Chapter 30 He Found the Underwear
Fiorello spotted Holden and saw him as an opportunity for a sale. Without much ado, Fiorello dove straight into business talk. "These are handcrafted ornaments made by Maggie. Why not buy a few for your girlfriend?"
The way he asked made it clear it was less of a question and more of a directive. Holden had no choice but to buy.
Holden knew he had to support a family business. "Definitely, these accessories are too gorgeous not to buy. Charlotte, pick a few."
Upon hearing the word "girlfriend," Charlotte felt a rush of joy for being recognized and happily chose several pieces. "These are all so beautiful, I love all of them."
Fiorello seized the moment. "If you like them, buy them all. Each piece is unique. For example, these cherry earrings symbolize good things coming in pairs, perfect for a couple in the throes of love, and this sunflower hair clip embodies passionate love..."
Maggie, listening in, couldn't help but raise her thumb in approval. That sales pitch was top-notch.
The meanings were all spur-of-the-moment fabrications by Fiorello.
The more Holden's girlfriend heard, the more enamored she became with the idea of buying everything. "Holden, can we buy them all? Please?"
Holden's girlfriend, not from the same social circle and unfamiliar with Fiorello, had no clue about Holden’s wealth or the real relationship between Fiorello and Holden.
Without a second thought, Holden grandly declared, "Buy them, buy everything."
Maggie, aware that Holden was Fiorello's distant relative, couldn't dream of taking their money. With a smile, she said, "I'll wrap these up for you. Consider them a gift for our first meeting."
Maggie actually felt a pang of regret deep down. Those dozen or so pieces of jewelry had taken her two days to make.
They were the fruits of her labor.
Still, as much as it hurt, Maggie didn't show it. She thought to herself that she could just work a bit harder and make some extra pieces over the next couple of days.
Fiorello said, "You stayed up all night to make these, how could we not pay you? Business is business, even among family. We’re just distant relatives, not close, so don't be shy. Besides, we're saving up to buy a house. We need to budget every penny and can't afford to waste."
Holden was silent.
Fiorello owned several villas and had just recently bought a three-bedroom at Cityhomes West, and he's talking about buying more property?
Suddenly, Holden felt a desire to see Fiorello fail one day, wondering what Maggie would do then.
With a smile, Holden said, "Fiorello's right, we should pay. We can't just take these, you've put in so much effort. How much is it?"
Maggie waved her hands dismissively and said with a smile, "Really, it's fine, they're not worth that much..."
Despite the need to save for a house, she couldn't take money from family.
Fiorello picked up Maggie's payment code from the table and handed it to Holden, "Scan it, that'll be two thousand dollars."
Maggie's eyes went wide when she heard the price. She glanced at Fiorello, astounded. Was this extortion?
The price had been inflated tenfold.
If someone reported this, she might be in big trouble.
Ripping off someone you know, even if they are a distant relative, wasn't exactly nice.
"Fiorello..." Maggie started to interject.
However, Holden had already scanned the code, laughing, "This is too cheap. I've already sent the payment."
The moment Holden transferred the money, Maggie's phone chimed with a notification: two thousand dollars.
Maggie was speechless.
Fiorello set the payment code down, saying, "We're going to close up shop now. You can take your girlfriend and look around somewhere else."
The subtext was clear – they were being rushed away.
Holden was eager to get on Maggie's good side. After all, he had even joined his brother Fiorello in setting up a street stall, a clear sign that he was serious. Winning over his sister-in-law meant securing a protective umbrella for the future.
Grinning from ear to ear, Holden opened WhatsApp and said, "Maggies, let's connect on WhatsApp."
Fiorello had just swindled Holden, and Maggie felt too guilty to refuse his friend request.
In Maggie's eyes, Holden was like a gullible giant, a sucker who got duped yet still managed to smile.
However, Holden felt like he had struck gold. Four thousand bucks for his sister-in-law's contact on WhatsApp felt like a steal.
Maggie took out her phone, and they added each other as friends. When Holden left, he was warm and friendly, which made Maggie a tad embarrassed.
After selling all the accessories, Fiorello announced, "We can pack up now."
"Why did you quote random prices earlier?" Maggie asked. "If your distant cousin hears about it, it's going to hurt his feelings."
"The pieces you crafted are worth even a hundred times more," Fiorello said sternly. "Don’t feel guilty. He owes me one thousand five hundred dollars from a few years back and never paid it back. I just took what was mine."
"Really?" Maggie asked, half skeptical. "He doesn't seem like someone short on cash. Why wouldn't he pay you back?"
With a straight face, Fiorello replied, "He probably forgot, and I felt awkward bringing it up. I just took the chance to get it back now."
Maggie gave Fiorello a suspicious look. She remembered that there was no sign of discomfort when Fiorello named the inflated price earlier.
To avert Maggie's uneasy thoughts, Fiorello changed the subject. "Let's not set up the stall tomorrow. We've been married for a while now, and Mother-in-law hasn't visited our home yet. Let's invite her over for dinner tomorrow. And your friend too. We didn't have a wedding ceremony, so this dinner is a must."
"Actually, I was planning on doing just that. You've been busy, but you're off work this weekend, right? I'll call Dulcinea and my mom in a bit." Maggie said.
She added, "Why don't we invite your aunt and that distant cousin brother we talked about earlier? I wonder if they'd like to come."
Fiorello replied with confidence, "If you invite them, they would surely be thrilled to come."
"That’s settled then, but remember to call your aunt since I don't have her contact information."
"Will do."
After packing up their things, the pair headed home. While Maggie freshened up, Fiorello made a call from his room to Eleanor, "Your daughter-in-law is inviting you over for dinner tomorrow..."
Eleanor was notified, and as for Holden, Fiorello just sent a message to inform him.
Once that was sorted, Fiorello called the chief secretary of their company, instructing the HR department of Visionary Futures Group's jewelry branch to post a job listing for a designer, even opening the position to applicants with only a high school diploma.
The chief secretary paused, wondering if she'd heard wrong upon hearing the recruiting criteria. Visionary Futures Group's jewelry company usually catered to high-end clientele and typically required designers to have at least a bachelor’s degree, favoring graduates from top institutions with significant work experience or notable achievements in the field, such as awards. Moreover, they never recruited externally.
Uncertain, the chief secretary asked, "Mr. Flores, did you say we are recruiting designers from outside and a high school diploma is satisfactory?"
"Yes," Fiorello answered succinctly. "I want to see this job listing by tomorrow."
"As you wish, Mr. Flores." The chief secretary didn’t question further and proceeded as instructed.
Unaware of these developments, Maggie finished in the bathroom and hand-washed her delicates. Although she and Fiorello lived separately, there was only one place to hang laundry in the house—the utility balcony outside the kitchen.
Maggie went to the balcony to hang her delicates just as Fiorello entered the kitchen, planning to whip up something to eat.
He heard some noise coming from the patio and walked over to take a look. There he saw Maggie in her loose pajamas, her hair still damp, hoisting up underwear on a drying rack.
Maggie had fair, slender legs and when she stood on her tiptoes, her pajamas hiked up to her thighs, the sight was alluring.
The underwear didn't hang properly and suddenly fell to the ground. As Maggie reached to pick it up, she realized that Fiorello was standing behind her. Catching sight of the underwear in her hand, she immediately blushed and hid it behind her back.
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