Amber had previously personally sent the set launching date to Dave Lin but he declined the offer of being present with the excuse that he has so much to do and it will be really inconvenient for him to come down to Chicago. She even gave the option of rescheduling the event but he was against it, claiming that this was the perfect time to launch the collection and his presence wouldn’t determine the public’s acceptability.
She made sure to finish the project and finalize everything needed before she went to Paris for the art exhibition and Tom was fully in charge of the launching since he hates ugly turn out of events, he personally decided to coordinate it. He made sure to check all the clothes before the launching day and rechecked even a day to the event to prevent any issues before giving a go ahead for the event to hold.
He was surprised when Amber informed her that Dave Lin was now in Chicago two days before the event, without informing them at that. The information was not sitting well with him but he just decided to keep calm and cool about it since his presence will not affect the event negatively but he didn’t tell the employees to include his name on the list of attendees, he was waiting patiently for his call about attending the event.
***
As soon as Dave Lin landed, he was picked up by a car already waiting for him at the airport. He was taken to a hotel and led to one of the executive suites where he met Joseph already waiting for him.
“I have been dying to meet you, I am Joseph Holland” he greeted with his hand stretched forth for a shake which Dave Lin hesitated a bit before shaking. “I am Dave Lin and I am surprised about this sudden meeting” Dave responded, moving to a chair to take his seat.
Joseph only smiled at his response and turned to face him. “You might not know, this is also a subsidiary of our group, Holland. I have the control over the affairs of the hotel and getting your information was a piece of cake and that explains why you met me in your reserved room” he started and Dave just sat there waiting for him to finish.
“I heard you are in town for our Shellhouse Mall launching of new summer collection for DVL but you are here as a surprise guest. It seems interesting and fun if you ask me” he blabbered and Dave who was already tired of his long talk rubbed a finger on his forehead lightly before releasing a tired “so what exactly is the use of this meeting?” and that brought Joseph back from his blabbing journey.
He walked closer to him where he was seated and brought a file to him which he received with a raised brow. “You are partnering with us and you still buy our fabrics at a very high rate, that is extremely ridiculous if you ask me. We are supposed to cooperate with each other and be lenient, don’t you think?” he stated and Dave silently flipped through the file in his hand before raising his head to look at Joseph, “so what are you getting at?”, his patience was running out.
“If you can terminate your contract with Shellhouse Mall then I will give you a thirty percent discount on every fabrics you get from our textile company, juicy right?” he proposed and Dave’s forehead folded with confusion.
“Why are you offering me this? Tom Holland is your brother if I know well, are you trying to ruin his company?” Dave questioned and series of laughter erupted from Joseph as he laughed wickedly. “Tom Holland? My brother? Come of it! He’s just a pawn placed there to make sure Shellhouse still breathes and now that they have no use, he has to leave. Shellhouse will be scrapped when I become the chairman of the group, what do you think will happen to your line then? It will disappear from Chicago entirely, with force at that. Don’t you think you should pull out voluntarily before that happens?” he stated with a cold tone, trying to convince and threaten Dave at the same time.
Dave scoffed at his analysis and smirked, he wasn’t buying his tactics. “Do you think I will be fazed? Shellhouse is on a contract with me and also if they want to throw me out then they will have to pay the compensation fee” he argued and Joseph laughed again, this time till tears fell from his face. “Holland group can easily pay any compensation you demand for but then we will not take the easy route, we will drag you to court and make sure to drag the case till you are stretched thin and drained, lower our compensation amount and you will be forced to leave with little. Do you want to go through the rough path or grab my hand to enjoy a long lasting relationship with Holland? The choice is yours, Mr. Dave Lin” Joseph declared and helped Dave adjust his suit’s collar.
Those words got to Dave. Even though he’s a popular designer, he knows well that it is a useless fight to go against a big group like Holland. Just like Joseph had declared, he will be strained and stressed out in all aspects. The deal also didn’t seem like a bad one since thirty percent off all sales is a huge profit on his side.
“How do you want me to cancel my contract with them exactly?” he asked and Joseph snapped his fingers, “You don’t have to do anything, just demand for one at the event” Joseph replied but he didn’t get what he meant by that. “I only have to demand for one at the event?” he asked, titling his head and Joseph nodded.
“I will make sure you get the chance to demand for one at the event so all you just have to do is go with our plan. No compensation or apology, termination of contract” Joseph assured him.
“So what is the assurance that I won’t be betrayed?” he questioned, breaking the silence that overshadowed the room for minutes.
“We have an agreement, this is the evidence” Joseph replied pointing to the document in Dave’s hand but Dave scoffed, “This is not enough to prove if things get ugly” he countered. Joseph’s brow got raised in confusion as he asked “What do you want then?”. “A picture together? With the signed document” Dave replied and he agreed.
They both signed the file on both ends and Joseph’s secretary took the pictures as they signed and also shook hands on Dave’s phone. “I will send your copy over” Dave told him and they shook hands again “I hope our partnership lasts forever” Joseph winked and added “Let’s hangout before you leave Chicago, we have great clubs around” before leaving Dave to rest.
Joseph adjusted his crooked tie with a smug look of victory on his face as he walked proudly through the hotel’s passage. He was so satisfied with his plan pushing through and he couldn’t wait to see the shocked look on Tom’s face at the event.
“Charles was really right when he told me to always keep calm and work behind the scenes, Tom will be screwed soon” he remarked before a chuckle escaped his lips. He stopped abruptly and turned to his secretary who almost ran into him due to his sudden stop, “Set me up with an employee at the mall, you know the requirements right?” he instructed and the secretary only bowed in understanding.
***
The secretary picked out one of the Shellhouse mall’s stylist who was having a financial struggle and offered her money in order to destroy the highlight dress for the event. She was kind of hesitant to take the offer but the secretary revealed to her that he will have another person do it and then pin it on her which will cause big trouble for her.
She was perturbed with this fact and had no choice but to take on the offer. Fear of being roped in something she didn’t do started to ear her up but the guilt of damaging something that would affect her company was greater.
After much contemplation, she decided to ditch the company and just save her own ass so she began to make a move to carry out her plan.
***
Dave Lin reached out to Tom and informed him that he would be attending the event. “You are highly welcome, it is only pleasant that you are around as the designer too” He remarked and asked if there was anything he needed for the company to provide for him and Dave answered that he just want a perfect wrap up of the show.
“That I will surely give you” Tom assured him and dropped the call before checking everything thoroughly for the last time.
On the day of the event, he checked again few minutes before the event to make sure everything was perfect before marching out to watch the show when it began.
The paid employee snuck into the room amidst the buzz of the event with a pocket knife which she used to destroy the dress beyond reparation. Luckily for her, there was no CCTV in the area because of the high class privacy protection rule, they had believed that designs might leak if they place a camera in the area. Fully aware of this fact, she was rest assured that she wouldn’t be found out so she just naturally blended in with other stylists after her evil act.
The ending of the event was fast approaching and the time to display the highlight was drawing near so the senior stylist began to get the model ready.
“Bring the show’s highlight, we have to start dressing the model up” the senior stylist ordered and one of the stylists went in to bring the clothes but she was all blue when she returned with the mannequin containing the cloth, the cloth was all ruined, beyond recognition.
“What in the hell is going on here? How did the cloth turn to this?” the senior stylist screamed in shock and Tom was forced to run in when he was informed to access the situation.
He stopped in his track at the sight of the cloth and whispered “What turned the clothes to this? Why is the cloth like this?” but no one was able to give a definite answer to the question he was asking.
His lip quivered with terror as series of emotions ravaged his hormones, he didn’t know if he should let hurt take over or give the wheel to anger but one thing was sure, he was at the edge of exploding.