Chapter 145
Gianna felt Raymond's gaze on her was a bit strange, but she didn't intend to hide her identity at this banquet.
"Yes, what's up?"
A hint of mixed emotion flashed in Raymond's eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were the CEO of MY FASHION before. Otherwise, I wouldn't have let my secretary cancel the meeting last time."
Gianna was a bit stunned, feeling that Raymond's words were a bit odd.
"Mr. Musk, you don't need to apologize. It's quite normal."
Raymond looked a bit disappointed, murmuring, "Next time we're looking to partner up, I will prioritize MY FASHION."
Gianna was surprised but then thought that Raymond was just for the sake of Felix, so she smiled and said, "Well, thank you in advance, Mr. Musk!"
"I mean it."
Seeing the seriousness in Raymond's eyes, Gianna was somewhat taken aback. Just as she was about to speak, a cold voice sounded from behind.
"What are you talking about?"
Feeling displeased inwardly, Gianna coldly replied, "It's none of your business."
Felix's face darkened a bit. He walked over to Gianna, sat down beside her, and replaced the cocktail in front of her with a glass of milk.
"Drink less alcohol. It's bad for your health."
Gianna wanted to retort to Felix but didn't want to argue with him in front of Raymond, so she lowered her head and remained silent.
"Raymond, you can go and attend to your other matters. No need to stick around here."
Raymond's eyes darkened a bit. He looked at Felix and said, "Alright, I have a few more collaborations to discuss, so I'll head over there first."
After Raymond left, Felix looked at Gianna and said, "Keep your distance from him in the future."
Gianna looked at Felix coldly and replied, "Don't worry. Even if I were in need of a man, I wouldn't get involved with someone you know."
Felix furrowed his brows but didn't say anything more.
Gianna quietly ate her cake, and after finishing it, she stood up to leave. However, Felix grabbed her wrist.
"I want to talk to you about us."
Gianna looked at him, disbelief painted all over her face. She asked, "Here? Now?"
"Is it not convenient?"
"Not really."
Just as Gianna was about to shake off Felix's hand, Faith walked over and completely ignored Felix as if he were invisible.
"Gianna, come with me to meet a few clients over there."
"Okay," replied Gianna.
It wasn't until the two of them were out of Felix's sight that Faith spoke with annoyance, "What does Felix mean by this? Bringing Bella to the banquet and then getting entangled with you, is he planning to have two women at the same time?"
Gianna remained silent for a moment. Looking at Faith helplessly, she said, "Try not to be so angry when you speak in the future."
"Why?" Faith asked.
"I'm afraid others will laugh at you."
Faith looked at Gianna, disgruntled. "Is that the point? Don't you see Felix has been bringing Bella to every event this month? And when people say Bella is his girlfriend, he doesn't deny it. Now he's coming to you. He's just a jerk!"
Gianna nodded in agreement. "You're right."
Faith furrowed her brows. "I'm dead serious. I don't want you to make the same mistake again!"
Gianna lowered her gaze, her hand involuntarily tightening at her side. "Don't worry, I won't."
"That's good. I don't want to see you hurt again," said Faith.
Gianna smiled. "I understand."
Even until the end of the banquet, Felix didn't come looking for Gianna. Gianna had quite a few drinks that night, so Faith arranged for a designated driver to take her home and made Gianna promise to ring once she arrived home before leaving herself.
On the way back, Gianna stared blankly out the window, lost in thought. On the other side, as Raymond arrived at the parking lot, he saw Bella standing next to his car, a faint smile playing on her lips.
"Mr. Musk, there are a few things in the contract between LR Design Studio and Musk's team that I don't quite understand. I wanted to ask you about them," said Bella.
Raymond's face remained expressionless, and he replied indifferently, "You can ask my secretary tomorrow."
Bella smiled slightly. "Well, Mr. Musk, since you don't want to talk about work, why don't we talk about something else, like your feelings for Gianna."
Raymond's expression instantly turned extremely unpleasant, his eyes icing over as he looked at Bella.
The next day, as soon as Faith arrived at the company, she came to Gianna with an excited expression.
"Musk's team is planning to vacate one of their stores for us to collaborate with!"
Gianna was genuinely surprised this time. She thought Raymond's words from the previous night were just out of politeness.
However, Gianna wasn't really keen on collaborating with Raymond, especially since he was good friends with Felix. Gianna wasn't sure what complications it might usher in.
"Go and reply to Mr. Musk. We are not considering expanding MY FASHION's stores for now."
Faith furrowed her brows. "Why? Do you know how many stores Musk's team owns? If we can collaborate with them, MY FASHION's profits could potentially double."
"Raymond has a good relationship with Felix," said Gianna.
"So what? We are collaborating with Musk's team, and we will rent those spaces at the regular price, ensuring that we don't take advantage of Musk's team. If you're worried, we can even offer to pay more. What do you think?" said Faith.
After a few seconds of silence, Gianna spoke, "Alright, you handle it."
"Got it."
After Faith left, Gianna pondered for a while and eventually called Raymond's secretary to express her desire to invite Raymond to dinner.
After all, it was not easy to secure a storefront from Musk's team, which usually required a bidding process.
"Just a moment."
Soon, Raymond's gentle voice came through the phone. "Ms. Redstone, I have a business trip to France for a week starting tomorrow. If you want to have dinner with me, it can only be tonight or after I'm back."
Gianna was surprised that the secretary directly transferred the call to Raymond. After a moment of hesitation, she said, "Then let's meet tonight. I'll have my secretary book a private room. Mr. Musk, what type of cuisine do you prefer?"
"I'm fine with anything," said Raymond.
"Alright." After ending the call, Gianna had her secretary book a table at a restaurant.
On the other side, a faint smile crept onto Raymond's lips, and he was already looking forward to meeting Gianna that evening.
Putting down his phone, Raymond turned to his secretary and asked, "How does this outfit look on me?"
The secretary was a bit surprised but quickly replied, "It suits you very well."
"Good, you can go back to work now."
Just as Raymond started to look through some documents, a call from Felix came in.
"Raymond, I heard that the storefront you promised LR Design Studio was suddenly given to someone else?"
After a few seconds of silence, Raymond replied calmly, "Yes, last night at the banquet, I had a chat with Faith and felt that MY FASHION needed that storefront more, so I decided to collaborate with MY FASHION."
"Why did you suddenly decide to help MY FASHION?" asked Felix.
Felix had originally planned to give Gianna the best storefront under the Clinton Group but was afraid she would refuse. He was thinking about how to give it to her when Musk's team beat him to it.
"Gianna has taken care of you for two years, and I don't want to see her struggle too much," said Raymond.
"I'll take care of it. No need for you to step in," said Felix.
"The contract between Musk's team and MY FASHION has already been signed."
At Raymond's words, Felix's eyes flashed with a hint of coldness, and his voice became slightly lower.
"Raymond, I hope you keep out of me and Gianna's business moving forward." With that, Felix hung up the phone.
Raymond's hand on the phone involuntarily tightened, and a hint of restraint flashed in his eyes.
