The Rebirth of a Scorned Heiress

“Hello, you must be Lily, Celina told me a lot about you” Mrs William greeted as Lily entered William’s home.

“Hello, Mrs William, I am Lily, Miss Celina’s junior” Lily greeted with a polite smile, making the older woman smile.

“You don’t have to be nervous or overly polite with me. Come on in, the others are here” Mrs William beckoned as she led Lily into a large hall where two males that looked to be around the same age as Lily and a middle-aged man were already waiting.

“These are the other members of your team, try to mingle and get to know one another. Celina will be with you shortly” Mrs William smiled and left.

Lily stood awkwardly by the door as all three pairs of eyes were fixated on her, some with curiosity and others with plain acknowledgement.

“You are the protagonist of that fashion school gossip, aren’t you?” The shorter guy with long and curly black hair asked, his question taking Lily by surprise.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“I don’t think that’s the kind of questions you ask people when you just meet them” Lily replied monotonously. Not knowing if he was a friend, foe or neutral.

“He just says what is in his mind, he thinks after talking. You can ignore him but you’ll grow to love him in no time” Celina chuckled as she walked in behind Lily, dressed in a short floral gown.

“I could not pick you up like I promised because something came up, I’m sorry” she apologised and Lily smiled.

“It’s fine, you did send someone to do the picking up” Lily chuckled lightly.

“Thank you!”

“Alright now that we are all here, let me introduce everyone. This is Avon and Ian. Avon is the short one, he will be in charge of the sewing and Ian is his assistant” Celina introduced with a professional smile.

“And this is Lily, she’s my junior and she is a very good designer, approved by Trex” Celina introduced and the three said their hellos.

“Trex approve of her? That maniac approved of someone?” The middle-aged man standing by the side asked in surprise and Celina giggled.

“Yes! I showed him her previous designs and he said ‘She’s a good seedling, give her the necessary nutrients and she’ll grow into a massively cute tree’, his words, not mine!” She explained and the middle-aged man smiled.

“I can tell, alright. I’m Cain and I will be your guide during your stay in Paris. I am an executive designer of ‘Lam’ fashion and I’m pleased to meet you all” he introduced.

“Where is the male model? I thought you had gotten one?” Avon asked curiously, seeing there were only four of them. Celina sighed as she was reminded of her predicament.

“He has a shoot in New York and he’ll meet us in Paris,” she explained.

“You want him to be the male model?” Avon asked as he got an idea of who their other team member might be.

“Yes!”

“Ehn? He agreed?” He asked and Celina nodded.

“I told that damn mushroom head to model one of my clothes the last time just for thirty minutes paid to shoot and he told me he was busy! Now he agrees to go to Paris?!” Avon exclaimed with a clenched fist and a glare.

Celina chuckled awkwardly. “I had to do a whole lot of talking before he agreed to work with me” she complained.

“Tch, he is too full of himself, just because he has a fine face,” Avon groaned.

“Who is this person?” Lily asked curiously, seeing that she was the only one not in the know about their last team member.

“A tall asshole with a fine face and long legs,” Avon replied with a sneer and Celina chuckled.

“Don’t mind Avon, he is an artist that recently debuted but has won the heart of all his fans through his good music” she explained and Avon scoffed.

“You mean through his ridiculously fine face?” He countered.

“You don’t seem to get along well with him” Lily pointed out and Ian shook his head with an amused smile.

“On the contrary, they are best friends who can’t do without one another for a long time. Avon is just always in a bad mood whenever he remembers Light is taller than him and more handsome than he is” Ian explained.

“I’m not always in a bad mood because of his long legs!” Avon countered with a cute childish pout.

“Okay we hear you” Ian smiled. Lily relaxed as she realised her teammates were all easygoing people and not snobby ones who would make her feel on edge all the time.

“Alright, so we’ve got the plan for the show” Celina announced, getting everyone’s attention on her. “There is going to be a total of seven participants and each team will be given a number tag. The host will provide the accommodation and feeding for each team and according to the rules, your accommodation and workspace will be earned. We don’t know what that means yet” she explained further.

“Then that would mean we will have to compete for the best accommodation and workspace” Lily pointed out.

“Yeah, I think that’s the case, the whole show will last for a month of which we can’t lodge outside…so let’s do our best to get the best” Celina instructed.

“Our flight takes off tomorrow morning”

*****

{Congratulations, your basic design skills have levelled up from an amateur to a trainee}

{You have earned 100 upgrade points}

{You have been given a new skill book ‘Basic Design 102’}

Lily stretched and flexed her fingers as the system notification went off, she smiled as she admired the two-piece attire she had just designed.

“This would make for a good starter collection for the store. I like it” she hummed, not knowing someone had been looking at the design over her shoulder.

“I like this design, sell it to me” Avon demanded as he pointed to the sketch pad, silently asking her permission to take it.

Startled, Lily moved to the side to peer up at him only for him to grin and wave at her. “Will you sell it to me? Or do you already have someone to sell it to?” He probed and Lily shook her head.

“I have a small store and I made this design for the open collection” she explained and Avon pouted with a disappointed gleam in his eyes.

“Then do you have someone to sew? I like the design and I promise I can do justice to it!” He explained with a sigh and then shrugged.

“I have a seamstress, however, I don’t mind you working on the design if you truly like it, it can be a collaboration” Lily offered and Avon brightened up.

“Sure! Having a collaboration will be great! I’m free all through next month and we can work on it. Can I pick two more designs to work on?” He asked and Lily shrugged and handed him the booklet.

“Those are the designs I’m looking to open with, there are ten of them in total, five male and five female. My seamstress is already working on the first and second designs so you can pick from the third one” As she explained, the others gathered around Avon to look at the designs.

“Wow! I love this dress, can I model it when it is done? It will fit my temperament the best” Celina exclaimed as they flipped the page to the fifth page.

“These designs can be a standalone for both male and female, however with a little tweak it can be made into a couple’s outfit, did you do that on purpose?” Cain asked as he checked the designs.

“I actually designed with both my workers in mind. I’m shipping them to be in a relationship, you see” Lily smiled as the image of the two flashed through her mind.

“I can see why Trex approves of you, your attention to detail is on point. With a good teacher and guidance, you’ll make it to the top in no time. Would you like to be my apprentice?” Cain asked, surprising everyone.

“Say yes!” Ian urged with starry eyes.

{Yes! Say yes! He is one of the top designers in the country. Just saying his name will make people respect you! And if you say yes to him, the Trex guy would also mentor you!}

“Are they a packaged deal?” Lily asked the system curiously.

{Trex was Cain’s mentor, so he’ll be your grand mentor and you’ll have an opportunity to learn from him in the future!}

Seeing Lily’s hesitation, Cain sighed and shrugged. “I will give you till the end of the show to decide. And if you don’t see me fitting enough, it’s my loss that I can’t have someone as talented as you as my student”

“That’s not it, I’m just worried since I don’t have that much experience to be your apprentice” Lily chuckled awkwardly.

“Then you are perfect. You can do anything with a blank sheet. So what do you say?” Cain asked

“Then I would love to learn under you!”