Chapter 273

Chapter 273

Charlotte spoke as she pulled a pen from her purse, then drew out a sheet of paper. She lowered her head, signed her name, and slid the paper across to Nicole. "Take a look at this signature."

Nicole put on her reading glasses with deliberate care, holding the paper up to the light. She examined it closely, her fingertip tracing the strokes of the signature.

She looked up, her gaze trembling slightly. "Are you truly Nova?"

Charlotte nodded with a smile.

The room erupted in another shocking reversal!

Aside from the few who already knew, everyone else stood frozen in disbelief. Nova was actually Charlotte!

But why?

Why would someone who'd achieved fame so young willingly marry into the Forbes Family, then spend seven whole years living in obscurity as a housewife without dignity?

Sabrina was stunned too, but she still refused to believe it was true.

After all, she'd always believed Charlotte was inferior to her in every way.

Whether it was talent, social status, or even the ability to manipulate men—Charlotte fell short in everything!

So how could this mediocre Charlotte possibly be the design prodigy Nova?

No. Absolutely impossible!

Alexander remained unusually quiet, his expression betraying not even the slightest change as he stared at his ex-wife.

Charlotte was Nova!

She'd been willing to give up her career, her fame, just to quietly stay by his side.

For seven years!

Yet he'd looked down on her before. Even humiliated her.

The calmest person in the room was undoubtedly Landon.

From Charlotte's ambiguous remarks earlier and the moment she'd pulled out that mask, he'd been one hundred percent certain that Charlotte was the design genius everyone envied—Nova!

At that moment, Sabrina, deeply rattled, finally lost her composure completely.

She shot to her feet, pointing straight at Charlotte. "Impossible! She can't be Nova!"

Nicole's expression changed instantly. She slammed her hand on the table. "Alexander, control your woman!"

In Alexander's memory, Nicole had only used that tone with him a handful of times. He understood—Nicole was truly angry.

He'd always respected and feared Nicole in equal measure.

He quickly pulled himself together and tugged at Sabrina's sleeve. "Sabrina, sit down."

Unexpectedly, Sabrina was unusually stubborn this time. "Alexander, are you going to cover for her too?"

"Just because she gave you a child?"

Alexander was already feeling miserable, and now he grew annoyed. "Sabrina, shut your mouth!"

Seeing that Alexander not only refused to back her up but also embarrassed her in public, Sabrina couldn't hold it in anymore. Her eyes immediately reddened.

Meanwhile, Nicholas had already asked a server to bring over a magnifying glass. He leaned close to the paper and examined it carefully.

The more he looked, the more excited he became. "Oh! My God!"

After setting down the tool, he seized Charlotte's hands. "Nova! I finally get to see you again!"

Seeing Nicholas so emotional, Charlotte felt a bit embarrassed. "Mr. Lewis, I'm sorry. I had to hide my identity for personal reasons before."

Nicholas was too excited to know what to say, only managing to repeat that it was fine.

By now, there was absolutely no doubt that Charlotte was Nova.

After all, Nicole had personally signed the contract with Nova back then, and Nicholas had sought Nova out numerous times, wanting to take her on as his student.

If Charlotte had earned recognition from both of them, her identity was beyond question.

Immediately, everyone in the VIP lounge—whether offering flattery or genuinely happy for Charlotte—surged toward her.

The people downstairs seemed to have heard the commotion and couldn't resist coming up. In no time, the VIP lounge was packed.

Learning that Charlotte was Nova, the newcomers were equally stunned.

As for Quentin, Paul, and the others, their feelings at that moment were incredibly complicated.

If they'd known Charlotte's identity earlier, they definitely wouldn't have sided with Sabrina's camp.

At that moment, Charlotte made a point of introducing Keith and Maurice to Nicholas again.

After the four exchanged pleasantries, they all looked satisfied.

Maurice's gaze toward Keith already carried hints of viewing him as a successor.

Many people in the room picked up on this.

Quentin was furious inside.

Thanks to his smooth talking and knack for taking credit, Maurice had always considered him the designated successor.

But now Charlotte had emerged with her identity as Nova and was clearly backing Keith. It looked like the position of new president was slipping away.

If only he'd known, he should have curried favor with Charlotte from the start.

Unlike Quentin's regret, Keith was riding high.

He'd already given up hope on the presidency, but unexpectedly, with Lynn's daughter backing him, Maurice was looking at him favorably again. His words hinted at letting Keith take over as the new president.

Thank goodness he'd shown Charlotte extra care out of respect for Lynn. Otherwise, he wouldn't have this opportunity today.

From now on, he'd have to treat Charlotte even better.

The other members of the Design Association were both envious and jealous of Keith, secretly regretting not helping Charlotte earlier and letting Keith snatch up this advantage.

But no matter how much they thought about it now or how much they envied him, they couldn't change the facts.

Among everyone there, the happiest person was undoubtedly Jenna.

Though she'd known Charlotte was definitely no slouch, she never imagined Charlotte was actually the legendary design genius Nova!

Thinking about it that way, Charlotte had designed so many jewelry pieces for her for free over the years.

Jenna held up her ten fingers and counted, then gasped inwardly!

Oh my God, based on Charlotte's rates, she'd already saved tens of millions of dollars in design fees alone!

Suddenly, the delicious food in front of her didn't seem so appealing anymore.

Because she realized she'd been selling the jewelry in her shop way too cheap.

The next moment, she quickly pulled out her phone and immediately instructed her staff to put Nova's name out there, then quadruple the prices on all the jewelry pieces!

Nova's designs absolutely couldn't be sold cheap!

After giving those instructions, Jenna still felt a pang of heartache. Her money—what a loss.

That day's welcome banquet ended happily for most.

Of course, except for Alexander and people like Quentin.

After returning to Forbes Estate in low spirits, Alexander shut himself in his study and wouldn't open the door no matter who knocked.

Sabrina had no choice but to call Calvin for help.

Recently, the Wallace Family had been targeted again, and the attack was fierce. Meanwhile, the Forbes Group was locked in battle with Zenith Enterprises Group and couldn't spare a hand to help him.

So these past few days, he'd been running around dealing with company matters. Even today, he'd missed the Forbes Group celebration because something urgent had come up.

When he heard that Charlotte was actually Nova, his first reaction was to doubt he'd heard correctly.

After all, in his mind, Charlotte had always been useless—someone who could only survive by depending on men.

Only after Sabrina emphasized it repeatedly on the phone did he believe the fact that Charlotte was a design genius.

However, when he'd prepared a whole speech of comforting words and called, Alexander only said he was busy, then hung up directly.

In the study, a thick stack of notebooks sat in front of Alexander. They were the ones Lisa had given him before she left—Charlotte's accidentally forgotten diaries and some records about nutritious soups.

At that moment, he stared at those diary notebooks for a long while before finally mustering the courage to reach out and pick up the one on top.

The most recent entry.