“I don’t like the fit of this dress, ugh! It’s so big and ufortable,” Celina grumbled as she twirled around, fully dressed for the award event that was going to start in a few hours.


    Being one of the prominent families in the fashion industry, the Lam fashion is held in high esteem, making attending the banquet a must for Celina who’d rather be somewhere else than entertaining some obnoxious guests.


    “You also think it’s too overrated, don’t you? I told Mum I don’t like the dress but she insisted I wear it to honour the designer of the dress who would be in attendance tonight. To think I’ll have to spend the next few hours hating myself, ugh!” She continued as she turned to the bored-looking Lily, dressed casually in a sweatshirt and sweatpants.


    “It’s not over the top; it’s okay; it just doesn’t fit your taste. A lot of people will want to kill to have that dress you know? Just have it on for a few hours and you can change out of itter,” Lily advised, making Celina scrunch up her nose in dissatisfaction.


    ‘Why am I here? I have so much to do, and here I am ying dress up with her,’ Lily thought to herself with a mental facepalm as she flopped on therge bed with her face turned to the ceiling.


    Her mind wandered to the meeting she had with Mark the previous day.


    The meeting sealed their partnership for as long as they could maintain it.


    She let out a sigh, thinking about the direction in which the meeting had ended. It was truly her n to get him to be her partner while also making sure she wasn’t indebted to him.


    ‘But why the heck did I threaten him?’ she groaned mentally.


    ‘I could have proposed the partnership without threatening him. What if it had backfired and he didn’t agree?’ she continued.


    ‘It would have been a total failure with me losing my most important chess piece. Even though I made it seem as though I had many choices, I don’t. No one can match his efficiency or his brains. None among his brothers. And even though I could do it by myself, it would be even moreplicated and stressful than to use an already establishedpany,’


    ‘In this life, I just want to have my revenge and live the rest of my life as a rich young woman who only spends money,’


    {Haven’t you heard, ‘With great poweres great responsibility?’} the system interrupted her thoughts.


    “And what power do I have to take on so much responsibility? I’ve worked too hard in myst life; I don’t want to do that in this life,” she replied.


    {… The system’s knowledge has to be passed on, and you are the medium. No matter how I look at it, you don’t have a life of leisure in front of you if you continue this way}


    “In what way? This is the best way!” She countered, and the system sighed heavily.


    {You are free to remain anonymous, but your close partners have to know you. That’s the very basics of building trust! It makes your work easier too.}


    “Cleaning up after doing dirty work is easier with an anonymous identity,” Lily cut the system off. “But I do understand what you are saying. However, I’m keeping my identity hidden now because, dealing with those big guys, you need an aura of mystery, and it also brings respect.”


    “Do you think Mark will work with me if he knows my identity from the start? He won’t, which is why I’m buying him over with my work, not my identity. Now that that’s settled, We need to start the next phase of our n.”


    {Which is?}


    “I don’t know yet, but we will figure it out as we go. The nationals start in three days, and the dignitaries in charge of it will be avable at Diane’s award.”


    {Have you started regretting not epting all the invites?} The system asked with a gloating tone making Lily chuckle.


    “I’m not. Such an event is just for show. I need to mentally prepare; it’s going to be bigger than the Paris show,” she dered and an evil grin spilt on her lips, making the system shiver in fear.


    “Are you even listening to me?” Celina asked with a frown as she stood beside Lily with her hands on her waist.


    “I wasn’t,” Lily replied truthfully as she looked up at Celina with an innocent expression. “What were you saying?”


    Celina let out a sigh and sat beside Lily. “I’m asking why you decided not to attend the award; it’s an important banquet that helps you get an idea of who your opponent is,” she exined, and Lily raised a brow.


    “Opponent? I’m not in apetition, though. The sky is big enough for several dragons to fly,” she replied with a shrug, making Celina shake her head in exasperation.


    “I know you are going to join the nationals with yourpany,” Celina announced, and Lily froze up. The nationalpetition lists are not always announced until the first day of thepetition, making it impossible for people to know who exactly is going to be on the list.


    The essence was to build an air of mystery around thepetitors and also give the audience a surprise.


    “I don’t know what you are talking about,” she denied and sat up. Celina rolled her eyes and stood up to finish up her makeup. “My family is one of the sponsors, so we have early ess to the list, and yourpany name is on it,” she exined.


    “I’m not pressuring you, but there are many talented people like yourself joining thepetition. The best way to win is to know yourpetitors. That’s the old rule,” Celina exined, and Lily smiled.


    “I didn’t know you cared about me this much,” she smiled and winked. “But you have nothing to worry about. For me, the best way to win apetition is to have funpeting. Without the fun, there is no need topete,” she remarked.


    With a helpless smile and a shake of her head, Celina turned away from Lily and said, “Well. I wish you good luck. It’s not going to be easy.”


    “Who wants easy? Easy is boring. I’m expecting it to be more fun than the Paris show, so sit back and buy lots of popcorn because it’s going to be entertaining.”


    ***Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org.


    “Yes!” Merissa eximed happily, her eyes shining with happiness and greed as she flipped through the pages of designs that had been sent to her.


    “How did you get it?” She asked curiously once her excitement had died down. She had almost given up on stealing the designs from Lily after she was told about how the other never provided her employee with the full design outline.


    “I had to make a spare key to her office; getting that done wasn’t easy, to be honest. She’s overly guarded, but I’m smarter.” The other person on the phoneughed.


    “Then are you sure this is safe? It’s not a trap, is it? Your tail wasn’t caught, right?” Merissa asked worriedly as she continued to flip through the tens of mouth-watering designs.


    ‘So what if you don’t want to give me your designs to work with? I can always just steal them and even pay you for them!’ she thought to herself with a gloating expression.


    ‘In the end, you can only be a pawn in my game of chess. How naive of you to think you’ve escaped my ws!’


    A rustling sound was heard on the other side of the phone, followed by the whispering voice of the caller: “I copied the whole design under the ‘New design files’ so you don’t have to worry about the potential consequences. There won’t be any. And to be on the safe side, I also deleted the file along with some minor files. My tracks have been erasedpletely.”


    “You are aspetent as they said you’d be. Since you’vepleted the deal, I’ll send you the bnce payment, and this is the end for both of us. I hope you understand,” Merissa asked coldly, and thedy chuckled.


    “Of course, Miss Smith. Your secret goes to the grave with me,” she replied, hanging up the phone. After which, she looked across the table with a fearful expression as she noticed the sinister grin on Lily’s normally stoic face.


    “You’ve done well, Miss Diana. How does it feel working as a double agent?” Lily asked innocently, making Diana shiver in fear. She averted her gaze and began staring at her fidgeting hands.


    “I’m sorry,” she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.


    “You have nothing to be sorry about. It wasn’t your fault. It’s her fault,” Lily cajoled calmly, further making thedy scared.


    “What will happen to me?” Diana asked nervously, and Lily hummed, “Aspensation for your crime, you’ll continue to work in Lily’s fashion for a year, and you’ll only get half your sry for that one year. You have a huge sum to sustain you anyway,” Lily shrugged.


    Diana’s eyes widen in shock and fear as she hears Lily’s words. Working for one year with just half her sry was a huge punishment, but considering getting reported to the police for workce theft, it was the better option.


    Lily scowled as she noticed her hesitation. She leaned forward and folded her hands on the table. “If you are too reluctant to let go of your payments, we can take it to the right authorities; I don’t mind,” she dered coldly, and Diana fell on her knees.


    “Please don’t,” she pleaded with tears streaming down her cheeks. “Please don’t report me to the police. I don’t want to go to jail! My family depends on me, and my going to jail will leave them with nothing. Please,” she begged vigorously, and Lily sighed.


    “Then get back to work, and let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself. I won’t be too forgiving if it happens again,” she warned and waved dismissively as Diana scurried out of the office.


    Lily twirled around on her chair, a calcting look in her eyes as a smirk yed on her lips, “The bait has been set. I’m sure you can’t wait to bite on it, Miss Merissa Smith,”