Yours, Until Needed
Chapter 77: Progress

Chapter 77: Progress

Considering how the grandfather and grandson duo looked at me, my face was probably a whole basket of reactions.

Don’t get me wrong, I am beyond thrilled. But my wallet was trembling in fear.

"Wow. Sir, I don’t know what to say or where to begin. But I’d like to be upfront about our small business."

I had to gulp, and even Rina’s leg poked against mine in panic.

"Thank you so much for considering us, Sir. But will this be okay considering our budget?"

Now, anyone might be wondering how the tables have turned. From us owners accepting proposals to asking if they’re willing to take us instead.

Because they were apparently from Minotti, and people fight over their project slots year-round. Their company portfolio boasts designs for most of the country’s most popular destinations and public places, such as airports and museums.

Our budget has always been substantial because we were prepared. However, we were prepared for great artworks priced within our range, not the Mona Lisa.

Designers shouldn’t even be this difficult to find. They’re supposed to be everywhere. But the problem is that all our connections had something to do with the Thornhill group, whose major industry was hotels and resorts.

So, getting from that pool would be akin to suicide for us.

And now we’re faced with this huge pie called Minotti Designs. A company that even my mom couldn’t just tap randomly.

We’ve got several pieces from their furniture line because Aunt Serena would often send them as gifts, but not to the extent that we could get a whole design done.

They were always too busy, and we’ve never been the type to be pushy.

"The pricing would adjust based on the requirements, and the lead designer would be Ben." The old gentleman eased our worries as Ben blushed at his statement.

"This would be my first actual project, and if you’ll be okay with that, I would like to try sending my designs."

No wonder! They’re doing succession planning. But wow, Ben’s designs were great by themselves.

"We’d be glad! We had no idea you were from Minotti and solely based our decision on your portfolio." That was also true because who would’ve thought about this connection?

Rina wasted no time and sent all the files we showed them yesterday.

One could say that maybe we were being conned, but Lucian’s demeanor assured us that they were legit.

__

Today was a great day. We had such an unexpected gain and left there with all smiles.

It was only later that Lucian explained why such a thing even happened.

Ben had been sent abroad for studies and was equally introverted as his brother. The firm’s president was worried because, unlike other designers, Ben had no local presence and would have to re-introduce himself.

They had wanted to officially introduce him as part of Minotti to streamline the process, but Ben was adamant that he wouldn’t join until he had projects under his belt. He worried he would be dragging the company’s reputation by relying on sheer nepotism.

So he’s been going around as himself, refusing to accept clients sent over by his relatives.

Although he was young and timid, his portfolio looked great for a student. So when he tried venturing out independently, he easily found clients, only to have his designs stolen.

The President obviously wanted to pursue legal action, but Ben just chalked it up to learning from experience.

"So when you two offered a way to safeguard his interests, the President took notice." Lucian talked with Sir Miller while the four of us discussed details, and he managed to find out about these details.

"Hmmm...Yeah, Ben’s too nice. All along, I thought designers would have such awful personalities." Rina murmured her musings, which did not escape my ears.

"Since when have you had such beef with designers?" I asked her curiously.

But I only received a glare and an eye-roll, which indicated that I should stop asking for now.

Fine, but we’ll deal with this another time.

How could I let her escape my claws when she’s been throwing me under the bus lately?

I grinned at her, and Rina trembled, knowing what that face usually signified.

But there was just no dampening my mood as Lucian even told us about the schedule for our office renovations.

We didn’t think they could squeeze us in for this year, but Lucian said that some teams had to be rescheduled because of the continuing bad weather conditions in some of their areas.

"So it might be possible for us to use the office next month?" I asked my suddenly glittering husband.

"If the city doesn’t encounter similar weather changes, then yes." He said without much fanfare.

And I fully believed in that. It would only be much later in the future when I’d realize what that guy had to do to get our building into the schedule.

But for now, I just smiled at him as if I hadn’t been petty just recently.

Lucian just shrugged and pulled me closer to him as more people crowded the walkways.

The people seemed to have learned from yesterday’s overcrowding. Although there were still blocks of people, they left small gaps for others to pass.

And by now, we were used to the stares and the occasional photos they were taking candidly. So, it didn’t bother me as much anymore.

But with my upbringing and consistent training, my instincts to protect myself remained.

It started when we left the comfort of Ben’s booth. Every now and then, I would feel this intense stare. Many people glanced at us, and most even gawked openly, but the feeling I was getting did not match any of those.

I’ve tried looking around, but I didn’t get anywhere with such a crowd.

Even Lucian noticed my sudden restlessness. In most cases, most people would say that maybe it was nothing, but I still loved my life. So I just told him.

"I don’t know why I have this feeling, but I feel like someone’s been watching me intently since we left Ben’s booth."

Lucian wasn’t the type to ignore small things and hunches, so he notified the civilian guards to tighten their watch.

"Thanks." I appreciated how he didn’t just ignore that.

"Better safe than sorry," Lucian said without looking down at me.

And how right were we!?