Chapter 180 The Friendship Between Cecilia and Seraphina
Cecilia had just put Alaric to bed when her phone rang. Alaric, as usual, was a handful. His good behavior never lasted more than ten minutes before he started acting up again, knowing exactly how to push her buttons.
Seeing Seraphina's name on the screen, Cecilia headed to the balcony to take the call. Alaric watched her go, a faint smile on his face, thinking she was even more impressive than he had realized.
On the balcony, Cecilia answered, "Seraphina."
"You can't be this unreliable!" Seraphina exclaimed.
Cecilia knew why Seraphina was calling so late. She hadn't explained things earlier because she knew Seraphina could be hard to handle when upset.
"We agreed to be ordinary people, but you're secretly working hard! Where does that leave me?" Seraphina demanded.
Cecilia laughed. Besides her parents, Seraphina was the only one who genuinely wanted her to succeed.
"It's just a hobby," Cecilia said.
"A hobby?" Seraphina's voice rose. "Are you trying to end our friendship?"
"It really is just a hobby," Cecilia explained. "You know I liked drawing as a kid. I'm good at watercolor painting. I started designing clothes in my notebook when I was bored."
Seraphina thought back. She remembered Cecilia doodling in high school but hadn't paid much attention, thinking Cecilia was just bored. Unlike her, Cecilia had good grades and could get into a good college without much effort.
"You probably forgot," Cecilia said, used to Seraphina's forgetfulness.
"You never told me you were designing clothes, so how would I remember?" Seraphina argued.
"I did tell you," Cecilia insisted.
"Really?" Seraphina felt a bit down.
"You even said I should design your wedding dress," Cecilia reminded her. "You wanted to wear a dress I designed when you married the man you loved."
Seraphina was stunned. With Cecilia's reminder, she remembered. It had been a long time ago, and she was always forgetful.
"Now that I've designed it for you, you're blaming me for working hard?" Cecilia felt hurt.
Seraphina was completely taken aback. Had Cecilia really become the chief designer at Harmony Threads just to design her wedding dress? Her eyes welled up with tears, touched by Cecilia's dedication. She recalled the host at Harmony Threads' new product launch mentioning that the theme of Crane's dresses this season was friendship, inspired by the designer's friend who was about to get married...
So that friend was her.
What should she do now?
She suddenly felt like crying. With a choked voice, she said, "Cecilia, why are you so good to me? I was just envying Crane and her friend's friendship, and now I realize I was envying myself."
Cecilia smiled. She knew Seraphina's comment back then was just casual. Seraphina, while sometimes capricious, would never seriously demand Cecilia design her wedding dress. She might have even forgotten those words over the years.
But because of Seraphina, Cecilia found the courage to submit her designs to Harmony Threads. Seraphina gave her the motivation and strength to challenge herself. She never expected that Harmony Threads, running out of inspiration, would think of crowdsourcing and launch a global design competition. That's how she got selected by their design team, leading to a ten-year collaboration.
She resigned as chief designer at Harmony Threads when she was twenty-six to fully support Dominic's work. She had given up a lot for him, completely transforming herself for his sake. Unfortunately, it didn't end well.
Cecilia thought about the abuse she suffered from Dominic, which had become an indelible nightmare. She would never let him get away without paying for his crimes..
"Cecilia." Seraphina's choked voice brought her back. "Seraphina," Cecilia replied, clearly emotional. "I've designed the wedding dress for you. Promise me you'll cherish your marriage."
"Don't worry, I won't waste the beautiful wedding dress you designed. I'll spend my life with Sebastian!"
'Not Sebastian,' Cecilia thought, composing herself. Some things Seraphina had to experience and figure out on her own.
"Cecilia, did you also design something for Sebastian?" Seraphina asked suddenly.
Cecilia thought back. Yes, she had designed several male outfits according to Sebastian's style, but they were never used at Seraphina's wedding. In fact, even the wedding dress she designed for Seraphina wasn't used.
Cecilia's throat tightened. "I did," she said. But in this life, it wasn't for Sebastian. It was for Dashiell.
"Cecilia, you're really so nice," Seraphina praised her. She felt so lucky to have such a good friend like Cecilia.
Despite not being very good-looking or particularly talented, Seraphina felt blessed with high-end "accessories" in life: a wealthy family, a doting father, a true love who adored her, and a perfect friend like Cecilia. She felt like the luckiest woman in the world.
She never expected that all the luck she had accumulated would one day completely shatter, leaving no trace.
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