Chapter36
After Jennifer lost her job at the juvenile detention center, she’d accepted Peter’s offer.
Velvet Rose Group was preparing to expand with a new product line. Peter originally wanted her to come in as department manager, but she politely v declined. He offered a team lead role next–she turned that down too.
In the end, Peter gave in and let her join–as a regular employee.
Jennifer had her reasons.
She knew her lack of a college degree would come up eventually, and since she hadn’t gone through VelvetRose Group’s internship program or worked at any other company, dropping into a leadership role would only attract gossip.
She also had no desire to reveal her identity as the designer behind VelvetRose Group’s renowned piano series. It would cause too much of a stir–and worse, she’d have to answer questions about where her inspiration came from.
She figured she could still help Peter just fine as a regular staff member.
In the restroom, Nancy and Maggie were gossiping at the sink.
“I mean, come on. She only has a high school diploma–how is she even allowed to work here?”
“She doesn’t do the kind of work we do. We’re breaking our backs, she’s just spreading her legs.”
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“Shhh! That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Oh please. If she has no shame doing it, why should we feel bad talking about it? Everyone knows she slept her way in. At first, I thought she must’ve had real connections or talent–but no. I was just being too kind.”
“It’s not like she’s better looking than us. We just have too much self- respect to stoop that low.”
Nancy nudged Maggie’s shoulder. “Seriously, if she’s already got a sugar daddy, what’s she even doing here? You think she needs the paycheck?”
“She’s just trying to pass herself off as some classy socialite. Makes it easier to land the next rich guy.”
Suddenly, the automatic toilet flushed behind them, making both women jump.
They’d assumed the bathroom was empty.
Then the stall door opened.
Jennifer stepped out, cool and composed, walking right past them. Their eyes met briefly. Without saying a word, Nancy and Maggie exchanged a look and slipped out, suddenly silent.
They hadn’t named names, but Jennifer didn’t need them to. She was probably the only person in the company without a college degree.
She let out a quiet sigh,
She’d been gone five minutes at most, but when she got back to her desk, Hailee scolded her in front of everyone for “slacking off” and “wandering off during work hours.” Behind their monitors, Nancy and. the others chuckled to themselves.
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23:56
At lunch, Catalina made a show of ordering takeout from a Michelin three–star restaurant–for the entire team.
Everyone was invited.
Except Jennifer
Even Team Lead Hailee joined them. Through the glass door of the meeting room, Jennifer could see them gathered around the table, laughing and chatting. Every so often, someone would glance in her direction with thinly veiled smirks.
The mockery in their eyes was impossible to miss.
Jennifer sat at her desk, absentmindedly munching on a wrap while tweaking her design draft, feeling like her career had been one long uphill climb
Day one, and she was already pulling overtime and she was the only one doing it. By the time she wrapped up, it was nearly an hour past official office hours
“Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to keep you waiting!”
She came rushing out of the Velvet Rose Group office building, half- running toward the curb where Lydia’s car sal with its hazard lights blinking
“Get in first–well talk in the car
Lydia waved her over Normally, Jennifer would’ve jumped in the front seat, but tonight the passenger side was already occupied–by Jasper
After hearing Jennifer had landed a job at VelvetRose Group, both he and Lydia had arranged to take her out for dinner to celebrate. They hadn’t expected her to be tied up with overtime on her very first day
Jennifer slid into the backseat beside Jasper while Lydia teased from the front, saying she’d been downgraded to their chauffeur for the night.
The three of them chatted and laughed the whole drive, and little by little, the frustration in Jennifer’s chest began to case.
Traffic was brutal–it took nearly an hour to reach the restaurant, and by then the sky was completely dark. Lydia clutched her stomach dramatically the whole way, groaning about how starving she was, making Jennifer giggle nonstop.
She’d assumed “celebrating” meant something simple–maybe pizza or some casual spot. Honestly, a place like Pizza Hut would’ve felt fancy enough.
But instead, Lydia and Jasper brought her to Elarion Bistro.
The very same Michelin three–star restaurant where Catalina had hosted lunch earlier that day, connected to the ultra–luxury hotel.
“You guys didn’t need to go all out like this…”
Jennifer hesitated. She wanted to turn it down–Lydia and Jasper were both regular working professionals. They didn’t earn much, and there was no reason they should splurge on her like this.
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