Chapter 108: Crack The Nut
“Just delete them if it bothers you that much,” Lily instructed calmly and waved Alana off as she brewed another large cup of coffee to keep her awake and standing.
Just as she predicted, Alana soon began receiving hate emails and bad reviews on Lily’s fashion’s official website two days after the incident with Bron and her minions.
The complaints and reviews said little to nothing about the products being sold in the store. Instead, they were all about how the store’s employee had bullied Bron when she offered to help them.
At first, Alana took her time replying to all the reviews and emails, but as it increased, she grew frustrated and tired. With Lily’s permission, she decided to allow them to continue without giving them the attention that they wanted.
Soon, Lily’s Fashion made an announcement that encouraged the keyboard army to keep bullying Lily’s Fashion, thinking their scheme to chase her out of business was working.
Lily’s Fashion announced they were closed for taking orders for the rest of the year as they were too short-staffed to receive more.
The reason for the announcement was also linked to Bron but in a positive way.
After Bron left Lily’s store the day she caused trouble, she went back and reported to her anonymous employer about the outcome of the whole thing.
Having done her part and incurred some debts, she initially planned on dropping out of the job; however, the employer had other ideas. She paid Bron even more money, and all she had to do was continue to cause trouble in Lily’s Fashion store and even in the online space.
Angered by the way she was treated, coupled with the extra fees she’d be getting, Bron edited the video they had taken and added some scenes that didn’t happen, after which she posted it on her account with the tag ‘Was at Lily’s Fashion, offering a hand of help, but I got bullied instead! I didn’t know such people still existed. Poor me’
With the help of the keyboard armies she had employed and her unreasonable fans, the post became trendy. And in such cases, as always, victims always get sympathised with.
Many people began to sympathise with Bron while badmouthing Lily’s Fashion and asking for them to be cancelled.
However, this was also a form of publicity for Lily’s Fashion as it introduced them to a new audience, most especially people who could tell the whole thing played by Bron was a sham.
In the coming week, Lily’s Fashion began to receive hundreds of orders, and some even opted to wait for as long as six months as long as they would have their outfit made by Lily’s.
The offers came not only from individuals; some even came from organisations that wanted Lily’s Fashion to be in charge of their attire, merchandising, costumes, and many more.
Being a small business, the orders became overwhelming, and they had no choice but to announce about not taking orders for now.
Lily walked into her office to see Avon still very much engaged in picking the designs he wanted to work on. Deciding not to disturb him, she sat by the window and slowly sipped her coffee while watching the busy streets and the huge signboard opposite her office with the poster of the ‘Mystic World Game’.
In just one week that the game was released, it registered over a hundred thousand users. The numbers were way above their budget.
Although they had prepared a hundred thousand gaming pods after giving them out to the pre-registered players, they still went into a shortage on the third day, leaving them all occupied and scrambling for a solution.
And finally, after consulting with Alpha Tech, they made another announcement that others would wait for a month before they got theirs.
Nevertheless, she couldn’t help the joy she felt at the thought of her successful comeback into the tech world.
She turned back to Avon, his pursed lips as he scrolled through all the designs she had made. His legs danced restlessly as he hummed and made a note on the side for anyone he found attractive.
Once he had gone through all the set, he returned the notepad to Lily. “Seen the ones you like?” She asked, and he grinned.
“Yes, a bunch of them, actually. You’ve got great imagination and designs. You think I can have this many?” He asked as he showed her a list of the designs he had picked.
“I don’t mind, but can you really do that much with the given time?” She asked worriedly, and Avon nodded.
“There won’t be a problem with it; I get a studio to myself, correct? As long as I have the materials ready to use, I’ll create the magic,” he replied excitedly, obviously impatient about starting to work.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.
“Yes, and a living quarters if you want one,” she replied and pointed to the building next to the store building. “I just managed to buy the apartment complex off Walson’s group for cheap. I’m thinking of making it a staff quarters or renting it out to others.”
“At least one of us is using their connections right; all I do with my connection is try to avoid my older brother. He’s a real pain in my butt… the good kind sometimes,” Avon chuckled.
“Anyways, what do you intend to do about Bron? She’s not going to stop just because you are silent about the whole issue,” Lily let out a sigh, seriously feeling an immense headache from overworking and having to deal with people like Frederick and Bron.
One part of being famous she had always loathed, since she could remember is the part where she constantly had to watch her back against schemes and bad intentions from others.
All of which she has somehow attracted since she started her journey back to the top. From Merissa to Evie and now to Frederick, Bron, and maybe… just maybe Mark’s jealous admirers.
“I know she won’t stop, at least not until the person behind her is stopped. I’m trying to fish out the person that put her up to it,” Lily replied.
“You need me to help you employ a private investigator?” Avon offered, and Lily shook her head.
“No, that won’t be necessary. I’m going to solve that problem myself; I already have a lead.”
“Trust you to have everything under control,” Avon laughed. “Are you coming to the get-together organised by Celina this weekend?” he asked as a change of topic just as Celina walked into the office with a big box of desserts from an expensive brand.
“She declined my invites.” Celina tutted and playfully glared at Lily, who shrugged in return.
“I’m busy, and at this point, time is literal money,” she replied.
“It’s just a few hours; it’s not running for the whole day,” Avon reasoned. “Besides, you can make connections with new people in the same line of business.”
“I really wish I could make it there, but I can’t; I have prior arrangements. Alana could come as my representative though,” Lily offered, and Celina rolled her eyes.
“Party pooper,” she grumbled and handed Lily the dessert package. “Mark sent it. He wanted to be here himself, but Frederick happened again,” she reported with a disgusted expression as she mentioned Frederick.
With a raised brow, Lily took the package and the envelope attached to it. Inside was a note that read, “Apologies for the current and upcoming inconveniences. There is an extra gift somewhere in the box; could you crack the nut?”