I stare, processing what he’s telling me. I didn’t realize I was allowing Darren to create a bad environment for me because he’s been impossible since he got caught with his assistant. But my grandfather let it go, and back then, whatever Grandfather wanted was the law. And I didn’t have the courage to demand that he fire Darren.
But Grandfather isn’t in the picture anymore. Sebastian’s right. Peery Diamonds is my kingdom. I have to defend it.
His advice from eleven years ago flashes through my head.Fight for what’s yours.
I should fight. No. I should fightharder. I did all the work to be independent, but that isn’t enough if I let others treat me rudely. “You’re right,” I say calmly. “I’ll look into our employment contract with him and see what I need to do to get rid of him.”
Sebastian looks slightly taken aback.
“Why are you so shocked?”
“You agreed so readily.”
I have to laugh. “You sound suspicious.”
“Well, you have to admit—”
“Look, I’m not dumb enough to stay on the wrong path when somebody points out a better one. Pride matters, but it isn’tthatimportant.”
He relaxes and reaches out to squeeze my hand. “I’m proud of you.”
I grin. “Thank you. I’m proud of myself, too.”
Three knocks come from the door. It’s exactly nine. The design people from Peery Diamonds and Sebastian Jewelry come in, followed by Bianca. She’s taking notes so we can distribute them to all attendees once the meeting’s over.
“I didn’t know you were going to be here,” Selena, one of the leads from Peery Diamonds, says, glancing at Sebastian.
“I wanted to see for myself how it’s going,” he responds, smoothing his tie.
The leads from Peery Diamonds get to the point quickly. It’s an old corporate habit from my grandfather’s era. “I’m not paying them to say hello. I’m paying them to do their job,” he would always say.
The new designs are gorgeous and romantic. Although I’m not personally a fan of pink, they’ve included a lot of pink gold and pink gemstones, including pink diamonds. The supply is limited, though. Selena’s certain we can charge a premium for some of the colored diamonds.
“And for our launch year, we’re going to try a Korean Flower Language Collection,” Mo says. She’s the design lead from Sebastian Jewelry.
Sebastian cocks his head. “Korean flower language?”
“It’s something Eugene mentioned as being popular,” I say. “Many flowers and trees have secondary meanings, which can be used to convey unspoken messages.”
“Interesting,” he says.
“I’ll send you some literature on it,” Mo says. “Anyway, the launch is going to feature purple hydrangeas, which mean ‘a sincere heart’ or ‘earnest emotion.’ Like that. Here are some of the preliminary designs.” She puts them up.
The design is fairly complex, but the flower will look gorgeous once the proper stones are set. The facets will reflect the light perfectly. I can see it in my mind.
“They need to be cut and set very carefully. But they can be turned into lots of different things, like brooches, hairpins, pendants and so on. It’ll be too big for rings and bracelets, though.”
“I love it,” I say with a smile. Sebastian nods.
“Everything for the launch is going to be customizable,” Selena adds. “We did it that way on purpose.”
Patrick from Sebastian Jewelry points at a set of stunning bracelets. “And these bracelets, for couples who are dating but aren’t thinking marriage quite yet, are pretty cute.”
“What about these ‘couple rings’?” Sebastian asks.
“We have those, but these are extra. Apparently, bracelets are popular, too,” Patrick says.
The diamond and platinum bracelets come with locks instead of the usual clasps. You have to have the matching diamond and platinum key to put it on and take it off. And the key is a pendant that goes around your neck. So the girl puts the bracelet on the guy and keeps the key, and vice versa.
