Nina
The event was one of the biggest occasions I had ever seen, the organization by my family didn’t even come close and they were lavish. To be honest, I developed cold feet. Alexander had a hard time convincing me to attend this event, but I wasn’t so sure, what if they didn’t like me, if I somehow managed to embarrass myself like I always do, what if I’m not good enough. What if May wins? I was drowning in a bunch of what-ifs, but Alexander pulled me out of it.
“Relax, you would do just great, I’ll be by your side, have no fear.”
It was the only way I could summon the courage to attend. As we arrived at the party all eyes were on us, we made a stunning couple and I could feel the speculation in the air.
“Are they dating?”.
“What the hell is she doing with him?”.
We mingled with the crowd having fun and laughing, but I could sense the tension beneath the surface, May was here somewhere probably staring daggers at me, and my family would be wondering what the hell was I doing here, well they could as well choke on the questions, even I I wasn’t so sure what I was doing here.
“I see you’ve moved on”, Leo said, coming up beside me as soon as Alexander was preoccupied with another person, but his eyes were on me, they narrowed as soon as he noticed Leo.
“Indeed I have”.
“With Alexander Antonio of all people, especially when you know he is my biggest rival”, He questions.
“You see that’s the fun part, you get to be with my sister and I get with your enemy, how’s that?”
“Is that what this is all about, you getting back against cheating on you”.
“Now you agree that you cheated me, but at the dinner, you never did mention anything”.
“ If this is about the family dinner, I’m sorry okay, but you cannot be with Alexander”.
“Oops, I’m sorry I already did just that”.
“You cannot be with him, I won’t allow it”
“There’s nothing you can do about it, Leo”. I said.
“Is there any problem?”Alexander said, approaching us.
“I don’t think so Right? Leo”, I said, raising my brows.
“You’ll regret this Nina”, He said angrily and stomped off.
“My, what a nasty temper he has”.
“You can say that again”.
“Ready for your surprise my dear Nina”, he said gesturing as the clientele took the stage.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the excellent designer who caught our attention, whose designs we’ve chosen and we are willing to work with, originally we had an issue with the work being plagiarized, but it has been settled already with the help of my dear friend”.
I wanted to blend in with the mosaics and tiles as people looked at me and whispered thief
“The design that we’ve chosen was created by no other person but…….Nina Crabtree”. The silence in the room was deafening, I was stunned, how did they know it was my design?
“As I said, hopefully, things will turn out good”.
“I don’t understand, I thought Nina was the one who stole May’s work”, Someone shouted from amidst the crowd.
“It is the other way round, May stole Nina’s work and we have concrete proof about it, so why don’t we welcome our newest designer, Nina, the best in the entire continent?
“Congratulations, you deserve it”.
“Wait… what .. how”, I was speechless.
“The stage is all yours”, he says gesturing to the stage.
I climbed the stage still not believing that it was real, till I shook hands with the client and he handed me the microphone, I did it!!
“Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests, and fellow creatives, I am truly humbled to be standing here tonight, accepting this award for my design. But I want to take a moment to talk about something very important to me, and that’s originality and creativity. You see, creativity is not just about making something look pretty or functional. It’s about bringing a new idea to life, something that’s never been seen before. It’s about taking risks, pushing boundaries, and innovating. And that’s what I tried to do with my design. But, unfortunately, not everyone shares this vision. Some people think that creativity is just about copying and pasting, taking someone else’s work, and passing it off as their own. But that’s not creativity, that’s just theft. And I know that some of you may be thinking, “But what’s the big deal? It’s just a design.” Well, let me tell you, it’s not just a design. It’s a representation of our values, our passion, and our hard work. And when someone steals that, they’re not just stealing a design, they’re stealing our identity. So, to all the creatives out there, I urge you to keep pushing the boundaries, keep innovating, and keep creating. Don’t let anyone steal your thunder, and don’t let anyone dull your sparkle. And to those who think that copying and pasting is the way to go, I say, get your ideas, get your style, and get your creativity.
Thank you all again for this amazing honor, and let’s keep creating, shall we?”
The crowd erupted in applause, and I could see the subtle nods of agreement and understanding from the guests. May, on the other hand, looked like she had been caught red-handed, her face red with anger and embarrassment.
Yeah in your face, May, I finally got what I deserve and it felt pretty damn good.
“Congratulations, Nina I always knew you were the one”. It's funny how people can change their tune in the face of success. The very same people who criticized me for apparently stealing my work, were now back to congratulate me. I guess people do change in the blink of an eye.
“Was this your plan all along to humiliate me in front of everyone”, May said seething with anger.
“You brought it upon yourself, May, single-handedly”, I said exasperatedly.
“Don’t play dumb with me, you planned this all along with Leo’s enemy didn’t you”.
“Planned, I didn’t plan for you to steal my designs and claim them as yours, you had every opportunity to say the truth but you didn’t, how does it feel to have the table turned on you”.
“You humiliated me in front of everyone you bitch!”,
“Right back at you, you did the same as well”.
“You’re sleeping with him, aren’t you”,
“Wait….what?”,
“Alexander, I know this is his handwork, does Leo know that you’re sleeping with the enemy”. She said spitefully.
“My actions have nothing to do with Leo, we’ve broken up, you made sure of that, and no, I’m not sleeping with him, I’m not like you who opens legs wide for anything with money”.
“You sly bitch!!”, she said and made to strike me.
“Go ahead May, I dare you to prove to everybody here just how low you can go”, I said as I gestured to everyone who was watching. Damn the gossip mongers and tabloids are going to have a field day with this story
“What’s it going to be May, do you want to add insanity to your list of wrongdoings, dear sister”.
“This is not over yet, you may think you’ve won this round but you’re wrong I’ll get you back for this.
“I’ll be waiting, I’m ready for whatever you can throw at me, but be careful, dear sister, because I won’t back down this time”.
“We’ll see about that” " she said and stomped off.
“Good riddance”, I muttered under my breath.
After a while, Alexander leaned in and whispered, “Shall we make our exit?I believe we’ve made our statement and have celebrated your win, it is time to move on to our next project”, he said.
“ I nod in agreement as we made our way out of the event, arm in arm.
“You know Nina, you’re not just a talented designer, you’re a true original and I’m honored to be your partner in every sense of the word”.
“It is my honor as well Alex”.
We left the event arm in arm ready to take on our next challenge together.
Nina“I said to myself, ‘One more last thing,’ as I placed the candle stick on the table. ‘There, perfect. Everything was almost ready.’ But then I thought, “Wait, I’m forgetting something.’ I looked around the room and spotted the jewelry I had designed myself in the corner. I grabbed it, thinking, “Leo would love this so much. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he sees this.’ Just then, the oven timer went off – Beep, Beep, Beep. I rushed to turn it off and opened the oven, but was nearly blinded by smoke. “Great, another cake ruined”. I thought, “How in the world am I going to get everything ready in time before Leo arrives? Definitely not like this.” It was our first anniversary, and I wanted everything to be perfect. I smiled, thinking, Fiancée, I love the sound of that. Leo, my first love, my first everything, the only person who has been by my side since we were kids. He was the only one who stood up for me, protected me, and even helped me in my business. God, he
Nina Tears streamed down my face as I shook with sobs. No, it wasn’t true. I refused to believe what I had just heard. How could they do this to me? How could Leo betray me so brutally, and with my sister, no less? The very person who had always tried to make my life miserable. What had I done to deserve this?I had always been a simple girl, living a simple life, even when my parents were well off. I never let it go to my head and always wanted to do my own thing. I was soft-spoken, and kind, and never had any issues with anyone. Though my parents had a business, I chose to be different and built my own company. But everything changed when my mom died during my university days. My life was never the same. My father became more and more distant, and I was shocked when he announced he was getting married again.The moment Flora, my stepmom, and her daughter came into the picture, my entire life was turned upside down. They took everything away from me – my life, my family, and now my
NinaI knew something was wrong the moment I stepped into the company and the first thing I saw was the pitying looks on people’s faces. Apparently, news spread fast, it took everything I had in me to prepare for work today, especially with everything that happened last night with my sister and my fiancée…. Well, ex-fiancée Leo, but I sucked it up and came, today’s a big day for me and I’ll be damned if I let anyone spoil it for me.“Nina, your father needs you in his office”, the secretary called.Finally, it is time, about two months ago, Father assigned a task to me, May, and some other persons in the company, we were to come up with a design for a jewelry set, any design that gets picked by the client, the designer gets a promotion, it is an opportunity I was waiting and I gave it my all, I know my designs are great and I was confident about it too, let’s just hope Dad feels the same way.“You sent for me”, I said as I entered his office, Lo and behold, I see May beside Father, Wh
NinaSoft silky sheets, heavenly goodness, since when did my sheets become soft, in my semi-conscious state I reached for my teddy bear Toodles, and came up empty, something wasn’t right, Toodles never leave my bed, this was not my room. Where the hell am I, I got up with a bolt and nearly fell off the bed. Damn, my head felt like someone was repeatedly hitting it over and over again, how much did I drink last night anyways.I looked around the room, nothing looked familiar in any way, I couldn’t even recognize a single pin, I scrambled off the bed, panicking about how in the world I got here.“Calm down, Nina, calm down, try to remember what happened last night”, I tell myself.I had a shitty day at work, all thanks to my wonderful sister, May, then I headed over to the club to put my sorrows in a bottle. I must have blanked out then, I don’t remember anything after that. I noticed my clothes folded nearly at the corner of the room, someone must have changed my clothes and I don’t ev
Nina“We both have a score to settle with both of them, I suggest we both join hands together in making them pay, it’s high time we take back what belongs to us”.“How do I even know I can trust you, I barely know you, how am I sure you won’t turn on me instead, who knows this might just be part of your plan too”.“It’s a good thing you don’t trust me, because I don’t either, I might change my mind and turn on you instead, after all, you’re the much easier prey”.At least he’s honest, I’ll give him that.“I’m also taking a risk here as well, how do I know you won’t go blabbing to Leo, after all, you have been quite close from birth, but I’m willing to give it a shot, I’m giving you a chance Nina to take back everything you’ve lost and then some, so how is it going to be, are you in or out”.“I have to think about it, I’m not sure if I can trust you, I mean we are talking about going against my sister which ultimately means going against my family since she has everyone on her side, I
NinaDid I ever mention how badly I hate family dinners? The Amber family dinner it’s always an elaborate affair, Different extended relatives, cousins, maternal and paternal sides, and even those married into the family and those affiliated as well everyone who wants a piece of the Amber fortune gather together in one place to reminisce and to talk about things they've missed, in other words, it’s a hellhole, a gathering relations show off the things they've achieved recently, make fun of other relative losses, gossip about whose family is failing pretending to be in good terms but at the same time looking for weaknesses of the other that they can latch their sharp teeth onto. Everyone’s praying for what the others stand for and at the same time also hypothetically wishing the other more winnings.They were all a bunch of hypocrites each of them seeking to out-do the other and at the same time get to the top of the food chain, and guess who's at the top, yeah you guessed right my fa
Nina I sat at the dinner table surrounded by my family including my extended family and my sister who beamed with pride as my father praised her latest achievement proudly sponsored by yours truly, we had just finished the first course and there was a break before the second one was served and trust my family to utilize it to the fullest.“So Nina I heard you and Leo broke off the engagement, this was the tenth time someone brought up the topic, and at this point, I was ready to commit murder“The both of you have always been together right from your early years, it’s a shame you both had to break up, what happened”.“Why don’t you ask the lover boy over there, I’m sure he has an answer”.Yeah, Leo arrived a bit late and has been glued to May’s side ever since, he didn’t even take one look in my direction, Sure enough everyone noticed it.“Nina and Leo had decided to break off the engagement, they just weren’t compatible together and he had found someone else better, right? Leo baby”
NinaI walked into Alexander’s office with a sense of determination, I had finally decided to work against my family, but most especially against my sister May and Leo, that backstabbing cheater.“Welcome Miss Nina, we’ve been expecting you”, the receptionist said as soon as she saw me.“Right, this way Ma’am.” She led me into an elevator and pressed a button. Immediately she stepped back.“Wait, you’re not coming", I said, confused.“No ma’am, the boss likes his privacy, he specifically requests for you to be directed into his office as soon as you arrive”.“B.. but how would I know his office”.“It's not hard to miss, his office is on the entire top floor”. The elevator door closed.The entire top floor, I was stunned, exactly how rich he said he was again, the elevator dinged its arrival and stepped out of it into a very huge office, my jaw dropped to the floor.“ Ah, I see you’ve arrived Nina, glad you could make it”, Alexander said, looking so handsome in his suit, he looked so e