At this moment, a woman asked, "What happened?"
"It's Nadia. And Miss Huo..." Dollie's assistant whispered.
"Good evening, Miss Huo, Nadia." The models and staff members in the backstage greeted both of them warmly.
Actually, Evelyn just happened to pass by the backstage and heard the noise. Nadia immediately noticed her boss's frown and asked what was going on.
The assistant to Dollie apologized in a hurry, "I'm sorry, Miss Huo. The dress... The dress was torn accidentally."
Evelyn frowned at her words. Every cut of clothing displayed tonight was a one-of-a-kind original. If one of them was damaged, it couldn't be mass produced.
Evelyn looked in the direction where the voice came from. It was one of the models, wearing a white mid-length coat and a long dress inside. There was a deep rent in the hem of the dress.
Actually, there had been all sorts of similar incidents in which models had torn something they wore. But Evelyn had no experience with those past problems. She needed to solve this one in her own way.
For a moment, the whole backstage fell silent, waiting for her to deal with this matter in person.
Looking at the female CEO standing not far away, Dollie said nothing. The CEO shone despite the lack of spotlights.
Evelyn didn't want to waste time. As she walked, she said casually, "We can't mass-produce this. The model should pay the price of the dress and compensate for our loss. Since this is a first offense—" She hadn't finished her sentence before she was interrupted by Dollie.
Dollie screamed, "You are such a bitch! I didn't tear it on purpose. Why are you going after me?"
Her words successfully made Evelyn stop walking. She looked at the girl up and down.
Then she flashed a smile. No wonder this girl looked so familiar. They had met before.
With a darkened face, Nadia berated the model. "Dollie Xiang! Have some respect. This is Miss Huo. You know—the CEO! Shut up if you can't be polite."
When she heard this, Dollie blushed in embarrassment. She had never been treated like this before. Who did these women think they were?
Evelyn took a few steps towards her and looked her in the eye.
There was one meter between them, and the people around them couldn't help comparing the two.
Dollie was a lovely woman, true. She was on her way to supermodel status. She was young and beautiful, but it really depended on who was standing next to her.
Compared to Evelyn, she might as well have been a commoner. She thought she was even more beautiful than Evelyn, but the truth was, Dollie couldn't hold a candle to the CEO. And Evelyn had more advantages than merely her beauty. Her regal bearing, her position of power, all of those made it clear that Dollie was just an ordinary girl. And a badly-behaved one, at that.
"We must have met before. Do you know Savannah Xiang?" Evelyn suddenly asked, thinking of her best friend.
Somehow, she felt the two of them looked more than a little alike. And they had the same family name.
"She's my sister! Hey... How do you know her?" asked Dollie in confusion.
After a short pause, Evelyn said, "Nadia, I'll pay for the dress and the loss. Dollie Xiang is too careless to be a model for us. ZL Group will never hire her again."
Everyone was stunned, and gasps and startled, hushed whispers could be heard.
She was fired by ZL Group? That meant no other company in the modeling business in Y City would hire her.
A dress and a careless comment ruined a girl's bright future. Everyone had to look at Evelyn with new eyes.
She had inherited Carlos' ruthlessness and low tolerance for B.S.
Ignoring everyone's curious looks, Evelyn turned on her heel and was about to leave.
But Dollie rushed up to her and fastened her hand around her wrist, rudely.
Glancing at her wrist, Evelyn said nothing. Nadia hastily walked over and pulled Dollie aside, saying, "Miss Xiang! This is absolutely uncalled for."
"How do you know Savannah?" No wonder Evelyn looked familiar to Dollie. Evelyn used to hang around with Savannah Xiang before the latter left the country.
Before she could answer, Dollie continued to bombard Evelyn with questions. "Did Savannah ask you to do this? She wrecked her own career, so she decided to screw up mine, too?! You're working with her, aren't you? Just to bring me down!"
"You ruined your own career. You did this to yourself!" Before Dollie could respond, Evelyn walked away from her, taking bold, purposeful strides towards the VIP lounge in her high heels.
Dollie was so angry that all she could see was red. She didn't remove her makeup, but changed the torn dress and walked outside.
Before meeting Sheffield, she made a phone call.
The phone was quickly connected, and a soft voice came from the other end of the line, "Dollie."
Disgust was written all over Dollie's face. "Don't say my name! Savannah Xiang, tell me, did you team up with Evelyn Huo against me?"
"What are you talking about? What happened to Evelyn?"
Evelyn had been busy lately, so she hadn't talked to Savannah Xiang in a bit.
"She ruined my chances of being a model over a rusty nail. Don't lie to me, Savannah! Don't tell me you didn't know!" Dollie said through gritted teeth.
Shaking her head, Savannah Xiang replied honestly, "I didn't know. I'll call her."
"Don't play dumb with me! You know what? I just dumped the one you love. Now I have a new boyfriend. Dad said he was a genius in the medical field. He is a doctor of nephrology, a surgeon right now, but he's working with university staff to develop new meds. If he succeeds, he will make a ton of cash. The point is that he's a lot hotter than your lover. Just stay in France and watch me live a happy life. Haha..."
On the other end of the line, Savannah Xiang listened to her brag in silence. After that, she answered with a smile on her face, "Congratulations! You've found your Mr. Right and I wish you all the happiness in the world."
Dollie's face darkened. This wasn't the reaction she was hoping for. "Who cares! If your mother hadn't been so good to me every day, why would I call you?"
"She's your mom, too!" Savannah Xiang corrected her.
"No she's not. She doesn't deserve that title!" Dollie hated Savannah Xiang and her mother to the core. People said that it was Dollie's mother who had broken up the marriage between Sidell and his ex-wife. Dollie wasn't going down with them.
This time, Savannah Xiang was silent.
Now that she was speechless, Dollie was satisfied. She hung up the phone happily, put on her sunglasses and walked out.
The last second she was in heaven, but the next second she fell into hell because of what she saw.
Sheffield, who wanted to find a place to smoke, accidentally bumped into the woman he truly wanted to meet.
Evelyn, who was supposed to leave the exhibition center through the entrance, left early through the side door, flanked by her bodyguards. However, she was caught by Sheffield.
He put out his cigarette and strode towards a black car. "Hey, miss. I have something for you," he said to Evelyn, who was about to get in the car.
Evelyn stopped when she heard his voice. She stood there, not turning her head.
With a confused look at the handsome young man not far away, Nadia then took a glance at Tayson, who should've stopped any suspicious man from approaching their boss, and finally said nothing.
"Long time no see. What's wrong? Can't you even look at me?" With one arm propped against the car window in front of Evelyn, Sheffield approached her with a wicked smile. "Give me three minutes?" he said to her.