Chapter 298 Strike back again

Chapter 298 Strike back again

Everyone exchanged glances.

Lillian's words dripped with sarcasm. She smiled while offering congratulations, but her underlying message was meant to completely degrade Grace.

Grace didn't get angry. Instead, she smiled slightly. "Lillian, do you know what the most valuable handbags in the world are?"

Without hesitation, Lillian replied, "Hermès, obviously."

She didn't understand why Grace was suddenly asking this.

Grace smiled faintly. "Exactly. Many classic Hermès bags don't lose value when resold—they actually appreciate. Unlike knockoffs from street vendors that can't even sell for a hundred dollars. So you see, Hermès is Hermès, and cheap knockoffs are knockoffs. Even a pre-owned Hermès, whether second-hand or third-hand, retains its value forever. Unlike knockoffs—nobody wants those."

Her words weren't angry, but they cut like a blade wrapped in silk.

Grace understood that losing her temper with someone like this would mean losing the battle.

Lillian's face froze completely.

She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to swallow her rage without exploding.

A female team member beside her whispered provocatively in her ear, "Lillian, she's obviously calling you an unwanted knockoff!"

Lillian shot her a fierce glare. "You think I can't tell?!"

She stood up abruptly, staring daggers at Grace, looking like she wanted to march over and rip her hair out.

But the office was full of people.

She could only swallow her fury. "Grace! Are you saying you're Hermès and I'm a knockoff? How shameless can you be!"

Grace replied, "Oh? Lillian, I never said that. I was just stating facts about Hermès bags versus knockoffs. Don't take it personally. Why would you automatically assume you're the knockoff?"

Lillian was so furious she nearly ground her molars to dust!

She'd intended to mock Grace for being divorced—"second-hand goods"—but ended up getting completely outmaneuvered!

Anna gently tugged Grace's hand. "Grace, that's enough. Let's get back to work. You still haven't finished your meeting report!"

Grace nodded and lowered her head to organize her meeting notes.

A female colleague suddenly stirred the pot further with obvious relish. "Grace, where's your boyfriend from?"

Grace replied, "He's local."

The colleague pressed on, "Where does he work? Have you bought a house and car for the wedding?"

Grace thought for a moment. "He works at the same company as me."

Everyone gasped in surprise.

Lillian looked stunned too. "Same company? Which department?"

Grace pointed at the ceiling. "Upstairs."

Alexander's office was indeed upstairs.

In Crest Corporation's building, departments were organized by floor level.

The higher the floor, the higher the position.

Lillian frowned. "There are so many departments upstairs. If you don't be specific, how are we supposed to know which one?"

Grace said, "Why are you all so eager to know about him right now? He's very busy with work, so we rarely see each other. But when we officially get married, I'll give you all wedding candy, and then you'll know."

The female colleague continued gossiping, "What's your boyfriend's annual salary?"

Grace considered this. "Basically six figures after taxes."

A hundred thousand was six figures, and several billion was also six figures.

She wasn't trying to be secretive—she was afraid that if she told them her fiancé was Alexander, Lillian wouldn't believe her and would cause more trouble.

When everyone heard her boyfriend made six figures, they all expressed amazement!

For the project team members, six-figure salaries weren't unheard of, but a position with that income already exceeded 80% of Crest Corporation employees!

The female colleague asked again, "Where are you buying your wedding house?"

Grace replied, "We haven't bought one yet."

Several colleagues exchanged glances and began discussing housing prices:

"Housing prices aren't cheap these days!"

"Yeah, especially in prime locations."

"But Grace's boyfriend is local—he should already have property here!"

"Local families often have three or four properties!"

"Wow! So Grace is marrying into wealth?"

"Seven or eight properties? That's not exactly wealth. Maybe in other cities, but in Silverlight City, if your net worth isn't in the tens of billions, can you really call that wealthy?"

"If I were her, why would I keep working so hard after marriage? I'd just stay home and take care of my husband and children!"

Grace listened to their chatter impassively, wondering why these colleagues were so interested in her business.

She looked up to see Lillian still sitting at her desk, staring intently at her.

Looks like they'd made another enemy!

"Lillian..." A male colleague whispered in her ear, "She said her boyfriend works in an upstairs department. Sounds like she's not Mr. Nelson's girlfriend after all. You can relax now!"

Lillian's expression softened slightly after hearing this. "As if someone like her could ever be worthy of Mr. Nelson."

Emma commented coolly from the side, "She's not worthy? Are you? Mr. Nelson is one of Mr. Hayes' most valued subordinates, being groomed for vice president. He'll be promoted at the earliest next year, latest the year after."

Lillian retorted, "Stop making snide remarks! Why are you protecting her so much? What's in it for you? Are you planning to team up with her against me?"

Emma gave her a dismissive glance. "Why would I target someone beneath me?"

Lillian fumed, "You—"

Emma cut her off, "Your salary is less than my base wage. People climb upward—why would I compare myself downward? Ridiculous."

With that, she stood up with her mug and headed to the break room.

That evening, Grace finished organizing her work and prepared to go home.

At the company's side entrance, Alexander's car was waiting.

Grace opened the door and got in.

As Alexander started the engine, Grace suddenly said, "Max's birthday is in two days."

Alexander glanced at the calendar, looking surprised. "Max's birthday is August 22nd?"

The tail end of Leo season.

No wonder Max had that domineering little lion energy about him.

Grace confirmed, "That's right."

Alexander said, "So that means Liam's birthday is also August 22nd."

Originally, Liam had been brought back from the orphanage by Jeremy. Alexander didn't know Liam's actual birth date, so he'd always celebrated his birthday on the day he was brought home from the orphanage.

Grace corrected him, "Liam's birthday should be August 21st."

Alexander looked puzzled. "Aren't they twins? Why aren't their birthdays on the same day?"

Grace raised an eyebrow. "Liam was born at 11:45 PM on the 21st, and Max was born at 12:12 AM on the 22nd. I remember it very clearly."