"Alright, you’ve found it! Rest now!" the man suddenly spoke up. Alia Garcia didn’t know what he ant to say, but instinctively felt that she shouldn’t listen, so she interrupted him first and yanked his hand away.
Christopher Hart’s unfinished words abruptly ceased.
Due to this sudden change, his face stiffened, his expression clearly unfulfilled.
"Alia..."
"I’m in a hurry, I have to go. You should rest." Alia didn’t give him a chance to speak, and interrupted again, then grabbed her bag and the thermos, and swiftly left.
Interrupted by her twice, Christopher then understood her intention.
Not until the hospital room door clanged shut, and the surroundings quieted down, did he speak again.
The hand that dangled at the bed’s edge continued to feel around reflectively,
as if it still held the touch of her lips.
His Adam’s apple rolled, and he closed his eyes, sketching out the contours his fingertips had just traced—seemingly even more beautiful than he rembered.
He lifted his hand, wanting to bring it to his lips to sll her scent.
But despite several tries, he still couldn’t lift his upper arm and ultimately failed.
Frowning, he hated his current state for being so disabled!
But thinking of her hurried escape softened his stern, displeased countenance sowhat, his mouth even curving into a slight smile.
He had rely wanted to say, "Alia, you’re still so bright and beautiful, innocent and charming, unchanged..."
But what did she think he was going to say? She was scared enough to run for the door.
———
Alia Garcia didn’t care what he was going to say.
She knew she had to leave, and at top speed!
His hand brushing over her face, stirring a tremor that seed to set her whole body afla.
Weird, it was just a touch on the face. What was there to be nervous about?
But even as she reassured herself, she took a while to calm down in the elevator.
Just as she got back to her car and thought about finding sothing to eat, her phone rang.
Picking it up, an unfamiliar number?
"Hello, this is Alia."
"Hello, is this Clarke Norton?" The voice on the other end was a woman’s, cold and seemingly filled with anger.
"It is. And you are..." Alia was slightly shocked; the voice seed familiar, but she couldn’t place it at the mont.
"Olivia Williams."
Oh—right, she recognized now—Olivia Williams!
She really did call!
It seed that Christopher had made George intervene successfully.
Surprised as she was, before she could respond, the cold displeased female voice spoke again, "Clarke Norton, there’s a saying about leaving a line—why so ruthless? Aren’t you afraid of retribution?"
Originally planning to drive to get so food, Alia paused at these words; she chuckled resignedly and unapologetically said, "Miss Williams, I’ve served you wholeheartedly. You breached the contract first and then sold my designs without permission, causing great losses. I rely wanted you to stand as a witness—how does that make ruthless to deserve retribution?"
"I didn’t sell your designs! Do you have proof to accuse like that?"
"No. So you an, the Tia design just happened to be identical to mine?"
"What’s so strange about that? If you thought of it, couldn’t soone else?"
Alia thought Olivia was calling to apologize and admit her mistake, yet she proved to be stubborn.
So, Alia didn’t hold back either.
"Miss Williams, since I’ve made this judgent, obviously there are so pieces of evidence. Actually, it doesn’t matter if you refuse to testify. I’ll just resort to legal ans—sue where lawsuits are due, attend hearings where needed, regardless of winning or losing—I just want to fight this out."
"The company has a legal departnt, I don’t need to personally attend the lawsuits, no matter how long it takes. But as the defendant, think about the ti and energy you’ll waste on a trial, not to ntion the damage to your personal reputation."
"Whoever you’re depending on now, and whether you’ve secured them well, you know best. Should this issue blow up, whether your financier will still want you, not to ntion the ruined reputation, think about whether any high-profile designer would want to work with you—weigh it out yourself."
Alia Garcia hadn’t climbed the career ladder and grown her brand to its current scale by just relying on looks—but by balancing severity with kindness, enforcing both grace and authority convincingly.
As long as truth was on her side, she never backed down.
Sure enough, following her firm words, both sides were silent for a few seconds.
Just as Alia thought Olivia would continue to resist stubbornly, Olivia spoke up again, "Actually...it wasn’t intentional."
Alia frowned, "Hmm?"
"That day, I waited for you a long ti. You didn’t co back, and I was very upset, feeling that you didn’t take your clients seriously, and on my way out... I just sohow ended up photographing all those design patterns."
I quite liked your designs, but found them... too expensive. I figured, just take them out and have other designers make them since I’d wear them myself, ensuring it would look fine without infringing rights or copying anything..."
"But my sister had seen it, and she liked it too. She even wanted us to get a set together, so I sent her the pictures. Little did I know, the next day she ca to tell that a designer had taken a liking to that set of jewelry, and was willing to buy the draft..."
Alia understood that after many rounds, soone with intentions had exploited the situation.
"I hesitated too because I really liked that set... But my sister ntioned that the designer would give a set of jewelry and also make an offer for the draft. When I heard that..."
"Okay, I understand. Now that things are clear, could you please contact my lawyer and explain the entire situation?"
"Designer Norton, I know I was wrong, and I can apologize to you, but can you please leave out of this? President Taylor spent half the night entertaining and ca back to ... Now, it’s late here, I’ve been kicked out by President Taylor without even a place to go..."
"Miss Williams, if you’ve done sothing wrong, you should take responsibility. At least be bold and honest about it. If you keep trying to escape and deflect, I believe President Taylor will look down on you even more."
Actually, Alia felt utter disdain for the other woman and thought it served her right to be kicked out.
But verbally, she couldn’t be that harsh; at least she needed to coax her into helping her win the lawsuit first.
Evidently, Miss Williams was a bit naive, persuaded by Alia’s words, she hesitated again.
"Miss Williams, if you’re willing to testify for , I can apply for an out-of-court settlent to protect your reputation. But if you persist in making mistakes, I will have to proceed formally."
After much contemplation, a compromise was reached at last: "I understand... I, I will return to China tomorrow to cooperate with you."
"Good, thank you."
Once she hung up the phone, a heavy weight finally lifted from Alia’s heart.
She called Shaw to share the news, and Shaw was overjoyed: "That woman still has a conscience! But how did she suddenly co around? Sister, you’re amazing!"
Alia was embarrassed to tell the real story, and after hanging up, she thought of Kane, indecisively conflicted.
They hadn’t contacted each other since yesterday, and according to the Countess, Kane was supposed to return to China with them in a day or two.
But Kane certainly wouldn’t want to.
Knowing the issue was being handled might relieve so of his worries and fixation.
So, after careful consideration, Alia decided to call Kane.
The "beep beep" sound continued for a long ti, and she felt uneasy, thinking that Kane might not want to answer her call.
After all, yesterday, in front of everyone, she had agreed without hesitation, appearing so resolute—Kane must have been hurt.
Just as she was about to hang up, the beeping stopped, and Kane answered the call.
"Hello." His Chinese was still broken and poorly pronounced.
Rembering that he had learned Chinese for her, Alia was quite moved, "Kane..."
"Ah, I thought you wouldn’t contact again. I didn’t expect that you would still call ."
"..." Alia didn’t know how to respond; she wanted to say that we are still friends, and of course, friends can contact each other.
But saying that might lead to misunderstandings, making her seem like she was leading him on.
So, it was better to keep the thoughts about friendship to herself.
"Is there sothing... you need?" [Please readers, do not correct anymore, it is intentionally ’you need’, to reflect Kane’s incorrect pronunciation, not a typo.]
"Yes." Kane initiated the inquiry, capturing Alia’s attention back to the main topic, "The plagiarism and infringent case with Tia, Miss Olivia Williams has contacted , expressing her willingness to return to China as soon as possible to cooperate with the lawyer."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. With her testimony, the lawsuit should be straightforward. So, you don’t need to worry about , everything is going to be okay."
Kane said, "That’s good... although, Venus will soon leave you, it doesn’t matter, I still... hope it works out, and for you too..."
"Yes, it will."
"But, how did she suddenly... agree to help us... no, help you?"
"Uh..." Alia hesitated before vaguely saying, "It just so happens I have a friend who knows her, and helped persuade her."
"Friend [Kane’s pronunciation is inaccurate, do not correct again]? It couldn’t be... that person by any chance?"
Smart people are hard to deceive, Alia didn’t deny, she acknowledged: "Yes, he helped."
"I understand... He seems to be sincere about you... for the sake of the three kids, actually, you could consider... going back to him."
Alia was stunned, she hadn’t expected even Kane to suggest a reconciliation.
"Kane, I... these years, thank you for your care and help, really... without you, there wouldn’t be today, this favor... I..."
Alia spoke from the depths of her heart.
She intended to say it yesterday, but had no opportunity.
Now, possibly for the last ti they spoke, she needed to say it.
Tears involuntarily rimd her eyes, and she felt extrely aggrieved.
In a lifeti, to have a friend who genuinely supports you is fortunate.
And she was lucky not only to have Snow Fitch but also Kane from a foreign land—she was very fortunate and content.
"Kane, you must be happy, truly happy. If you ever have another chance to visit China, let know, I’ll treat you to a big al." She tried to sound light-hearted, but a tear rolled down uncontrollably.
Kane chuckled, "Sure... I definitely will."
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