The Unexpected Bride-Book One in Taming of the Shrew

Chapter Forty-Two

"You are all late."

Those were the first words they received the moment they opened the conference room doors. It was impassive Hector who growled this. He was standing next to the whiteboard where the projector light reflected on. Glancing at the time on her phone screen, Sharlene was astounded to find they were five minutes earlier than the meeting time. They were not late, but early.

But because the meeting started five minutes earlier, they were considered late. Everyone was watching them with frowns adorning their faces, but Rita was not intimidated. Janice and Sharlene, on the other hand, were a little flustered from the unwavering eyes. Clearing her throat, for she did not want to sound rude, Rita spoke up for them.

"I am afraid you are wrong, sir."

Taken aback by her statement though it did not show on his face, Hector raised an eyebrow as he half-heartedly questioned.

"Why am I wrong, Miss?"

Putting on her best smile while ignoring Sharlene's and Janice's skeptical looks, Rita was not offended by the man's indifferent tone.

"That is because the meeting started five minutes earlier than its original time."

Humming as if her comment made sense, Hector quickly dropped the matter, for it was a complete waste of time.

"Please take your seats."

But Rita thought otherwise when she knew her intelligent comment was enough to shut him up. A smug smile adorned her face as she winked in the girls' direction.

It was one point for Rita Kim and zero points for Hector Thomas.

Instantly, they took their seats while ignoring the frowning faces looking in their direction.

'Why are they frowning?'

Sharlene thought with her frown of her own.

Madam Sinclair briefly looked in her direction before turning back to face Hector since he had cleared his throat to capture everyone's undivided attention once again.

"As I was saying, after careful consideration and comparison, we have finally chosen the designs for the jewelry. And as shown on the whiteboard, these are the materials we will be using. Silver, nickel, palladium, artistic drawings, platinum, and so forth."

As he listed the materials, he shifted through the slides that showed pictures of each. Everything looked expensive, even the odd and zigzag artistic drawings.

When he got to the thirteenth slide, her drawings came up, and he glanced at her with an unknown look before averting his eyes back onto the whiteboard.

"These were drawn by the secretary of the Visual and Arts Department, Miss. Cunning-ham. There are various types of drawings using the same design, but different shapes, as you can see."

With the pointer, he pointed at the drawings.

"These are necklaces, wedding rings, promise rings, engagement rings, as well as recreational rings, ankle bracelets, wrist bracelets. There are also tiaras and hair ornaments, and much more than was drawn by the rest of the team."

Expressively, he spoke while looking at the astonished audience.

"These were carefully considered and approved by Mr. Ross. But the main design and product chosen for the display during the event are these."

Soon, the most beautiful drawings came up on the screen, and both Sharlene and Rita gasped, for one of them was the necklace and earring set she had been struggling to replicate for the past days. She had sent the draft for Madam Sinclair to look over but had never gotten her response. Looking at it now, she realized the woman had approved it without informing her.