Chapter 39 Invitation from the Grand Lady
The next morning, the atmosphere inside The Azure apartment felt incredibly peaceful. Elena woke up with a body far more relaxed than in previous days. When she stepped into the living room, she found a cup of warm coffee and a plate of toast already available on the table, complete with a small letter in neat handwriting.
\[I have to leave early for my client's office, Ángel. My client suddenly requested an IT system audit after last night's chaos at the Gala. Eat your breakfast, and remember our contract clause—don't let any insects near you today. — E\]
Elena smiled unconsciously as she read the message. Warmth spread through her chest again. The young man she had originally hired to get revenge on Morgan was slowly transforming into the main pillar she leaned on.
An hour later, Elena stepped into the Valora Gems office. The morning atmosphere felt very strange.
If yesterday the design division floor was filled with gossip about her marriage scandal, today the entire room was gripped by tense silence.
Bianca sat at her desk with an empty stare, while several senior designers seemed to be whispering, throwing terrified glances toward Isabella Van Doren's office.
"Elena! You've arrived?" Sofia suddenly emerged from behind a cubicle partition, pulling Elena's arm with a panicked and disbelieving expression.
"What's wrong, Sofia? Why does everyone look like they've seen a ghost?" Elena asked, confused, as she put down her bag.
"Not a ghost, El. But the angel of death for the Van Doren family business!" Sofia whispered in a very low voice.
"Just at eight this morning, the New York commercial court released official documents. All of Cedric's remaining company assets have been completely frozen following a lawsuit from Blackwood Group. And what's even crazier, Brad's father's law firm was officially shut down today because of a bribery scandal that suddenly leaked to the Attorney General's office!"
Elena stood frozen. Her heart pounded hard. Her mind immediately flew to Elijah's words at table number one last night.
That man… how could all his boasts come true in less than twelve hours?
Was Elijah's secret network of wealthy clients really that powerful and terrifying?
Elena had no answers to all the questions in her head.
"So… where is Isabella?" Elena asked softly.
"She's packing her things inside," Sofia answered, pointing toward the glass-walled office at the end of the corridor. "Valora Gems' board of directors immediately removed her from her position as senior designer this morning. The company doesn't want their name dragged into the Van Doren family's bankruptcy whirlpool. She's completely destroyed, Elena."
Just as Sofia finished speaking, the door to that glass room opened. Isabella stepped out carrying a cardboard box filled with her personal belongings. Her face, so arrogant yesterday, now looked utterly haggard, her eyes swollen, and the gleam of Van Doren lineage arrogance in her eyes had completely extinguished.
As she walked past Elena's desk, Isabella stopped. She stared at Elena with a look mixing deep hatred and immense fear.
"Are you satisfied now, Elena Vance?" Isabella hissed, her voice trembling, fighting back tears.
"You used that bar waiter to threaten me last night, and this morning my world collapsed. Who… who really is that man in the dark silver mask beside you? What kind of illicit connections do you have to be able to wield Blackwood Industries' wrecking ball?!"
Elena stood up from her chair, looking at Isabella with a calm yet firm gaze.
"I already told you yesterday, Isabella. Your world didn't collapse because of me, but because of your own arrogance that liked to underestimate the wrong person. And as for the man beside me? He's just someone who knows how to protect what's his."
Isabella gasped, unable to retort. She hugged her box tighter, then staggered away from the division floor with crushed steps, surrounded by the cold stares of coworkers who used to adore her.
Bianca, seeing this, immediately bowed her head deeply, no longer daring to look at Elena, afraid that the next bad luck would fall on her.
Elena sat back down in her chair, trying to calm her still-racing heart. She reached for her phone, intending to send a message to Elijah to tell him about this chaos, and also to firmly ask who exactly the powerful clients behind him were.
However, before her fingers could type the first letter, an office receptionist walked toward her desk with very polite steps—even seeming overly formal.
"Excuse me, Miss Elena," the receptionist said with a slight bow. "A special courier with tight security escort just delivered this for you. He requested that this document be handed directly into your own hands."
Elena frowned, accepting a thick, metallic-gold envelope that emanated a very elegant and expensive lavender scent. The texture of the envelope paper was very distinctive—the kind of heirloom paper used only by New York's oldest aristocratic families for official correspondence.
"Thank you," Elena murmured.
After the receptionist left, Elena slowly broke the red wax seal stamped with a magnificent letter 'B' logo on the back of the envelope. Inside, there was a physical invitation card in a matching color with extraordinarily beautiful gold ink calligraphy.
Elena read the lines on the card, and instantly, the air in her lungs felt completely sucked out.
\---
To the Honorable,
Miss Elena Vance.
I hereby personally invite you to an afternoon tea gathering at the Blackwood Family Main Residence in The Hamptons, tomorrow at 3:00 PM.
I greatly admire your design talent at Valora Gems, and there are several important matters regarding the future of jewelry in New York that I wish to discuss intimately with you.
Warm regards,
Victoria Blackwood
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Elena's hands trembled so violently that the golden card almost fell onto her desk. Victoria Blackwood?
The wife of Alaric Blackwood, the number one woman holding the highest socialite throne in New York, had suddenly sent her a personal afternoon tea invitation?