If someone had told me a month ago that I'd be summoned by Lu Jinghao, the most unapproachable man in the Eastern fashion empire, I would have laughed so hard my ribs would have cracked.
But now, the email bearing his personal seal glowed on my phone screen, and there wasn't a hint of laughter on my phone.
My stomach felt like a thousand bugs were biting into it.
It read in bold:
SUBJECT: Request Meeting
FROM: Lu Group, Chairman's Office.
TO: Miss. Jiang Rui (Phantom).
TIME: Tomorrow, 10:00 a.m sharp.
LOCATION: Lu Group Headquarters.
Note: Punctuality is expected.
'What a strict boss. That's basic corporate code for either being early or forget about it.'
" Heh...thanks Nova. You are really calming."
I muttered, tapping the screen again and again, just to confirm I wasn't hallucinated and this wasn't a dream. Nope.
Email still there. All signed up, stamped, and looking authoritative and smug.
'But this is the expected host. You have caused a fashion tycoon to break his rules and invite you over. Congratulations. You are officially a disturbance to the fashion ecosystem.'
"Ugh Nova! Why me, though? I just wanted to quietly rebuild my studio, not get summoned and possibly roasted by a billionaire in an Italian suit!" I fell back on my bed groaning.
'Maybe he is one of your fans host? Or maybe he is plotting to dissect your brain to understand the kind of genius you are. It is really hard to tell with these types nowadays.'
"What is it with you and dissecting?"
The next morning,just as agreed, I stood before the towering silver tower, the Lu group's Headquarters. The building was so tall that it looked like its breakfast came from stabbing clouds.
I adjusted my beige trench coat and straightened the collar, as I adjusted my pose. My hair was pulled into a low bun, looking clean, simple, and deceptively calm.
Despite my polished exterior, my heart was screaming louder than an intern with a sewing emergency.
"Remember Rui," I whispered to myself, "Little to no sarcasm and attitude, and finally, no emotionally scarring billionaires."
'Oh please Host. Why lie to yourself? You are already incapable of the first two.'
The company's lobby was intimidating in the way cathedrals are.
It was all marble and glass , carrying the faint scent of generational wealth. The kind that you will have to die trying to attain.
The receptionist barely glanced up before her expression and attitude shifted into a polite one.
"Miss Phantom?"
Her tone carried the respect usually reserved for highly recommended celebrities and ancient relics.
"Just call me Jiang Rui." I said quickly, preventing her from bowing. "Phantom sounds like so expensive,limited edition perfume."
The receptionist blinked, clearly flustered.
"Yes Ma'am. Chairman Lu is expecting you. Just take the gold Elevator, it will take you to the top floor."
I followed her guidance and watched as the elevator doors glided open with a soft sigh of money.
My reflection in the mirrored walls looked calm and poised. My pulse however? It was auditioning for a role so desperate to get.
'Host your oxygen levels are dropping, but I detect your ego levels rising.'
"Shut up!" I hissed.
'Hey! I'm just saying. Incase he fires lasers from his eyes, you can just duck and I'll do the rest.'
The doors opened to a vast office surrounded by glass and steel. It was silent, way too silent.
The kind of silence that made your own heartbeat sound like music. Every single surface was immaculately sharp, sharp enough to cut through anything.
Behind a beautiful black marble desk sat the chairman himself. Lu Jinghao.
The man was an artwork of greatness. His crisp charcoal suit, pale cufflinks gleaming like silent authority. Hold on, pale cufflinks?
Despite my presence, the man didn't look up immediately. He just kept reviewing a document.
I felt insulted because my existence felt like a mild inconvenience. As if the world had muted itself for him.
Finally, he spoke, making me freeze.
"You are late."
His voice was low, even, and expensive. But wait, that's not the point.
"The mysterious man!"
'The mysterious man!'
Nova and I gasped in unison the moment we figured out the identity of the man before us.
I felt my blood boil, trying so much to keep it under control, but Nova's remarks weren't helping.
'Uh oh! Looks like your mysterious stalker is fine art. I would jump on that if I were you host. You know what, I forgive him for stalking us because damn!'
I took a deep breath before finally replying.
"By…mere thirty seconds."
He finally looked up, with one eyebrow slightly raised.
"Doesn't change the fact that you are still late."
'I like him more host! He's evil.'
"Had you not pretended that my existance was like an inconvenience, then we wouldn't be discussing this."
"But anyway, I take it upon myself to make sure to arrive yesterday next time," I replied, too late, before my brain could stop me.
His gaze lifted, too sharp and assessing.
Those eyes, gray like a thunderstorm waiting for a reason. So captivating and...inviting?
His face didn't move much, but his presence alone filled every inch of the room, making me want to shift my legs for a second.
The silence was stretching hard, and, catching me off guard, the faintest corner of his mouth twitched.
I swear! This was worse than yelling! It was not a smile. Just a tiny disturbance in his otherwise perfect face.
'Ooou. Someone is falling I see...'
"Sit."
I obeyed. My knees feeling like they were made of origami.
"I told you we would meet again Phantom."
"And I regret it has happened sooner..."
He chuckled lightly before pushing a thin portfolio across the desk.
Inside it was a printed dossier full of my designs, my stitching patters and even my damn color schemes.
"You dissect like a specimen and that's why your work has disrupted the industry," he said.
" The same designers who can't even replicate your techniques are now trying to claim your inspiration is from them."
"Well, That's flattering, I guess..."
"I deal with precision Jiang Rui," he said, eyes locking onto mine. "I don't deal with flattery."
I inwardly rolled my eyes. By outside, I Almost.
"Then Mr Lu... you summoned me for precision?"
His fingers drummed on the table, calm, controlled, deliberate.
"To assess whether your mind matches your powerful reputation."
'Host that is translation for trying to figure out whether you are a genius or a fake.'
"Then you should be able to decipher that I am more than a headline," I replied flatly. "And of course, I don't do cheap copies."
His eyes flickered for a second. "Good. Because my group doesn't and can't hire copycats."
Ha! Cocky bastard. Wait... hire?
"You, you want me to work for you?" I asked.
"Not me. I don't want anything," he replied. "But the Lu Group does. It needs you. If you are okay, then you will lead a capsule line under our innovation wing."
'Wow. 'If'...what a romantic proposal!'
I leaned back, masking the flicker of shock. I couldn't fuel his pride.
"You realize that people will think differently, right?"
He didn't blink at my response. "I don't care what people think."
'So hot and dangerous. Proceed with caution.'
I stared at him, trying to gauge how much this guy really knew. He seemed prepared. His tone was too measured to my liking. His gaze, too steady.
"Why me?" I asked finally.
"For the same reason I sometimes invest in unstable stocks," he said smoothly, shrugging his shoulders. "The risk entertains me."
'Host, this man needs therapy. I recommend yours. Hehe...'
"That sounds like a terrible business model but..." I said, standing. "I will think about it."
His voice stopped me at the door. " In that case, you have forty eight hours."
I turned slightly, a smirk on my lips. "And if I say no?"
He didn't smile but replied confidently. "You won't."
When I left the Lu Group, my legs felt like jelly.
The city noise rushed back in. From the honks, to the chatter and chaos,it felt like I had just come from another dimension.
'So, host. That went… well?'
"I think I aged ten years Nova."
'Well, on the bright side, you are now officially on a billionaire's radar. That is basically a step closer to either assassination or success.'
I groaned. "Heh...great odds."
Meanwhile, somewhere across the city, Jiang Ning's phone exploded with notifications.
"What do you mean Lu Group summoned her?" she shrieked into the phone, pacing the living room.
"She was just a fucked up assistant!"
Her mother, lounging on a couch, frowned.
"Ning, maybe that's a mix up."
Jiang Ning stopped pacing. "It can't be mother! No! I have been trying to pitch my collection to their PR head for months! Months! How did she get in before me?"
Her father lowered his newspaper with a sigh. Looks like this had become a norm for him.
"Calm down, Ningning.Your anger won't help you."
Jiang Ning clenched her fists in response. "She is up to something. She always is."
Her mother's eyes narrowed. "Then just handle it. Quietly."
Back in my apartment, I tossed my heels off and collapsed onto the couch.
"Nova," I groaned, "remind me to never attend another billionaire meeting."
'Reminder set. However, based on statistics, you will ignore this reminder.'
"Shut up."
'Also host, you were brilliant. He looked like a malfunctioning Prince statue trying to process your sarcasm.'
I chuckled at his words. "You think he knows more about my talent?"
'Oh, he damn right knows. The man has been watching your designs like a hawk on caffeine. You have both attracted him and disrupted the little universe he controls.'
"Poor thing. If he is expecting me to be another obedient designer, he's in for a rude awakening."
'You really speak like someone about to start a war.'
I leaned back, staring at the city lights through my window. Lu Group, Jiang Ning, the fashion world, I thought about everyone before my eyes shut as I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, my phone buzzed again, waking me up.
A new message, the content already telling me it is the Lu group.
(A driver will pick you up at 10 a.m. Do not be late again.)
'Oh, he's bossy. I like him more.'
"Nova," I muttered, smirking. "Let us see who breaks first. The billionaire, or the ghost he keeps on trying to summon."
'You might be in for a plot twist... both.'