Chapter 231 Wind Chimes
Hearing that, Chris was immensely grateful. Having Nathaniel, a seasoned veteran in the jewelry industry, to help him out was the best he could hope for.
Chris said enthusiastically, "That's fantastic, Nathaniel. I promise you, if you can help me solve this, I'll stay up for ten days and nights if I have to, just to catch that J for you."
Mentioning J gave Nathaniel a headache. He had changed his phone today, saving all useful data and deleting the rest.
If Chris could catch J and solve his biggest problem, he would owe Chris a big favor.The two agreed to help each other with their current issues.
Nathaniel, on high alert, hired a few bodyguards to prevent J from ambushing him.
Having been in Coral Bay for two days, they still couldn't find Aurelia's grave. Zack was overwhelmed with work because of this.
Meanwhile, Nathaniel got Anne Studio's address and contact information from Zack, hailed a cab, and went straight there.
The hotel was some distance away from Anne Studio. He watched the street scenes outside the window, wondering where Aurelia could be.
Why had she disappeared from this world completely, not even giving him a chance to pay his respects at her grave?
When the car stopped at its destination, he was still lost in thought. The driver had to remind him to get out of the vehicle.
He had been to this place once four years ago but didn't go upstairs back then.
He opened the message Zack sent him: [13th floor, A01.] He followed the address.
Standing outside the glass door of 13-A01, he was stunned by the wind chime by the expansive window. For a moment, Nathaniel thought he saw Aurelia's silhouette standing by the window in a daze.
In the four years since she left, he felt she was physically gone but omnipresent. Everywhere he went, there were shadows of Aurelia, things that reminded him of her.
She loved wind chimes, always buying materials to make one herself, hanging it by the window, letting the wind make it jingle.
He snapped out of his reverie with a bitter smile, thinking the hallucination must be caused by his insomnia last night.
Nathaniel rang the doorbell. After a while, a young woman came to open the door.
"Is this Anne Studio? I'm looking for Anne," he got straight to the point.
The girl shook her head and said, "Sir, this is a magazine office. Anne Studio moved out two years ago. This place couldn't accommodate so many people."
Nathaniel was puzzled by this revelation.
"Is Anne Studio that big?" he asked
The girl smiled, "I'm not sure. I heard from the cleaning staff that Anne Studio started with just three people. It grew quickly, kept hiring, and this place became too small for their operation. They moved to a bigger office."
Nathaniel thanked her, but his eyes couldn't move away from the wind chime.
He asked, "May I ask, can I buy that wind chime?"
The girl turned to look at what he was pointing at and smiled, "Oh, that? It was left by Anne Studio. We thought it looked nice, so we didn't take it down. Our new editor doesn't like it anyway. If you like it, you can have it."
With that, the girl went back inside, stood on a chair, and took down the wind chime for him.
Holding the wind chime, Nathaniel felt a surge of sadness. He remembered the living room of the Bloom Villa, where there was an almost identical one. Since Aurelia died, he had only been back to the villa twice, and it was probably covered in dust now.
It was a wasted trip. He still needed to find someone to check Anne Studio's new address.
Back at the hotel, Zack handed him a design drawing with a serious expression.
Zack informed him, "Mr. Heilbronn, this is a work submitted by a designer during an interview. She wants to switch to our company."
Nathaniel raised an eyebrow, looking at Zack in confusion. Usually, initial interviews didn't require his opinion. Zack must have found something unusual with this application.
Feeling Nathaniel's confusion, Zack explained, "Please kook closely at this drawing."
Nathaniel focused and saw a small 'X' on the ring in the drawing. His mind went blank.
He knew only one person in the world who would mark her work like that.
"Where did she get this drawing?" he asked.
Aurelia hated having her work stolen, and he didn't even know when this design was made.
Nathaniel's emotions surged. He hadn't stood up for her before, but he wouldn't let the thief go this time, even if she was no longer alive.
Zack continued, "I happened to notice the mark. I didn't ask at the time. I've scheduled a meeting with her tomorrow morning."
Nathaniel picked up another paper, the interviewer's resume, which listed 'Anne Studio' as her workplace.
He told Zack, "I'll interview her myself tomorrow."
The next day, Nathaniel went to the scheduled meeting at the agreed café with Zack.
Elara, the interviewee, had arrived early, dressed in a sharp business suit and exuding confidence. She was sure the Heilbronn Group's design department would appreciate her work. She had joined Aurelia's studio among socialites to build connections and prepare for a jump to the Heilbronn Group.
The Heilbronn Group's jewelry design department was every designer's dream and her initial goal in studying design.
She had heard from a classmate that the Heilbronn Group's president was in Coral Bay. She was determined to seize this opportunity to get into the design department.
Nathaniel walked straight to Elara's table. He recognized her from the photo on her resume.
"Are you Elara?" Nathaniel asked.
Elara had expected to meet Zack, the president's assistant, not Nathaniel himself. This showed how much they valued her as a candidate, she assumed.
She was thrilled, knowing submitting that design was the right choice.
Elara stood up quickly, extending her right hand, greeting, "Mr. Heilbronn, hello. I'm Elara. I've been in jewelry design for five years and greatly admire the Heilbronn Group. It's an honor to meet you."
Nathaniel didn't shake her hand and sat down directly.
"You worked at Anne Studio?" Nathaniel questioned her, impatiently.
Elara awkwardly withdrew her hand and nodded in affirmation. She replied confidently, "I worked at Anne Studio for two years. I don't know if you've heard of it. It might have some reputation among socialites, but it's nothing compared to the Heilbronn Group."
Nathaniel despised people who flattered and belittled others. If he didn't have questions for her, he wouldn't have bothered talking to her.
Ignoring her words, he asked again, "Can you tell me where Anne Studio is located?"
Elara thought she had a good chance at this interview and didn't hesitate. She took out a stack of sticky notes from her bag, wrote the address, and handed it to him with both hands.
Elara said politely, "Mr. Heilbronn, it's here."
Nathaniel looked at the address and coldly said, "That design isn't yours, is it? Where did you steal Lolly's original design?"
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