Chapter 231

Chapter 231

Terry was incredibly grateful on the other end of the phone. Having William, a big shot in the jewelry industry, help pave the way for him couldn't have been better.

"That would be amazing, William. I promise you, if you can help me solve this, I'll work day and night without eating or sleeping to track down F for you."

At the mention of F, William got a headache. He had switched phones today and had already saved all the important data from his old phone before deleting the local files.

If he could catch F and eliminate this major threat, he wouldn't know how to thank Terry enough.

The two agreed to help each other solve their current problems.

William arranged for several personal bodyguards. To prevent F, who was watching him from the shadows, from attacking, he needed to be well protected.

After two days in Harmony City, he had accomplished nothing.

He had come confidently to find Ava's grave, but got nowhere. James was running himself ragged over the matter.

He got the address and contact information for SereneShine Studio from James, then went out, hailed a cab, and headed straight there.

The hotel was some distance from SereneShine Studio. As he watched the street scenes through the window, he wondered where she could be.

Why had she completely disappeared from the world, not even giving him a chance to pay his respects at her grave?

When the car stopped at the destination, he was still lost in thought. The driver had to remind him to get out of the car.

He had been to this place once four years ago. The last time he came, he didn't go upstairs.

He opened the message James had sent him: 13th floor, A01. He followed the address upstairs.

Standing outside the glass door of 13-A01, he saw the wind chimes by the floor-to-ceiling window and froze. William felt he might be going crazy from missing her—for a moment, he thought he saw Ava's figure standing by the window.

In the four years since she left, he felt she was gone, yet also everywhere. Ava's shadow was all around him, and everything reminded him of her.

She loved wind chimes, often buying materials to make them herself and hanging them by the window, where they would tinkle in the breeze.

He came back to his senses with a bitter smile on his lips. It must have been last night's insomnia causing him to hallucinate.

William rang the doorbell. Soon, a young woman came to open the door.

"Excuse me, is this SereneShine Studio? I'm looking for Mia Davis."

He got straight to the point.

The young woman shook her head.

"Sir, this is a magazine office. The SereneShine Studio you're asking about moved out two years ago. This place could no longer accommodate all their staff."

William frowned in confusion.

"Did SereneShine Studio grow that big?"

The girl smiled.

"I'm not entirely sure. I heard from the cleaning staff that when SereneShine Studio first started, there were only three people. Later, it developed rapidly and kept hiring staff. This place became too small for them, so they moved to a larger office."

William thanked her, but his eyes remained fixed on the wind chimes, unable to look away.

"May I ask if you could you sell me those wind chimes?"

The young woman turned to see what he meant.

"Oh, you mean those? They were left by SereneShine Studio. We thought they looked nice, so we didn't take them down, and our new editor-in-chief doesn't like them anyway. Since you like them, I'll just give them to you."

With that, the young woman went back inside and stood on a chair to take down the wind chimes.

When the wind chimes landed in William's hands, an inexplicable sadness welled up inside him. He remembered the living room at SilkGrove Estates, where there had been an almost identical set. Since she left, he had only returned twice. They were probably covered in dust by now.

It was a wasted trip. He still needed to find someone to look up the address of SereneShine Studio.

Back at the hotel, James handed him a design drawing, his expression serious.

"Mr. Morgan, this is a piece submitted by a designer during an interview. She wants to transfer to our Morgan Group."

William raised his eyebrows and looked at James in confusion. Usually, this kind of initial interview didn't require his review as CEO. If James was showing him this, there must be something unusual about it.

James explained further.

"Look at this drawing carefully."

William looked closely and noticed a tiny letter 'L' in an inconspicuous spot on the ring in the drawing. His mind immediately went into turmoil.

He knew that in the entire world, only she would put such a mark on her work.

"Where did she get this drawing?"

During her lifetime, Ava hated nothing more than having her work stolen, and he had no idea when she had created this design.

William's emotions churned. In the past, he had never stood up for her, but this time he would absolutely not let that plagiarist get away with it, even though she was gone from this world.

James said, "I only noticed this mark when I picked it up and examined it carefully, out of boredom. I didn't ask at the time. I've already arranged to meet with that person tomorrow morning."

William picked up another paper—the interviewee's resume. Her work history listed 'SereneShine Studio.'

"I'll interview her myself tomorrow."

The next day, William went to the agreed-upon café with James.

Hannah, who had come for the interview, had arrived early. She wore a sharp, professional outfit and carried a confident expression. She was confident that the Morgan Group's design department would appreciate her design. She had joined the studio, beloved by socialites and wealthy clients, specifically to build connections and gain experience before moving to the Morgan Group.

The Morgan Group's design department was every designer's dream and had been her original goal when she began studying design.

She had heard from alumni that the Morgan Group's CEO had come to Harmony City. She was determined to seize this opportunity and secure an offer from the Morgan Group's design department.

William walked into the café and headed straight for Hannah's table. He had seen Hannah's photo on her resume and recognized her immediately.

"You're Hannah Nguyen?"

Hannah had expected to meet with James, the Morgan Group CEO's special assistant, and never imagined that William himself would appear. This showed how much they valued her as an interviewee.

She was overjoyed inside, knowing it was the right choice to submit that design.

Hannah quickly stood and extended her right hand.

"Hello, Mr. Morgan. My name is Hannah. I've been in jewelry design for five years and really admire the Morgan Group. It's an honor to meet you."

William had no intention of shaking her hand and sat down immediately.

"You used to work as a designer at SereneShine Studio?"

Hannah withdrew her hand awkwardly and nodded.

"I worked at SereneShine Studio for two years. I don't know if you've heard of this studio. SereneShine Studio might have some reputation among socialites and wealthy clients, but it was nothing compared to the Morgan Group."

William despised people who put others down to elevate themselves. If he didn't have questions for her, he wouldn't have bothered speaking to her at all.

"Can you tell me where SereneShine Studio's address is?"

Hannah thought the interview was going well and paid it little mind. She pulled a stack of sticky notes from her bag, wrote down the address, and handed it to him with both hands.

"Mr. Morgan, here it is."

William looked at the address and said coldly, "That design isn't yours, is it? Where did you steal LOLLY's original from?"