Zea got up early the next morning.
She was going to Guzman Group today to finalize the final details of the joint model.
As soon as she arrived at Guzman Group, before she even stepped into Theo’s office, Zea’s phone rang.
It was Zea’s colleague who called.
“Zea, we are in trouble. Guzman Group just sent an email to our company, saying that they want to cancel the cooperation with us.”
Zea frowned.
“How is it possible? Guzman Group necklace must be made in time for their anniversary celebration. If we go to other design companies now, they will not have enough time to redesign it!”
Besides, she had obviously drunk that glass of wine that night. Theo could not go back on his word.
Zea knocked on the door of Theo’s office with doubts.
As soon as she pushed the door open, she saw Amber leaning on Theo’s shoulder, feeding Theo biscuits attentively.
As soon as she saw Zea, Theo’s originally gentle eyebrows were visibly coated with a hint of disgust.
“Why are you here?”
“Why do you want to cancel the cooperation with our company?” Zea asked in a cold voice.
“Don’t you know why?” Theo raised his eyebrows and a trace of impatience flashed in his eyes.
“You scratched Amber’s hand that day and broke her wine glass, but you didn’t apologize.”
Zea paused.
He could do this to protect Amber.
“I drank that glass of wine according to your request. I did nothing wrong. Why should I apologize? That wine glass was her…”
Before Zea finished speaking, she was interrupted by Theo in a cold voice.
“Zea, don’t do whatever you want just because you are the adopted daughter of the Guzman Family. Although Amber has repeatedly pleaded for you, you should remember it. If you don’t apologize to Amber, don’t think about getting the cooperation of Guzman Group.”
Zea looked at Theo’s bottomless eyes and her heart seemed to fall into an ice cave, making her back cold.
She knew that Theo was serious.
She tightly grasped the corner of her clothes and slowly lowered her head.
“Amber, I’m sorry.”
Zea felt that her self-esteem was trampled under someone’s feet. The humiliation swept through her body, making her unable to raise her head.
But she needed this cooperation. If she won this contract, she would have a design bonus of 279.466 dollars.
She still owed the Guzman Family a blue and white porcelain vase.
She had to pay back her debt.
“Amber, although she apologized, it still depends on you whether to forgive her or not. If you are unwilling to forgive her, then I will still not agree to cooperate with their company.”
Theo’s words were like a knife, falling on Zea’s heart.
Now she was as humble as a mouse crawling in the dark.
“Okay, Zea has apologized, so don’t embarrass her.”
Amber’s light words hit Zea like a heavy hammer.
Zea slowly raised her head and looked at Theo coldly.
“Mr. Guzman, can we check the final details of the product now?”
Theo stretched out his hand to Zea.
“Since Amber has forgiven you, give it to me!”
Theo took the design draft handed over by Zea and signed his name without even looking at it.
After signing, Theo threw the design draft in front of Zea as if giving alms.
“Take your things and leave quickly.”
Zea slowly lowered her head and picked up the manuscript she had worked hard on for a month.
A tear just fell on the gemstone drawn on the manuscript.
After leaving Guzman Group, it started to rain heavily under the gray sky.
Zea stood at the door and tried to hail a taxi for a long time, but failed. She stood alone at the bus stop, leaning against the billboard, exhausted.
At this time, a horn sounded and Zea was about to look up when she saw a Ferrari rushing on the road.
The speed of the car was so fast that Zea didn’t have time to see the license plate clearly and only saw the car passing by her quickly.
The wheels drove through the puddle, stirring up a layer of waves, soaking Zea like a drowned chicken.
Zea held her bag tightly in her arms, fearing that the manuscript inside would get wet.
When she looked up again, she only saw the back of the Ferrari and the familiar license plate.
It was Theo’s car.
The grievances accumulated in Zea’s heart. She could no longer control her emotions. She squatted down and burst into tears.
Zea didn’t know how long she cried. After calming down, she sniffed and slowly stood up.
Life had to go on. Anyway, she only had half a month left in the Guzman Family.
After she collected the money and compensated the Guzman Family for the vase, she would go to Chark and start a new life.
Zea came to the bar at night.
Zea’s friend introduced her to a part-time job as a resident singer in a bar.
Because it was a high-end bar, she could earn hundreds of thousands of dollars every night by singing and tips.
Zea changed into a black dress and sat on the stage. The moment she picked up the microphone, she seemed to have changed into a different person, shining.
Just after singing a song, Zea was about to go down to rest and saw a pair of scarlet eyes staring at her in the corner.
Theo stared at her with gloomy eyes, but Zea ignored Theo and went backstage.
As soon as he stood up, Theo could no longer control his emotions and rushed onto the stage, grabbing Zea’s wrist fiercely.
“Do you know what you are doing?”
Zea looked at Theo with cold eyes without any emotion.
“I know very well what I am doing, I don’t bother Mr. Guzman to worry about it.”
After saying that, Zea was about to shake off Theo’s hand, but Theo was indifferent and increased the strength of his hand.
“Zea, don’t challenge my patience, come home with me quickly.”
Theo’s eyes were gloomy and terrible, Zea knew that he should be very angry now.
“I won’t go back, I make money honestly with my own ability, why should I leave?”
Zea refused coldly.
“Does our Guzman Family not give you food or clothes? Do you have to come out to embarrass yourself and discredit our Guzman Family before you are willing?”
Theo’s voice almost came out from between his teeth.
Discredit?
It turned out that coming out to work was to discredit the Guzman Family.
Zea laughed at herself and glanced at the people watching below the stage.
“Let’s talk about it when we get back! I still have to work.”
Theo shook off Zea’s hand fiercely.
“Go back? You still have the nerve to mention it? If you don’t quit this embarrassing job, don’t even think about going back to the Guzman Family.”
Theo used almost all his strength and Zea took a step back, hitting her waist on the stool and her face wrinkled in pain.
Theo didn’t expect his hand to be so strong. He was slightly stunned. He wanted to help Zea, but he couldn’t bear to lose face. He put his hands behind his back and snorted coldly.
“Come home quickly.”
Zea looked up at Theo and was about to speak when she saw Amber walk up to the stage from the crowd and hold Theo’s arm.
“Theo, don’t force Zea. Maybe she saw us together and she wanted to fall in love, so she came to this bar to sing and attract other people’s attention.”
Amber’s implication was that Zea came to the bar to seduce men.
Theo’s guilt just now disappeared because of Amber’s words.
“Zea, are you so short of men? You are willing to be shameless and come to the bar? Do you still have any shame?”
Theo’s unpleasant words made Zea want to find a hole to crawl into.
When her parents were alive, she was the apple of their eyes. Now that her parents were gone, Theo's father and mother also never said a harsh word to her.
But what Theo said to her today undoubtedly tore her self-esteem apart.
Amber raised her eyebrows and looked at her with pride in her eyes.
“Zea, I know what you thought about Theo in the past, but now Theo has me by his side. No matter how much you want to attract his attention, it’s useless. You are just his sister.”
Zea felt that her mind exploded with a “boom”.
Those secrets hidden in her heart were just announced in public.
She was embarrassed and ashamed and her eyes unconsciously looked at Theo.
Theo looked at her with disgust, as if he was looking at a dirty thing.
“Amber, stop talking about the past. If she doesn’t want to cooperate, I will send her abroad.”
At this moment, Zea finally understood why Theo avoided her after her 18th birthday.
It turned out that he saw the love she hid in the crystal ball that day.
So, the next day she saw the crystal ball she had carefully prepared in the trash can, it turned out that Theo knew everything and had been rejecting her in his self-righteous way.
In his eyes, her love for him was like garbage.
“Oh my God, the Guzman Family kindly adopted her, but she actually wanted to marry into the Guzman Family. How could she be so shameless!”
“I was wondering why she, an adopted daughter of the Guzman Family, came to sing in a bar. It turned out that she wanted to attract the attention of her brother. She really has no sense of ethical shame.”
“Mr. Guzman already has a girlfriend, but she still pesters him. She is really despicable.”
The discussions under the stage were like knives stabbing Zea’s body, leaving her covered in wounds.
Zea’s face turned blue and red and her eyes were sore from shame and anger. If her friend, Alina, hadn’t arrived in time, she might really not be able to hold on.
Zea didn’t know how she got back home. She was overwhelmed by the collapse and humiliation. She locked herself in the room, cried until her tears dried and sat quietly in front of the window.
It seemed that she had to leave early.
Theo didn’t go home all night, which just saved her the embarrassment of meeting him.
The next day, Zea went to the company to pack up her things. She had already submitted her resignation letter when she agreed to go to Chark with her uncle.
Now that the cooperation had been won, there was no need for her to stay in the company.
The bonus was deposited into her account in full, but it was still more than 838.398 dollars short of 1.396.473 dollars.
Zea remembered that her parents had set up a Zea Fund for her since she was a child and saved a sum of money for her. As long as she came of age, she could withdraw 139.733 dollars every year.
Now she had just come of age for five years.
Zea took the money from the foundation and now she only needed a few 13.973 dollars.
Just when she was in trouble, her uncle called.
“Zea, I have a friend whose grandmother is about to turn 80. He wants you to design a piece of jewelry for him. The design fee is unlimited. You have to go back to Chark anyway. Do you want to consider the next project?” Her uncle asked cautiously.
After the Simmons Family got into trouble, Zea’s uncle had to entrust Zea to the Guzman Family in order to stabilize the Simmons Family’s fragmented business.
So all these years, her uncle had always felt indebted to Zea.
“Okay, uncle, I will take over this project, but I have a request. Can you ask your friend to give me a deposit of 600,000 first?” Zea asked tentatively.
Hearing Zea say this, although her uncle was a little confused, he did not ask directly and agreed to Zea without thinking. “I can give you the money right away. When are you going to come to Chark, I can send someone to pick you up.”
“Tomorrow,” Zea answered softly.
Hearing Zea’s answer, her uncle felt relieved immediately. After hanging up the phone, Zea received a deposit of 600,000 from the uncle.
After collecting the money, Zea immediately looked for someone to buy a blue and white porcelain vase. The vase would not be delivered until the next day and it happened that the vase was delivered and he could leave.
Early the next morning, Zea dragged the suitcase downstairs. As soon as Zea walked to the door, the door was pushed open. Theo stood at the door against the light and his face sank when he saw the suitcase in Zea’s hand. "Where are you going?"
“As you wish, leave the Guzman Family,” Zea said coldly.
