Chapter 251

Gloria never expected Emily to stand up for her so fiercely.

Feeling the intensified stares on her, Gloria clenched her teeth and met them head-on.

To her surprise, the moment she returned the stare, the other party quickly looked away, embarrassed.

The crowd's arrogance diminished a bit.

After a few seconds of silence, no one spoke up.

Emily decided for them.

"It seems no one has any objections, so it's settled."

She gestured to Gloria, "Come on, have a seat."

Gloria nodded slightly, gave Emily a grateful look, and then turned to smile at the woman behind her.

The woman looked uncomfortable, met her gaze for a second, and then quickly looked away.

The meeting wrapped up quickly, and Emily called Gloria into her office alone.

"How are you feeling? Can you keep up after joining in midway?"

Gloria nodded.

"You explained it clearly during the meeting. Each person is responsible for designing the piece of jewelry they are best at. After the designs are completed, the company will evaluate them and select the top-rated piece from each category to form a set."

The Miller Group was full of talent, and Emily's method was a good one.

"What are your ideas?" Emily asked her.

Gloria was straightforward when it came to work.

"I'll design a ring. I had a half-finished wedding ring design that Sebastian rejected. I'll revise it."

Emily agreed. She had been worried about Gloria, as the project was already halfway through, and the other colleagues had made progress. Starting from scratch might have been too much, but since Gloria had a half-finished piece, it was perfect.

"Have you contacted Sebastian? What did he say?"

A hint of struggle crossed Gloria's face. "Not yet."

She hadn't figured out how to talk to him.

The last time they met at Vincent's house, she had made it clear that they shouldn't contact each other anymore.

Bringing up the wedding ring out of the blue felt too jarring. But she needed to get her pendant back.

"What about your doctor friend? Why did he come to see you yesterday? When did he leave?"

Emily saw that Gloria wasn't ready and changed the subject to give her some time to prepare mentally.

Gloria collected her thoughts.

"I was planning to resign and asked him to help me move. He wanted to know when I was moving. We talked for a bit, and then he left."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "Seems like he's not too clingy."

Gloria smiled. "He's not that kind of person. He's always respected my decisions."

Emily looked at her meaningfully.

"The more respectful someone is, the more careful you need to be when rejecting them. Otherwise, he might take it hard."

Gloria didn't understand why she said that, but kept it in mind. "I will."

Even if Emily hadn't reminded herself, she would have thought carefully about how to reject him.

Vincent held a unique place in her life, and she didn't want any barriers between them.

Leaving the office, Gloria returned to her desk to work on her design, but she kept thinking about the pendant.

She couldn't focus all morning.

By noon, Gloria couldn't hold back any longer and asked Zoey for Sebastian's contact information. She sent him a message.

[Mr. Windsor, this is Gloria. Do you still need me to design the wedding ring for you and Ms. Jones, or are you planning to switch designers? Please let me know.]

As expected, the message went unanswered.

Even when Gavin called her up for lunch, Gloria hadn't received a reply.

During lunch, Gloria was distracted, frequently checking her phone.

Gavin noticed her behavior.

"Something important?"

Gloria realized her actions were impolite and put her phone away.

"Nothing, just a work message. Sorry."

Gavin narrowed his eyes at her.

Gloria might not realize it, but her ears turned red when she lied, as if they were on fire.

Claiming it was a work message in front of her boss wasn't wise.

He knew Gloria wasn't involved in any major projects in the design department.

Even if there were, she wouldn't be the one dealing with clients.

But since Gloria didn't want to be honest, Gavin didn't press the issue.

Perhaps feeling guilty, Gloria tried to change the subject.

"About the client you mentioned yesterday, is there anything I should be aware of when we meet?"

Gavin couldn't help but smirk, increasingly sure that Gloria's preoccupation had nothing to do with work."You just need to be there. If it's not work-related, he's easy to get along with."

Gloria nodded, not thinking much of it.

After lunch, Gavin had other work to do, so Gloria returned to the design department.

The woman who had spoken up for her earlier had just finished lunch, and they ran into each other.

Gloria nodded slightly and thanked her.

"Thanks for speaking up for me earlier."

The woman gave her a cold look.

"I just stated the facts. Your design talent is impressive, and I genuinely admire your work."

Then she changed her tone.

"But that doesn't mean you're a good person. The evidence from three years ago is undeniable, no matter how much you don't want to admit it."

"Please keep your identity hidden while you're at the Miller Group. The company is very supportive of designers, and I don't want you to negatively impact us."

Her attitude was harsh, just like their first meeting when Gloria joined the design department.

Gloria smiled. "I will. I don't want to drag anyone down because of myself."

As long as her work was recognized, that was enough for her.

Back at her desk, Gloria checked her phone again, but still no message from Sebastian.

She wondered if her last words had made him decide not to contact her anymore or if he was just too busy to see it.

Gloria sighed silently, convincing herself that Sebastian was probably just busy. Her message struck the right professional tone; he couldn't just brush it off..

At the Windsor Group.

Sebastian had no idea about Gloria's thoughts, leaving Nathan's office with a stern expression.

Lucas quickly approached but hesitated to speak when he saw Sebastian's expression.

Lately, Lucas had noticed that Sebastian seemed more and more stressed each day.

It was clear that Sebastian didn't enjoy handling Windsor Group matters and even resisted them.

Over the years, he had only forced himself out of familial duty.

He preferred the straightforward and meticulous work of the court.

But even his right to work at the court had been taken away by Nathan.