Chapter 34
<Chapter>Chapter 34: Flabbergasted </Chapter>
"I've told you time and again, Belle isn't the other woman. We never crossed any lines!"
Gianna let out a mocking laugh, her gaze cold upon Felix. "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm not concerned about who you're with, and I expect you to afford me the same courtesy."
Fury burned in Felix's eyes. "It's clear Jonah has ulterior motives for you, and I won't let you continue this. Don't push me!"
"Belle doesn't have ulterior motives with you? I'm far more honorable with Jonah than you've ever been with her!"
"You seem ready to gamble his future away on your account!"
Her hand, hanging by her side, clenched into a fist. She wasn't afraid of Felix, but the idea of jeopardizing Jonah's future because of her actions was unsettling.
She broke the silence with a cold tone, "Fine, I'll agree to your terms. But if anything happens to Jonah, Bella won't be off the hook either."
Felix squinted his eyes. "Are you threatening me?"
Gianna smiled. "Weren't you just threatening me?"
With those words, Gianna refused to waste another moment on Felix, turning and heading upstairs.
Back in her bedroom, she received an unexpected call from Faith.
"Gianna, I need to take tomorrow off."
Surprised, Gianna inquired, "You're usually so dedicated. What could possibly make you want a day off?"
"I'm suing Jasmine Astor. I've been in touch with my lawyer."
Gianna frowned, "What happened? She didn't return your Heart's Desire?"
Faith's laugh was tinged with anger. "She returned it, all right, but slashed up so badly it's unwearable. I won't let her get away with this."
Hearing the words, Gianna felt a surge of anger rise within her and said, "I'll send you the listed price for my designer dress shortly, and you can use that to file the lawsuit!"
"Okay!"
After a moment's pause, Faith spoke again, her voice tinged with remorse, "Gianna, I'm sorry I didn't protect the birthday gift you gave me."
"You didn't do anything wrong. No need to apologize. You were dealing with that jerk cheating on you that day; you couldn't have been expected to think of anything else."
"I'll make sure Jasmine Astor pays for this!"
"Yeah, I've got your back too!"
After hanging up, Gianna immediately called Amelia Mellon. "Amelia, do you remember the price that dress was mistakenly tagged at by an employee before?"
Amelia sounded puzzled by the question but answered, "If I'm not mistaken, it was $2.4 million."
"And if I remember correctly, the dresses I personally designed were priced between $3 and $5 million, right?"
Amelia chuckled softly before replying, "Boss, those were the prices three years ago. You haven't released as many designs lately, but the prices for your work have soared to over $10 million now."
Gianna hadn't anticipated such a steep increase and simply responded, "I see."
Just as she was about to end the call, Amelia added, "Boss, we're making a profit of around $2 million a month now. Should I keep transferring it all to that account you gave me?"
Gianna's grip tightened around her phone, and she replied with a somber tone, "Yes."
After setting the phone down, Gianna sat in contemplation before sending Faith a message instructing her to sue for $10 million.
After some thought, she took out her phone again and texted one of her staff, "I need to amend a payment record; I'll send you the specific instructions shortly."
The staff member quickly made the adjustments as per Gianna's request.
Gianna glanced at the $10 million withdrawal from her bank account, her expression turning cold. She hadn't intended to settle things with Jasmine like this, but Jasmine's actions had crossed a line for her.
Soon after, the police showed up at Jasmine's door. Realizing the gravity of the situation as she was being taken to the police station, she quickly called Uriah.
"Uriah, I'm on my way to the police station with the cops. You have to come and bail me out!"
Half an hour later, Uriah had bailed Jasmine out, and livid and frantic, he called Faith.
"Faith, what do you think you're doing, huh? Don't you think you're being too venomous?!"
She had the nerve to call the cops, claiming Jasmine stole her dress and then damaged it. Considering Jasmine's looking to break into show biz, a police report would be a real career killer.
Faith sneered, "Who's the real villain here—me or Jasmine? Why don't you ask her yourself!"
But when Uriah tried calling again, he got the 'line busy' tone.
Faith had blocked him—just like that.
Once Uriah got the lowdown from Jasmine, he was livid, unleashing his fury on her for the first time.
"What were you thinking?" he blasted. "This all could've been over if you just returned the dress, but no, you had to go and deliberately ruin it! Have you lost your mind?!"
Jasmine's face was the picture of innocence, her eyes brimming with tears. "It's just a dress! I'll pay for it, okay? She took advantage when I wasn't around, and I just wanted to teach her a lesson... I never thought she'd be so vicious as to get the cops on me!"
Seeing Uriah’s stony silence, a wave of panic set in for Jasmine as she clutched at his sleeve urgently.
"Aiyi, please don't be mad. I only did it because I was afraid you'd fall for her. If you're not into her, I promise I'll steer clear from now on, okay?"
Uriah was silent for a moment before replying coldly, "Go home. I need some time to figure this out."
By noon, Uriah still ended up calling Felix.
After hearing the full story, Felix's tone was cold, "I can't help you with this."
"Come on, Felix, I've never asked you for anything before. Just this once, okay? Help me out. Set up a dinner with Gianna. Jasmine can't afford this scandal!"
"Just this once," Felix finally gave in. "And for your own good, drop Jasmine sooner than later. She's nothing but trouble!"
...
As work was wrapping up for the evening, Gianna's phone buzzed with Felix's name. She glanced at it and hit 'decline.'
A few more attempts from Felix went unanswered.
But as Gianna exited her office building, Felix's car was parked right there at the curb.
She approached warily, her expression frosty as she peered into the car at Felix. "What do you want?"
"Get in the car," he said simply.
As Gianna entered, her colleagues from MY FASHION were leaving for the day. After a moment of hesitation, she took her seat, maintaining her distance from Felix. Her gaze was sharp but devoid of emotion.
"Can we talk about why we're here now?" she asked coolly.
"Uriah's invited you to dinner."
Gianna frowned at this, her cold gaze fixed on Felix. "And you agreed?"
"I'm asking for your input now."
"What if I say I don't want to go?!"
Felix pressed his lips together and spoke quietly, "Regarding the dress you gave to Faith, Uriah and his girlfriend would like to apologize to you."
Gianna couldn't help but laugh, "Felix, they ought to apologize to Faith, not me!"
Felix fell silent for a moment upon seeing the fiery anger in Gianna's piercing eyes, "If you don't want to forgive them, just join them for a meal."
She scoffed at him, each word dripping with mockery, "I doubt I'll be able to stomach that meal!"
As she reached for the car door to get out, her wrist was suddenly held by a strong hand.
"Remember the last time we dined at the Redstone family's ancestral home? Your father expressed interest in a project from the Sirius Trading Syndicate."
