Chapter 26

The screeching sound of the car pulling to a halt made me look up from the tablet I was working on. I looked out of the window to see we had gotten to the law firm.

After the buyer with false claims received the suit for defamation. She denied the truth endlessly and kept standing on the point that our product caused her pimples. Today was the last meeting so I decided to come, though the company lawyer already assured me that she would be fined a great deal of money.

I looked at Mr Greg and we both stepped out of the car. He led the way inside while I followed.

"I said I didn't do it." The snapping voice of the lady was what I heard as Mr Greg pushed the door open.

She was there with my lawyer, a scowl on her face. I and Mr Greg settled down and the lawyer began, asking her to admit to the charges, but what I didn't expect was her tears.

"I'm really saying the truth."

"Oh my!" I laughed out at her tears.

"You didn't give a false claim, right?" I asked and turned to the lawyer. "I think cases like this can also lead to jail, right?"

"Yes, that's true. If you keep denying, it could lead to a jail sentence and also a fine."

"You heard him, right?" I turned back to face her. "You don't wanna leave your daughter alone and go to jail, do you?"

"I..."

"Well. If you don't settle this quietly with us, we will just involve the police and yo..."

"Wait." I stopped talking when she spoke up.

"I will settle with the fine."

"Great." Clapping my hands, I stood up, facing the lawyer.

"You can go on without me, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, let's leave." I looked at Mr Greg and after one glance at the lady, I left the office.

"Finally, it's all settled." Mr Greg sighed out and I chuckled, but stopped when my phone beeped. I checked to see an invite.

"What's this?" Mumbling, I began reading through it.

"Wow." I halted in my steps and Mr Greg did same, looking at me.

"Is there something?"

"Yeah. I was invited to The CEO Awards happening this Saturday." I replied and his eyes widened. "Really?"

My brows furrowed. "Isn't this supposed to be a normal thing."

"It was, not until we didn't receive an invite last year."

"You're serious?" I asked in amazement, and he nodded.

"Like you know, the company was down last year and we weren't really recognized anymore, so we were not invited."

"Oh..." I trailed off, returning to staring at the invitation. Does this mean I'm doing a great job, seeing how they saw me worthy of being invited. I smiled at the thought, feeling proud of myself.

"Shall we go?" Mr Greg asked and I nodded, picking back my pace, and we went out of the company.

"Are you going to follow me?" I asked as he opened the car for me.

"I can't. It's my wife's birthday that day."

"Oh, really! Wish her a happy birthday." I said as he got into the car.

"I will, and I can also help to shop for the dress you will be wearing to the party."

"What do you know about ladies' fashion?"

"I do know a lot."

"Oh, please." I shook my head, and he chuckled, driving out of the place.

Since I needed to get a dress urgently, I told Karen about it and she immediately agreed. We met after work. Karen suggested we go to a chic and popular dress store which I agreed to. When we got to the store, the attendants showed us to the section for dinner dresses.

Karen started picking out different outfits and I let her since she had more fashion sense than I did. I turned down the ones I didn't like and tried on the ones that looked nice to me, but we still couldn't find a dress. Karen finally found one. A turquoise green dress. I took it from her to put it on in the dressing room. A came back a while later, cladded in the dress.

"Wow, you look good! This is perfect." Karen clapped and I smiled, staring at my reflection in the mirror. The dress was made of silk and had a tiny strap, with a sweetheart neck that was not too deep but showed little cleavage. The bodice down to my knees was fitted, showcasing my curves which I almost forgot I had. From the knee, the dress flowed down to the floor, but it was perfect. It was not too flowy, nor was it less flowy. I liked it.

"We will take this, please." Karen spoke up and the attendant nodded. I went back into the dressing room to change, and we chose metallic gold heels to go with it before heading to the counter to pay for them, but on her way, we bumped into one of our friends. More like, Karen's friend cause she is the one with friends.

"Hey Sisi. What are you doing here?!" Karen asked cheerfully.

"I came to get a dress, and you?"

"She came to get a dress too, I tagged along." Sisi, who was so focused on Karen, finally turned to me.

"Oh, Silvana. Did you get invited to the CEO'S awards too?"

"Yeah, I did." I replied, forcing a smile.

She nodded, her smile spreading out to the corners of her lips.

"I'm also attending with my boyfriend. Who is your date?"

"Date?" My brows furrowed.

"Yeah, each person should come with a date."

"Oh..." I trailed off not knowing what to say, but Karen spoke up.

"Don't worry, she is going to be fine with a date. Her beauty alone will speak for her."

We all chuckled, talked for a few minutes before she went her own way.

"It's being a long time since I've seen her." Karen said as we walked to the counter.

"Same here." I agreed with her.

________

The day for the party finally arrived. I put on the turquoise green dress and gold heels before heading to the party venue, a sophisticated hall ranked 4th in the country.

As I entered the hall, soft music filled my ears. I looked around, taking in the people chatting and mingling with each other.

A small smile formed on my lips as I made my way deeper into the hall. I found a place to sit quietly, and the party started a few minutes later, with the MC giving his opening speech. The party continued and it was time for the awards for best CEO.

After the third and second position were announced, the tension was palpable as the MC revealed the first position winner.

"First position goes to James Carter of Starlight Group."

The crowd erupted in applause as James stood up from where he was, and I couldn't help the smile that broke out on my face as I watched him head to the stage to collect his award. He was asked to give a speech which he did, but I couldn't take my eyes off him; he was dressed in a black tuxedo, and his hair was slicked backwards, he looked exceptionally hot.

James went back to his seat and there were other talks before everybody was allowed to do their thing. People mingled with each other, and I also did same. Even though I knew few people there, I did my best to start out conversations and contribute to them, while aiming to form business partnerships with them, and I succeeded in a few.

The party was going nice and well, not until someone bumped into me, spilling wine all over my dress.

"Ah." I gasped out, looking up at the person to see Esham staring at me with a sorry look which I could detect, was fake immediately.

"Oh my! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Sorry?" I scoffed, taking my gaze to Reed who was beside her, a smirk on his face. My gaze lingered on him for some seconds before returning to Esham.

"What are you gonna do about this?"

"Maybe you should just go home. You don't look like you fit in here anyway."

"What?"

"I mean, you are the only one without a partner here, so don't you think you should just leave?"

I scanned the hall, and like she said, everyone was with their partners and they were all staring at me. I was about to take my gaze back to Esham when my eyes landed on James, who was also starring.

"Leave already, will you?"

My head whipped towards Reed, a scoff letting itself out of my lips at his words. Who does he think he is.

"I don't think pouring wine on me and not having a partner are the same thing."

"Of course it is. You should focus on finding a partner rather than coming to parties like this, or are you still stuck on your ex, hoping he comes back to you." Esham asked and Reed chuckled, leaning towards her lips.

My fists folded as I watched him kiss her. What do they think they are doing? Are they trying to flaunt their useless relationship with me. You know what...they can't win.

"Who told you I don't have a partner?" Reed's lips stop moving and he pulled away, his eyes narrowing.

"Do you?"

"I do." I replied, regretting my words immediately.

Esham folded her arms on her chest, a smug smile appearing on her lips as she raised her brows. "Who is he then?"

Breathing out shakily, I raised my hands, pointing at the only person I could think of – James.