Chapter 38 Compensation
Charles turned his head, looking at Emily's profile as the sea breeze painted her cheeks with a soft blush. His voice deepened. "No, I'm not."
"Then why are you following me?" Emily raised an eyebrow, finally turning her gaze toward him.
"I'm here to compensate you," Charles paused before revealing his proposal. "If you voluntarily resign from Mirage Fashion and stop opposing Clara, I'm willing to give you a more prestigious luxury brand."
Emily felt her heart skip a beat. This was exactly what she had been hoping for.
She kept her expression neutral, merely giving Charles a measured look. "So all I need to do is resign?"
"Yes, just agree to leave Mirage Fashion and stop feuding with Clara," Charles confirmed.
"I accept," Emily agreed immediately, then laid out her terms. "But I have two conditions. First, I get seventy percent of the brand's profits. Second, you cannot interfere with any of my business decisions while I'm running it."
Charles looked surprised. He had expected Emily to make outrageous demands, or fiercely object, perhaps even cause a scene at Mirage Fashion. Her easy acceptance made him uneasy, suspecting she might be plotting something he couldn't quite figure out.
Nevertheless, he nodded. "Deal."
Hearing his consent, Emily's tense expression finally softened into a fleeting smile that Charles caught before it disappeared.
That smile was like a pebble dropped into still water, creating ripples across his consciousness. Seeing her mood lighten made the clouds in his own mind disperse.
Lately, he found himself constantly affected by Emily's emotions. When she was happy, he felt inexplicably pleased; when she was sad, his mood would sink along with hers. He found this emotional volatility strange but couldn't control it.
'Maybe I should schedule an appointment with a therapist,' he thought.
The sunset was slowly sinking into the horizon, turning the sky into molten gold.
In the shimmering waves, silhouettes of birds glided across the clouds as the salty breeze caressed their hair. Emily gazed at the distant sunset, unusually free of cold remarks, her profile softened in the golden light like an oil painting.
Charles's heart skipped a beat.
He found himself watching her trembling eyelashes, noticing the delicate curve of her waist when the evening breeze lifted the edge of her blouse. A powerful urge surged through him—he wanted to kiss her.
The thought startled him. He quickly looked away, feeling heat creep up his ears and moisture gather in his palms.
"The sunset here is more beautiful than downtown," Emily suddenly said, her voice carrying an almost imperceptible relaxation. "My mother used to bring me here when I was little."
Charles's Adam's apple bobbed as he responded quietly, "Yes, it is."
They stood side by side, neither speaking further, but the earlier tension had dissolved. The sound of waves crashing against the rocks became the gentlest background music.
As night deepened, the cool sea breeze made Emily instinctively shrink her shoulders. Charles removed his suit jacket and naturally draped it over her shoulders, wrapping her in his subtle cedar scent.
"The wind gets stronger at night."
Emily froze momentarily, her fingertips touching the warm fabric. She started to remove it to return it to him, but he pressed his hand over hers. "Keep it on."
His palm was warm, his gentle pressure brooking no refusal.
When they parted, Emily sat in her car, watching Charles's figure standing by the shore in the rearview mirror. For some inexplicable reason, she didn't return his jacket.
As she adjusted the jacket, her fingers touched something hard in the inner pocket. She pulled out a silk scarf—indigo blue with silver wave patterns embroidered on it. The color combination was so elegant that even she, a designer, was impressed.
"This could be good inspiration," Emily casually tucked the scarf into her own bag, planning to study the pattern at home. But as soon as she arrived home, her thoughts were interrupted by her three kids.
"Mom!" Emma and Ethan excitedly chattered about their day at school. Emma boasted about being the best in her horseback riding class, while Ethan proudly described hitting a hole-in-one during his golf lesson.
Emily listened with a smile, completely forgetting about examining the scarf.
The next morning, the air in Mirage Fashion's design department was thick with suppressed mockery.
A designer grimaced at her computer screen, still bitter about Emily rejecting three versions of her designs last week. "Acting so high and mighty, and now she's been driven out. Did she really think she was some international master? Who could stand all her demands?"
An assistant organizing fabrics nearby chimed in, "Exactly! And that, Henry, coming in and changing all the suppliers we'd worked with for years. Well, good riddance to both of them!"
"I heard he was kicked out years ago, came back to strut around for a few days, and now he's been booted again. Serves him right!"
The gossip grew louder, but Emily and Henry acted as if they couldn't hear it. Henry sealed the last box of documents while Emily methodically packed her design tools into a leather case.
Sunlight filtered through the venetian blinds, illuminating them, making the surrounding whispers seem like nothing more than the chattering of insignificant jesters.
"Why is everyone gathered here? Don't you have work to do?" Clara's voice, deliberately authoritative, cut through the room. Behind her stood several department heads who had been harshly criticized by Henry, their faces plainly showing they were enjoying the spectacle.
The employees immediately fell silent. Clara pivoted, looking at Emily with barely concealed triumph. "Emily, Henry, why create such a scene? We've been colleagues after all."
She paused, deliberately raising her voice. "Actually, if you would just apologize, I could still..."
"No need," Emily interrupted, looking up. "Charles has given me 'Obscura Fashion' from the Windsor Group. As of today, I'm its new executive director."
Her casual tone made it sound like a trivial matter, but it stunned everyone present.
"Obscura Fashion" was an internationally renowned luxury brand, widely known as the crown jewel of the Windsor Group.
Emily tilted her head toward Clara, her lips curving into a cold smile. "I should actually thank you, Ms. Johnson. If you hadn't been so eager to prove yourself to Simon, turning Mirage Fashion into such a mess, I wouldn't have had this opportunity."
Emily had done her research. Clara was desperately trying to revitalize Mirage Fashion to prove her capabilities to Simon and secure her inheritance of the Johnson Group.
"You're lying! Charles would never give you 'Obscura Fashion'!"
"Believe what you want." She stepped closer to Clara, lowering her voice to an icy whisper near her ear. "Clara, you wanted Simon to see your potential? Too bad. Starting today, 'Obscura Fashion' will systematically crush Mirage Fashion's market share. I'll make sure everyone knows that Mirage Fashion is headed for destruction under your leadership. When that happens, do you think Simon will pass the Johnson Group to someone who couldn't even sustain the family business?"