Chapter 12

After the design draft was finished, it was time to make the actual piece. Sophia planned to visit some jewelry stores to see if there were suitable materials.

When she told Harold about her idea, he smiled and shook his head. "I'm glad you're getting into it so quickly, but you need to balance work and rest! I noticed you haven't really rested this past week properly, have you?"

"Your dark circles are really bad."

He patted her shoulder. "Go home and get some good rest first. Tomorrow I'll have Nicholas go with you, and it'll be a good chance for him to get familiar with the market again."

Sophia thought that made sense.

After a night's rest, early the next morning, Nicholas came to pick up Sophia in person.

Sophia and Nicholas went to the jewelry market together - the city's largest jewelry trading center.

From affordable accessories to high-end custom pieces, it had everything.

As Sophia walked around browsing, her eyes were suddenly drawn to a ruby displayed in a shop window.

The ruby was as big as a fist, with no signs of artificial cutting, just lying there in its most natural state on a velvet tray.

Its color ranged from deep to light, like a frozen flame, showing incredibly brilliant colors under the lighting.

That's it!

She immediately pulled Nicholas and pushed the door open.

"Welcome." A shop assistant came up to them. "What would you like to see?"

Sophia pointed to the gemstone in the window. "That ruby - can we take it out to look at?"

The shop assistant glanced in the direction she was pointing, and her smile paused.

"Miss, this gemstone is a collector's item in our store. It's not that we can't sell it, but the price..."

The shop assistant looked Sophia up and down. She didn't finish her sentence, but the meaning was clear.

Sophia also looked down at her own outfit - a plain T-shirt and jeans, nothing branded, and flat shoes. From any angle, she didn't look like someone who could afford this level of gemstone.

She felt a bit awkward. Nicholas handed over his business card at the right moment, but before he could speak, a familiar female voice came from the store entrance.

"Benjamin, this is the store! The ruby I saw last time is here!"

Sophia's back stiffened slightly.

She turned around and saw Alice walking in with her arm linked through Benjamin's.

The shop assistant obviously knew Alice well. She didn't even bother to look at Nicholas's business card and went straight to greet them at the door, her attitude much warmer than before.

"Ms. Baker, you're here! The ruby you liked is really popular - just this morning alone, at least three customers came to ask about it, but I didn't give it to anyone. I saved it especially for you."

Alice smiled. "Since you put it that way, I guess I have to take it home today, no matter what."

As she was speaking, Alice saw that Sophia and Nicholas were also there, and was stunned.

And Benjamin, beside her, was even more surprised.

"Sophia?" Benjamin looked at Sophia, then scanned the store's displays. "What are you doing here?"

Alice also said, "Ms. Brown, what a coincidence, you're here too."

Sophia didn't say anything.

Alice's gaze swept over her, then looked at the gemstone in the window, and her smile became more meaningful.

"Is Ms. Brown also here to see this gemstone? This one isn't cheap. I remember it's..." She turned to the shop assistant. "How much was it again?"

The shop assistant quickly said, "One million two hundred eighty thousand dollars."

"One million two hundred eighty thousand dollars." Alice's face broke into a smile. "Sophia, with your current situation, buying this kind of gemstone isn't really appropriate, is it?"

Her words were tactful, but the meaning couldn't be clearer.

Sophia was a housewife, and she was about to get divorced. What was the point of getting this kind of million-dollar raw gemstone?

"I'm just looking," Sophia said flatly. "If Ms. Baker likes it, go ahead and buy it."

Alice's smile became even brighter. She turned to look at Benjamin, her voice soft and sweet. "Benjamin, I really love this gemstone. Will you buy it for me?"

Benjamin didn't speak. His gaze fell on Sophia instead.

After not seeing her for a few days, Sophia seemed different. Her clothes were still plain, but the feeling she gave off had changed.

Sophia stood there with her back straight and her eyes calm, no longer the timid person she used to be.

"Benjamin?" Alice tugged at his sleeve.

Benjamin snapped back to attention and nodded. "If you like it, buy it."

With that, Benjamin handed over his black card.

The shop assistant beamed with joy and quickly took the card to write up the receipt.

"Wait a moment."

The shop assistant paused. "Sir, is there something else?"

Nicholas glanced at the ruby and said casually, "The owner of this store is Mr. Efren Britton, right?"

"You know my boss?" The shop assistant was very surprised.

"I met Mr. Britton at a trade show. I also know that this gemstone is called the Star of Ember. Mr. Britton got it from an Italian auction. At the time, the seller offered a very low price with only one condition - he hoped this raw stone would eventually become a work of art and appear in major exhibitions."

Nicholas smiled. "Mr. Britton bought this gemstone and signed the contract. He displays it in the window and sets such a high price precisely because he doesn't want it to fall into the hands of vulgar people."

"If you just sell it like this, aren't you afraid Mr. Britton will be furious when he finds out?"

The shop assistant's expression had completely changed. She began looking at Nicholas with awe.

Because every word Nicholas said was exactly what Efren had emphasized repeatedly. She didn't understand anything about art or aspirations. She only knew that since this ruby was placed in the window, countless people came to see it every day.

But when they heard the price, no matter how reluctant they were, customers could only put it back.

Now, finally meeting Alice, who was willing to buy it, how could she care about whether it was vulgar or not? She only knew that if she sold it, she could get a five percent commission.

Five percent commission!

"Sir, you..."

Before she could finish, Nicholas not only handed over his business card but also his black card, smiling. "I think I'm more qualified than Ms. Baker to have this gemstone, don't you think?"

The shop assistant hesitantly took the business card. Even if she didn't know Nicholas's company, she could still recognize the title "Chief Designer" on it.

Since she could earn a commission no matter who she sold it to, of course, she should follow Efren's wishes.

She quickly took the black card from Nicholas's hand. "Please wait, I'll process this for you right away."

At this moment, both Alice's and Benjamin's expressions became extremely interesting.

Alice was on the verge of tears, watching helplessly as the ruby that was about to be hers was handed to Nicholas.

And Nicholas casually passed the gemstone to Sophia.

Benjamin narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, "What's the meaning of this, Mr. Jackson?"