Chapter 258 Proposal?

Chapter 258 Proposal?

But Vanessa quickly caught herself. In Daisy's eyes, she wasn't a tool at all—she was invisible.

From the very beginning, she'd been the only one using Daisy as a prop to make herself look better. It was just that now Daisy had improved so much that she could no longer prove her own excellence by putting Daisy down.

Yet somehow, she still felt unwilling to accept it.

Sure, Daisy had achieved some minor success in her career, and a few big shots had even moved seats to chat her up.

But Vanessa scanned the room—she was surrounded by industry leaders on par with Black Group. She wasn't any worse off than Daisy.

So there was no question of Daisy pulling ahead and leaving her behind. They were simply on different tracks.

And Vanessa was certain that even if Daisy worked for another hundred years on her track, she'd never build an empire like Black Group. After all, this was a family business—generations of accumulated wealth!

"Vanessa, we should get going."

Sam's voice snapped her back to reality.

She stood to leave, then suddenly remembered something. "I heard you've been calling Daisy 'sister-in-law' behind my back?"

Sam silently cursed his bad luck and quickly apologized. "That was just a slip from before. Won't happen again. Once you marry into the Black family, you'll be my one and only sister-in-law."

Vanessa smiled. "Good!"

Sam had recently been assigned to the company for some reason. She'd initially worried it was to divide Vincent's authority, but looking at how clueless he was—couldn't even read the room—taking power from Vincent? Fat chance!

Sam barely knew her anyway. Strangely enough, even though everyone praised Vanessa, he'd never been able to stand her from day one.

So he simply left.

Just then, Angela rushed over excitedly. "Vanessa, guess what I just found out?"

"What?" Vanessa asked half-heartedly.

Angela said, "I heard Mr. Black spent hundreds of millions on a huge diamond. Do you think he's planning a surprise? Maybe he's going to propose with that diamond?"

Vanessa's first reaction was denial. "How is that possible? I haven't heard anything about this."

"That's what makes it a surprise! Why would he tell you?" Angela pulled up a news page. "Look, this diamond that's been in a private collector's hands was just bought by someone mysterious. I just saw this on one of the bigwigs' feeds—it's legit."

"A web page doesn't prove Vincent bought it. And what if it's not even for me? What if it's just for his collection?" But Vanessa's heart was already racing.

Come to think of it, besides sending her a birthday text, Vincent hadn't said anything else today. That didn't make sense.

Maybe he really was planning to propose!

After all, birthdays only came once a year. What better, more fitting day to give a gift than today?

If Vincent proposed on her birthday, Vanessa thought she'd remember this day for the rest of her life.

Angela laughed. "Vanessa, are you kidding? Mr. Black's a grown man—he doesn't collect jewelry as a hobby. If he's buying a diamond, it's obviously to give to someone!"

She sighed dreamily. "We're talking about a multi-billion-dollar diamond here. And everyone says stones at this level are priceless—literally impossible to buy. The fact that Mr. Black would spend this much for you? He must be crazy about you!"

Vanessa nodded calmly on the surface.

Angela suddenly covered her mouth. "Oh no, Vanessa, are you upset? I might've just ruined the surprise Mr. Black planned for your birthday."

With all this talk, Vanessa was now completely convinced that Vincent would propose with that massive diamond tonight.

She said, "It's fine. I don't mind."

If Vincent really did propose tonight, she thought she might actually cry from happiness.

Being proposed to by the man she loved—that kind of joy would make her forgive everything.

Actually, even before Daisy's divorce, she'd imagined what it would be like when Vincent finally proposed after leaving his wife.

But none of those daydreams had felt as thrilling and nerve-wracking as this moment. Maybe it was because Vincent's recent behavior had left her feeling insecure.

Before, no matter how busy he was, he'd always make time to call her. At important events, he'd obviously favor her over Daisy.

But now things were different. Without Daisy around, he seemed completely absorbed in work. Always busy.

Sure, he only brought her to important events now, but she felt like something was missing.

Plus, he kept going out alone with Daisy because of Luna, instead of being able to openly ignore Daisy's feelings like he had when they were still married.

So even though Angela's leak might diminish the surprise, she really didn't mind.

Because as long as Vincent proposed today, that alone would be surprising and moving enough!

For the rest of the workday, Vanessa was too lost in anticipation to focus properly.

When it was time to leave, her phone rang.

Angela immediately teased, "Is Mr. Black picking you up for a candlelit dinner?"

Vanessa answered the call and pretended to complain. "Vincent's being so mysterious. He's not even picking me up himself—he's having Assistant Tyler take me to the restaurant."

She said this, but she didn't actually care whether Vincent came in person.

Right now, everything Vincent did seemed like part of some elaborate setup for her birthday surprise.

Under Angela's envious gaze, she left the office and headed to the restaurant Vincent had booked.

As she reached the private dining room door, Vanessa realized she was nervous. She hadn't felt this kind of heart-racing anticipation in so long. She laughed at herself.

She wasn't some teenage girl anymore. Why was she feeling this way?

But when she opened the door and saw Vincent's profile as he sat waiting, she suddenly felt transported back in time.

Vincent looked up at her. "You're here? Why so quiet?"

Another voice chimed in. "She's probably exhausted from work. Vincent, honestly—it's her birthday and you didn't even give her the day off!"

Only then did Vanessa notice Victor was there too.

Not only that, but laughter came from the doorway. "Hey! Vanessa, you just got here too? What a coincidence!"

Sienna had arrived as well.