Chapter 230

Chapter 230

Ava's heart was filled with mixed emotions. She felt she had let her two children down—bringing them into this world but failing to give them a complete family.

The absence of a father had always been a knot in her heart, and now that same knot weighed on the hearts of her two precious babies as well.

Ava held Samuel and kissed his forehead.

"Samuel, Mommy is sorry to you and Sophia."

Samuel seemed to understand his mother’s feelings. He snuggled into Ava's arms obediently, comforting her like a little adult,

"Don't be scared, Mommy. Samuel will protect you. Samuel loves you the most."

After settling Samuel, Ava couldn't sleep all night. She kept thinking about the person who had suddenly come to Harmony City to buy a house, worried he might take the children away. Her two babies were her life—the only thing she cared about even while unconscious in the ICU.

The next day, as soon as Ava got to the office, her assistant Stella brought her some printed papers.

Ava glanced at the words "Resignation Letter" at the top and asked, "Are you resigning?"

Stella quickly explained, "Ms. Davis, this was found on Hannah's desk. All her belongings are still there; she only left this."

Hannah Nguyen was a designer at SereneShine Studio, having worked there for just over six months.

Ava looked surprised. "She didn't say anything and just stopped showing up?"

Stella had a straightforward personality and had never liked Hannah's cold attitude at work, always acting as if she were above everyone. Now that she was gone, Stella didn't hold back.

"Ms. Davis, just let her go. She never fit into our family anyway and didn't get along with anyone."

Ava was concerned about the work Hannah hadn't handed over. She had an unfinished client project, and Hannah had been the one keeping records of the client's requirements and preferences. If it were transferred directly to another designer, she feared the results wouldn't meet the client’s expectations.

The clients SereneShine Studio had developed over the years were all wealthy wives, socialites, and celebrities—none of them were easy to deal with.

"Stella, call her again and get the client information."

"Alright."

Stella went out, pouting, to make the call.

Ava started looking through the design drawings that were almost finished and just needed final touches. Stella knocked and came back in,

"Ms. Davis, Hannah won't answer the phone. She won't pick up even when I call from my personal phone."

Ava had managed this studio for four years and hired many designers. By now, she understood the situation. Hannah wasn't planning to stay in touch—most likely, she had moved to a new company.

Fortunately, she only had one client she was actively working with.

"Don't worry about it, I'll handle the aftermath."

Ava planned to personally take over that client's project.

Usually, the projects she handled herself cost more than three times what the studio's other designers charged. Without raising the price or having another discussion with the client, they would probably agree.

After Stella left, Ava continued looking for that design.

Lewis sent her a message asking her to have dinner together after work. Ava replied [No time] and put her phone face down on the desk.

On Lewis's end, he stared at the three words "No time" on the screen, clearly disappointed. To make matters worse, someone beside him kept talking non-stop.

"Lewis, are you even useful? Four years and you still haven't won her over. You can't even get her to have dinner with you. Do you think you can pull some strings for me?"

Lewis was already annoyed and losing patience.

"You're just getting engaged—you could wear anything. Why does it have to be personally designed by Ms. Davis? I have no way to manage it either."

"It's because you're useless. Ask around—what man pursues a woman for four years and can't even get her to have dinner with him? And here you are getting snippy with me. If you're so capable, make Ms. Davis my sister-in-law."

Lewis was so angry that he grabbed his coat and walked out, leaving Amelia alone in the office to complain.

Amelia was out of options. She kept running into walls with Ava, and later SereneShine Studio implemented phone screening that automatically filtered out all calls from Emerald City numbers.

She simply loved the jewelry crafted by Ms. Davis's skillful hands—every piece perfectly matched her taste.

For a major life event like an engagement, which woman wouldn’t want the best of everything?

Frustrated, she called Terry to complain.

"Terry, do you have any way to convince the designers at SereneShine Studio to help me design the jewelry for my engagement? I don't want to wear any other brand."

Terry was in a meeting. Seeing it was his fiancée calling, he immediately stopped the meeting and went out to take the call.

"Amelia, what is this SereneShine Studio you're talking about?"

Amelia stamped her foot in irritation.

"Oh, I knew it was useless talking to you, you clueless man. You don't even know what SereneShine Studio does. How can you help?"

Terry rubbed his forehead. He admitted he was indeed clueless about these things, but he had been trying hard to change, making an effort to notice what girls liked.

But this SereneShine Studio—he really hadn't heard of it!

"Wait, let me look it up first."

Terry was clueless, yes, but the good thing was he knew it and was willing to change. This was why Amelia couldn't stay mad at him.

"I don't care. I want to wear jewelry designed by SereneShine Studio, by Mia Davis, at my engagement ceremony. You figure out a way."

Amelia stated it directly. When dealing with clueless men, beating around the bush only leads to your own frustration.

Terry received his "orders" and hung up. Back in the conference room, he asked the group of IT guys,

"Has anyone heard of SereneShine Studio?"

The men sitting around the conference room exchanged glances, until finally someone spoke up.

"Mr. Perez, is it a new startup? What's their project? Do they have any impressive open-source technology?"

Terry's face stiffened. Asking these IT guys felt even harder than asking his friends.

Terry turned and called William, "William, have you heard of SereneShine Studio?"

William found it familiar. After a moment’s thought, he remembered that four years ago he had James obtain their contact information. He remembered because the studio's design style could rival LOLLY back then—possibly even match it—and the designer's last name was Davis.

Once, while on business in Harmony City, he even made a special trip there, but unfortunately, the designer had just stepped out, and he didn't meet her. After that, the matter simply faded from memory.

He asked, "It's a private custom jewelry studio with a strong design style. Why do you ask?"

Terry explained honestly, "Amelia says she won't wear anything but their jewelry for the engagement, yet for some reason, that studio won't take her order. She's asking me to find a way, so I thought I'd ask you first."

William raised an eyebrow,

"Your fiancée has good taste. The jewelry from that studio is top quality. I happen to be in Harmony City. Do you want me to make a trip there for you?"