The Billionaire's Pretend Wife (Isabella)
Chapter 62 Sixty Two

Isabelle appreciated Jacob's support, but didn't take his words seriously. It wasn't like there was anything he could do to teach Naomi a lesson. As long as Naomi was dating Green Leaf's CEO, she could do whatever she wanted at the company.

While Isabelle was disappointed to have lost her chance at the project, she was happy she still had a job. Keeping her job at the Larson Group was more important than taking part in a one-off project.

So, she wasn't going to do anything that could offend Naomi, and in extension Green Leaf's CEO. Naomi had threatened to bar her from the industry, and while Isabelle was confident that her adoptive sister had no means to do that, she wasn't sure about her CEO boyfriend. If Naomi lodged a complaint against her at the Larson Group and the company chose to side with their client...

She wasn't going to risk it.

Besides, after they had gotten back to the office after the unsavoury meeting with Naomi and her boyfriend, Grace had submitted a draft from another designer to Green Leaf Company right away. There was no need to dwell on it.

She assured Jacob that she was over it, and that she would concentrate on the other designs she was working on. He nodded, but she could still see the fire in his eyes that suggested he was still thinking about her sister's behaviour.

The next day, Green Leaf Company approved the new draft Grace had sent. Grace made the announcement to the department, letting them know of the new designer whose draft had been chosen for the Green Leaf project.

Isabelle felt a pang in her chest, but she pushed it away. It was none of her business anymore. There would be other projects in the future, projects without Naomi's claws sunk into them.

Grace then announced a meeting with the Green Leaf team, which had been scheduled to take place as soon as the other company approved a draft.

"I can't believe they replaced your drafts," her colleague who sat closest to her said as they gathered materials for the meeting. She huffed and rolled her eyes. "Green Leaf must have very bad taste. Your design was way better than the one they accepted."

Isabelle shrugged. "They must have their reasons," she replied. Reasons like a CEO who let his girlfriend affect business decisions.

"Reasons like a mediocre design director, maybe," her coworker snorted.

Isabelle wondered whether Naomi was even the design director at Green Leaf Company. She couldn't think of any qualification her sister had that would land her in such a position. Maybe being the CEO's girlfriend was all the qualification needed.

The two followed their colleagues to the meeting room and took seats at the conference table. Isabelle was hoping against all odds that Naomi wouldn't show up with the Green Leaf team.

But she had said she was the one in charge of the project, and Isabelle knew better than anyone that her sister would never bypass a chance to lord over her.

Her fears were confirmed when a few minutes later, Grace walked into the room, accompanied by Naomi. Naomi was on her own, so she was the only one representing the client.

"Everyone," Grace started after welcoming Naomi to take a seat at the head of the table. Isabelle didn't miss the self-important look on her adoptive sister's face as she looked around the table, as if she was their CEO or something. "This is Miss Naomi Cruz. She is in charge of this project at Green Leaf Company, so she'll be overseeing every step. Before we kick off the meeting, Miss Cruz would like to say something. Welcome to the Larson Group, Miss Cruz. We are happy to have you."

Naomi nodded at Grace, assuming a smile whose fakeness Isabelle could detected from her position farther down the table. "Thank you. I'm thrilled to be collaborating with the Larson Group on this project. This project is very important for our company, and naturally, we wanted only the best talents on it. The new design that Director Ocampo submitted yesterday is very brilliant, and we are confident the end result will be amazing."

She turned to look at Grace. "We are also grateful that you considered out desire to switch from the first design you sent us. Frankly speaking, it was trash, and it wasn't what we were looking for." She turned her attention back to the rest of the team sitting around the table. Her eyes rested on Isabelle. "The designer who submitted it needs to really work harder and do better. I couldn't believe such a mediocre draft originated from the Larson Group, but oh well. It happens. At Green Leaf, we don't accept anything but the best, and I hope all of you will keep that in mind as we go forward. We don't want a situation where we have to waste any more time because of amateurish work."

Isabelle pretended she couldn't see all the gazes being directed her way, but they were too obvious to ignore. Naomi had come to the Larson Group to humiliate her, and going by the barely concealed smirk on her face, she thought she had succeeded.

Grace spoke up, and Isabelle was happy that she was steering the meeting away from Naomi's smear campaign. "Trust me, this is the best team you can have on this project. We'll not let you down," she assured her, passing over a few sheets of papers to Naomi. "Please have a look at this. This is what-"

She trailed off when there was a knock on the door and then it opened and the vice president walked into the conference room.

Jason walked straight to the head of the table and looked down at Naomi, who was busy studying the papers Grace had passed to her. "I'm sorry to interrupt," Jason apologised, and then asked, "Ma'am, who are you?"

Naomi looked up as every eye in the room turned to her. She looked up at Jason, an impatient look on her face. "Excuse me?"

"This is the meeting about the Green Leaf Company project, right?" Jason asked, looking around the room.

"It is, sir," Grace replied.

"Who is this person, then?" He looked down at Naomi. "This is an important project that should only be presided over by the design directors from both companies. I'm pretty sure you're not the person in charge of the design department at Green Leaf. That's the person who is supposed to represent the company at this meeting, no?"

Naomi laughed and threw her head back. Haughtily, she declared, "I'm the girlfriend of the CEO of the Green Leaf Company."

After that declaration, she looked around the table, as if expecting a round of applause. Isabelle was almost embarrassed on her behalf.

The way she threw around the fact that she was Green Leaf's CEO's girlfriend, you'd think she was the incoming queen of some powerful monarchy. Green Leaf Company wasn't even the biggest company around. In fact, it was a subsidiary of a larger corporation.

How would she behave if she was dating, let's say, the chairman of the corporation? Make every employee kiss the ground she walked on?

While Naomi basked in whatever glory she thought her relationship accorded her, Jason was not the least amused. Seriously, he asked, "And what position do you hold at the Green Leaf Company?"