"Ma'am, there is good news."
Melanie paused at the entrance of her office, her hand still on the doorknob. Ben stood there, waiting for her eagerly, his face lit up like a kid about to open a birthday present.
Melanie smiled at him. Ben Harris was like an energy capsule — always eager for work and excited about it. Usually, she found his enthusiasm infectious, but today? Today, it felt mildly irritating. Could the man not have some Monday blues or something?
Of course, it was not fair of her to be irritated at him when it was someone else who was the cause of her bad mood. But since she was ignoring that guy, she had nowhere to vent, making poor Ben look like an appropriate target.
But then she shook her head. Ben had said there was good news, so she should focus on that instead of non important persons.
"So, what is the good news?" She asked him, though she did not hold out much hope. As far as BEn was concerned, even a call from a would be customer could make him excited like this.
"Its Mr Peter Berkins. He has agreed to talk." Ben annouced, barely stopping himself from clapping as he did.
Melanie paused mid-step and blinked. "Peter Berkins? He agreed to talk?"
Ben nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Said he'd be willing to meet you later this week."
Melanie exhaled slowly, surprised yet undeniably pleased. This was indeed good news!
Peter Berkins... That was unexpected. Once upon a time, he'd been one of their strongest allies — one of the original designers her grandmother had hired when he was still a budding talent.
Later, when he'd wanted to expand his skills and study abroad, her grandmother had sponsored him instead of holding him back or letting him suffer. In return, he'd vowed to always support LuxeArt, and for years, he had kept that promise.
Until two years ago. Madam Collins had seen to that. Accused him of plagiarism — claimed he'd stolen designs from a lesser-known designer and artist. The accusation itself had been damaging, but the real twist of the knife had been how her mother-in-law had done it — by claiming it was Melanie who had made the accusation and had asked him to resign if she did not want to have his reputation ruined.
That betrayal had cost LuxeArt dearly. Peter had cut ties immediately — no calls, no explanations, just silence. With that, LuxeArt had lost a lot of patrons who were Peter's loyal followers.
When Melanie reached out last week, she'd been greeted with nothing but icy hostility and a string of sharp words that had left her ears ringing.
"You've got nerve," he'd snapped. "I thought your grandmother raised you better."
She'd tried to explain, tried to convince him that she hadn't been the one behind the accusation, but he'd refused to listen. By the end of the call, he'd hung up on her, leaving her frustrated and nursing a stinging sense of injustice and shame. She was indeed ultimately responsible for everything that was ruined for not taking care of it.
And now... now he'd agreed to talk? Just like that? Coincidences like that would be miraculous.
"Did he say why he changed his mind?" she asked warily.
Ben shrugged. "Didn't say much. Just that he would see you over the weekend. Sounded a bit... grudging, if you ask me. But he mentioned that his assistant would contact you."
The sounded like the old man, alright. Just leaving orders and they would have to be the ones to co-ordinate.
"Alright," she said at last, feeling some of her earlier irritation ebb away. "Set up the meeting. Sooner the better."
"Got it," Ben said with a grin, turning to leave before pausing and looking at her again.
Melanie, who had just sunk into her chair, rubbed her forehead and glanced at him again. "What is it now?"
"The bank called," Ben began, his grin dimmed a bit but since this was good news too, she heard it quietly. "They've agreed to move forward with the loan. Everything's good to go. They took the collateral into account and are willing to sign the documents."
Melanie's fingers paused mid-rub as her hand fell away from her face. "That's... good news," she said slowly.
"I've already set the documents to print," Ben added quickly as he showed off, his voice letting her know how proud he was of his efficiency. "That way you can look through them before signing. I'll set up the meeting for afternoon?"
Melanie nodded, feeling some of the weight on her shoulders finally lift and that excitement that he was showing, finally rubbing off on her. "Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks, Ben."
"Anytime," Ben said cheerfully before heading out the door.
Once alone, Melanie sat back in her chair, letting her eyes drift to the ceiling for a moment as she took a moment to smile to herself. With Peter Berkins agreeing to meet and the loan finally approved, things seemed to be turning around. Maybe, just maybe, LuxeArt had a fighting chance after all.
Feeling a renewed sense of purpose, she pushed herself upright and reached for the stack of pending files on her desk. Time to get back to work and ignore other things that were not improtant.
Just then, there was a knock on her door and as she looked up, expecting Ben, she widened her eyes as she saw Spencer standing there. "What are you doing here?"
"I would like to talk to you, Melanie."
"Spencer, I've already told you. There is not much to discuss between us. So, I don't see why you are here."
She thought back to the video Adam had shown her of Spencer throwing things in anger and she groaned inwardly. She just hoped Spencer had not come here just to create trouble for her."
"Fine. I'm here to invite you. Grandpa wants to invite Adam and you for the launch of our new offices in the suburbs. It is going to be next month. As you might know, I do not want to interact with Adam, so I came here."
Melanie looked at the invite he had put on the table and nodded in acknowledgement, not giving him a firm answer or inviting him to sit. He stood there for a few moments before turning around but then he sighed and said," Melanie. I hope you will come to this party. I know you and Adam are married now but he is not a good person and is dangerous to you. You'll find when you come here."