Chapter 1 The Airport Swindler

• In this world, there were women who command attention even without breathtaking beauty.
• Cynthia White was one such woman.
• The clean, white dress she wore flattered her petite frame and subtle curves; her long hair tumbled in waves past her shoulders, accentuating her delicate face and her barely-there make-up; and she donned a pair of solid-colored stilettos. Indeed, there was nothing particular about her beauty, and she was no bombshell, but she carried herself with such understated grace and elegance that she seemed almost ethereal.
• The tourists and airport-goers passing by would throw curious glances her way, but she remained oblivious as she stared intently at the screen of the notebook resting on her lap.
• Presently, she was coloring in the design sketch.
• Cynthia was the most renowned and valuable chief designer in Lewis Incorporated, and every one of her designs had become conversational pieces among her peers, making waves in the industry. There were plenty of those who called her a magician, one who had endowed souls into all her designs.
• This year, any design that had come to life under her craftsmanship found itself headlining New York Fashion Week, thereby propelling Lewis Incorporated to new heights in the fashion world.
• There were a number of those who believed her to be an experienced designer who had honed her craft over the years, but little did they know that she was nothing more than a fresh-out-of-college intern.
• Cynthia’s present return from abroad was driven by two main reasons, one of which was to attend an important exhibition by Lewis Incorporated that would be held in Lincoln Bay, Zyrtonia.
• As for the other reason…
• Her fingers paused on the keyboard as her gaze darkened abruptly. The conversation she had had with her father over the phone last night reverberated in her mind.
• Cindy, I’m about to distribute the assets under White Group, so I’m going to need you to come back; it’s only right that you own part of the company shares.
• Such words would seem to reflect nothing but a father’s loving concern for his daughter, but what Cynthia heard was pure irony. In truth, she couldn’t care less about the property, but she came home anyway to set things right.
• White Group had basically been Cynthia’s mother’s brainchild during her lifetime. A couple of years ago, just barely a month after her mother’s passing, Dominic White decided to marry his mistress.
• That mistress of his came into the family with her two children, and by some cruel twist of fate, Cynthia suddenly gained two siblings—an older brother and a younger sister.
• While her step-family had pretended to love and care for her in the beginning, it didn’t take long before they plotted to drive a wedge between Cynthia and Dominic. Eventually, the father-daughter bond frayed and unraveled.
• Just as Cynthia found herself spiraling into angst and resentment, there had been a slot available for her school student exchange program. Without a second thought, she seized the chance and headed abroad for her studies.
• The last thing she had expected was for her father to distribute the family estate after one short year of her departure.
• Cynthia was well aware that she had lost her place in the family, but even so, she had no intentions of compromising or settling for less. White Group was the last stronghold her mother had left behind for her. And no one gets to take any part of it away from me!
• At the thought of this, a steely look flashed in Cynthia’s eyes, and she tightened her grip on the mouse.
• However, an accidental click on the mouse added a contrasting streak to the colored sketch. This made Cynthia snap out of her reverie as she exclaimed in panic, “Oh, no! Oh, crap!”
• I spent over an hour on this, and it’ll be all for nothing! What should I do? The submission deadline is today, and Lewis Incorporated probably won’t be so forgiving if I were to ask for an extension, at least not for my own carelessness!
• She was growing frantic when the area by the airport entrance was abruptly thrown into a frenzy.
• At that moment, a team of seven or eight black-uniformed bodyguards marched through the airport entrance in formidable rows of two or three and cleared a path down the center of the area.
• Under the surprised scrutiny of the disrupted airport crowd, the backlit silhouette of a man who looked like he belonged at the top of the social food chain stepped through the sliding doors.
• The black suit he wore was perfectly tailored to his towering frame, and his blouse was buttoned up all the way to the top; he looked frigid but powerful and intimidating. His features were deep-set, and his chiseled nose was the artwork of the angels. With his lips pressed into a hard line, he boasted attractive masculinity that was both overwhelming and infinite.
• It didn’t take a genius to see how he was a man above others. He carried himself with a sense of nobility that was likely engraved into his bones, and everyone whom he walked past gaped at him in awe.
• Making up a better part of the staring, astounded crowd were women who instantly fell for him. “My goodness, what a fine specimen!”
• “I have half the mind to chat him up—no, scratch that, I have half the mind to marry him!”
• “Snap out of it. Take a good look at the suit he’s wearing; it’s a premium tailored suit by none other than ‘Wendy’, as in the chief designer of Lewis Incorporated. Also, check the Patek Philippe watch he has on his wrist—that alone costs tens of millions. He’s obviously no commoner.”
• A hush descended upon the airport, but that lasted only a few seconds before the sound of chattering swelled into white noise. However, even if he was the cause of such a frenzy, James Lawson was completely unaware of it.
• In fact, he looked positively stormy right now.
• His assistant, Charles Gordon, was walking behind him warily. “I’m sorry, Young Master James, but this is the earliest flight from New York to Lincoln Bay I could find. I tried booking first-class tickets and business class tickets, but they were all either sold out or someone else beat us to it. That being said, I booked the rest of the aircraft so that you could go through the flight undisturbed.”
• James’ expression soured even more at this. “Reasons for your incompetence do not interest me! I’ve told you about this trip in advance, haven’t I? I’m flying back to Zyrtonia this time just to meet Miss Wendy, the genius whose designs have brought fame to Lewis Incorporated! Do you know how rare it is for her to attend an exhibition like the one in Lincoln Bay? You clearly don’t, because you went ahead and gave my chartered flight to my sister!”
• “I’m really sorry for this, Young Master James. This is all my fault, but you know as well as I do how Young Mistress Jessica operates. She won’t take no for an answer, and I was wise not to stop her from getting what she wanted,” Charles explained miserably, helplessness swelling up within him.
• I don’t know what I did in my past life to deserve this fresh hell of serving these two Lawson siblings!
• Upon hearing his assistant’s explanation, James scoffed icily and hastened ahead.
• Just then, an accident happened.
• The bodyguards leading the way had walked too quickly to notice the little girl who somehow got into their way and ended up knocking her onto the ground.
• The little girl could not react in time, and she coincidentally landed with a loud thump on the floor next to Cynthia’s feet.
• Cynthia stopped her work immediately and asked the little girl worriedly, “Are you alright, little girl?”
• The little girl had rose-colored lips and pearly white baby teeth. She stared at Cynthia with large, watery eyes, then at the team of black-uniformed bodyguards. The next second, her lips quivered, and she burst out crying.
• Setting aside her notebook, Cynthia crouched down and helped the little girl up. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
• The little girl sobbed and whined for her mother, who, upon hearing the ruckus, stoically hurried over and brought the crying child away before the bodyguards could even apologize.
• It was only then that Cynthia glanced over at the bodyguards in black. Each of them was impassive, as if nothing had ever happened. She couldn’t help but fume at their indifference. How arrogant! They could at least have the decency to apologize for knocking into a child!
• She gave them a long, hard look, then turned to resume her work. However, she did not expect a figure to brush past and bump into her just as she picked up her notebook.
• The sudden impact made her lose her grip on her notebook, which toppled from mid-air and crashed to the ground.
• Cynthia gaped at the damage. My design! She snapped out of her initial shock and belatedly reached to save her notebook, but it was too late; the screen was shattered, and the device had died on her.
• I’m dead! All my important designs are in there! I can’t believe my two months’ worth of hard work is gone with just one crash!
• Rage seized her immediately as she snapped, “Hey! Can’t you watch where you’re going?”
• Up ahead, the unmistakable fury in Cynthia’s voice stopped James in his tracks. Irked, he turned around and glowered at Cynthia, frowning.
• At the sight of this, Charles hurried up to Cynthia and said nervously, “I’m so sorry that we’ve knocked your notebook to the floor, miss. We’re in a rush right now, but we’ll compensate for the damages.”
• “Compensate? Do you seriously think money’s going to solve this right now? I had important stuff in that notebook!” Cynthia seethed, her repressed anger threatening to overtake her faculty for reason and civility.
• Charles frowned slightly. “I’m sure Young Master James didn’t mean to cause you such distress, miss. Could you maybe just take the compensation—”
• “No way!” She cut him off harshly. “You have no idea how much work went into all the stuff I have in that notebook, and you want me to just brush this incident off by accepting compensation? What are you, the president?”
• “But—”
• Before Charles could say something in defense, James broke his silence by snorting and pointing out contemptuously, “Well, aren’t you just convincing? This all boils down to money, doesn’t it? Though I can’t say you aren’t creative for coming all the way to the airport just to swindle unsuspecting folks.”