had clung to vanished.

Claire slowly lifted her gaze. She was entirely unbothered, her eyes cold as they met Yvonne's, laced with undeniable disdain.

Her voice rang out with absolute clarity. "Don't worry. Nati isn't joining the Zimmerman Group."

Yvonne froze, looking as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

"OCHH is completely bankrupt. You have no money, no staff, a dead production line, and massive cancellations. What exactly makes you think Nati would ever come back to this dump?"

The employees looked thoroughly defeated. She was right. Nati wasn't an idiot.

Claire pulled out her phone, casually tapped open the social media post currently dominating the trending charts, and turned the screen to face the room.

She looked at Yvonne, her voice perfectly calm. "Because I am Nati."

Account ID: Nati.

The arrogant smirk on Yvonne's face froze inch by inch. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks as she stared at the screen in absolute disbelief.

The undisputed queen of the fashion world, the legendary designer no one had ever surpassed—how could it possibly be Claire?

Impossible!

That was absolutely impossible!

Yvonne scrambled to maintain her composure, gritting her teeth. "Claire, do you really expect me to believe a photoshopped screenshot?"

She let out a harsh laugh. "I get it. You're terrified I'm going to track down Nati and poach her from OCHH, so you threw together this pathetic little stunt."

"I'm already drafting the designs for the new collection, and I expect them to be finalized within two weeks. Your job right now is to coordinate the online marketing campaigns and clear out the backlog of OCHH's pending orders..."

Claire's directives were sharp, professional, and brilliant. Thunderous applause erupted throughout the conference room.

Julian watched her intently, his eyes burning with intense, undeniable admiration.

Once the meeting concluded, Julian eagerly spoke up. "Dinner's on me tonight! Let's get the whole team together to celebrate."

"We're not going to have much time to breathe for the next two months, so let's treat this as a welcome back party for Nati!"

The staff cheered enthusiastically.

Looking at their glowing, hopeful faces, Claire couldn't find it in her heart to say no. Their morale was finally up, and she needed to keep the momentum going.

She nodded in agreement.

Julian smiled brightly. "Perfect, Claire. I'll make the reservations."

Claire pulled out her phone, opened her chat with Miles, and began typing.

[Miles, the company is going out to dinner tonight. I'll be with my colleagues. Make sure you eat something and take your medicine.]

Before she could hit send, Julian leaned in.

"Claire, could you take a look at these figures from the client? Do they seem off to you?"

Claire's attention was immediately pulled away. She took the document and studied it closely, murmuring, "Yes, there's a discrepancy here... and here..."

Julian's gaze slid from the paperwork down to the phone she had left sitting on the desk. Its screen had already automatically locked, and his eyes darkened slightly.