Chapter 165
Nathan handed Nathalie’s portfollo directly to Mason. “Grandpa, this is the design work my girlfriend, Nathalle, has been pouring her heart into for the past three months. Please take a look.”
The move was sudden and without explanation, catching Cameron and Benjamin off guard and making them feel threatened like never before.
Benjamin, never one to keep quiet, burst out, “Nathan, what are you up to? First, you snatched the prime retail spot from Cameron, and now you’re after the design team he wants? How can you be so ruthless?”
Mason paid no mind to their bickering. For this business mogul, skill trumped family ties every time. He took the portfolio, slipped on his reading glasses, and began to carefully leaf through it.
Benjamin wore a worried expression.
Cameron, on the other hand, kept his cool. “Nellie, do you really think your work can impress Mason? Don’t make a fool of yourself here.”
Benjamin was stunned. “Cameron, what did you call her? Nellie? How could she be Nellie?”
Nathalie, feeling exposed by Cameron’s public reveal, felt her palms grow clammy with anxiety.
Nathan gazed at her with tenderness. For this sensitive and sharp girl to find the courage to stand up to Cameron, she must have faced some serious injustice.
He felt for her.
Nathan watched Nathalie with affection. “Cameron, you’ve got the wrong person. This is my girlfriend, Nathalie. She’s not your sweet and naive ex–wife.”
Cameron’s jaw dropped. “She… is your girlfriend?”
“Why else would I be helping her so much? She’s family,” Nathan replied,
Cameron studied Nellie closely, sure she was indeed Nellie. But, he couldn’t wrap his head around how she had become Nathan’s girlfriend.
Mason, deeply engrossed in Nathalie’s portfolio, would have been visibly amazed by her designs if not for his well–practiced poker face.
“Cameron, what did you just call her?” Mason, finally snapping out of his focus on the portfolio, asked.
Cameron glanced at Nathalie and said with a patronizing tone, “Mr. Rowland, this woman. here is my ex–wife, Nellie. She never attended college or studied fashion design formally.
10:02
She’s not fit to work with the Rowland family’s elite design team.”
His words dripped with arrogance.
Mason narrowed his eyes. He’d heard the stories about Nellie, the homeless girl Cameron took in, meant only to provide a kidney for his true love. Even though Cameron married her out of duty, she lived under Cameron’s pity and sympathy.
How could someone so humble create such striking designs? Her skilled illustrations, innovative ideas, and vast knowledge all pointed to a rare talent.
The astonishing designer Nathalie couldn’t possibly be that ordinary Nellie.
Mason closed the portfolio, which now felt weighty and significant. He was determined to keep it from rival companies.
“Nathan, you must have your reasons for bringing Miss Nathalie to me, right?” Mason, known for his shrewdness, had already calculated the stakes.
Instead of handing Cameron a big payday, perhaps it was smarter to back his own grandson. But did Nathan have the guts to take the prize right out of Cameron’s hands?
Right now, Mason was gauging Nathan’s determination.
