Chapter 41 She Got in Through the Back Door
Nicole turned her gaze slightly to the speaker. The speaker was a woman with wavy hair and heavy makeup, and her oxblood red lipstick made her look like she was ready to devour someone alive.
The woman’s words were instantly met with displeasure from the listeners. “Even if Lisa has F&M Apparel backing her up, she has to have certain capabilities to be able to take up the position of Chief Designer at the company, no?”
“That’s right. I’ve seen Lisa’s designs, and they’re very novel and spectacular. Sabrina, you’d better stop saying things like these. Lisa is one of the best designers in our profession.”
However, the person named Sabrina turned a deaf ear to the others’ words of advice. With a disdainful look on her face, she said with a soft snort, “We have Miss Schmidt leading us in the Design Department. Even if Lisa never comes in, Gardner Corporation will be the No. 1 company in the industry sooner or later. However talented she is, she can’t hold a candle to Miss Schmidt.”
At the mention of Miss Schmidt’s name, the others had a somewhat troubled expression on their faces, and they stopped speaking for Lisa. After all, Joanna Schmidt was the head of the Design Department and had been heading the department ever since Gardner Apparel started business. Furthermore, Joanna had single-handedly brought Gardner Apparel to where it presently was. Therefore, even if Lisa was well-known in the industry, they dared not say she was definitely better.
Seeing how these people had nothing to say, Sabrina spoke with even greater zeal. “Miss Schmidt is currently one of the best designers in our country, whereas Lisa is only famous abroad. We can’t glorify everything foreign so much, right?”
Those in the Design Department were all sophisticated. After all, Joanna was their immediate superior. However capable Lisa was, she would leave after staying with the company for no more than a few months. Eventually, it was Joanna who would be supervising them.
Sabrina was brought in by Joanna herself from the outside. Since the two were on close terms, Sabrina always flattered Joanna both openly and discreetly, which was why she couldn’t help speaking ill of Lisa. Seeing that her colleagues had fallen silent at the mention of Joanna, she lowered her voice and continued, “I heard from my friend that President Yates of F&M Apparel had once courted Lisa.”
At the mention of such gossip, those women instantly became curious. They scrambled to ask, “Really? This actually happened?”
“Yes, of course.” Sabrina nodded. Then, she continued, “I have a relative who works at F&M Apparel, and he told me that Lisa only became F&M Apparel’s Chief Designer because President Yates was courting her. Now you all know the shady details behind this.”
Nicole was speechless, but she wasn’t very surprised to hear Sabrina’s words. After all, she had seen enough of the intrigues and plots within the Design Department at F&M Apparel. Back when she took up the position of Chief Designer, many had gossiped about her behind her back, saying that she landed the job through the back door. After all, everyone in F&M Apparel knew that Zachary was courting her at the time. Because of that, she had even asked Zachary if he only offered her the job because he liked her.
At the time, Zachary smiled a lighthearted smile and gave her a reassuring answer, saying, “Even if I wanted to do so, the board of directors wouldn’t have agreed to it. You were selected for the position with more than 70% of supporting votes from the board of directors. After all, this matter concerns their interests.”
Nicole was a self-assured person in the first place, and she firmly believed that she was good enough for the job.
Those in the Design Department didn’t want to offend Lisa, so they made a few casual replies without responding to Sabrina’s words. After chatting for a while, they returned to their desks.
It wasn’t until everyone had dispersed that Sabrina noticed Nicole’s presence. Holding her head high, she looked at Nicole with a slight frown and chastised at once, “Who are you? Don’t you know that outsiders aren’t allowed into the Design Department?”
Nicole’s lips curled into a graceful smile as she looked at the ferocious-looking woman before her.
