Chapter 60 Chapter Sixty
SYDNEY’S POV
I stared at the man who supplied us with cotton, my m*uth agape. His m*uth was pulled tight. and he had refused to meet my gaze as he remained adamant.
“Why?!” I reiterated. I have asked this question a thousand times but all the man just kept telling me is that he just did not want to do business with Luxe vogue again.
Now, a mere supplier telling us that he wasn’t interested in supplying raw material to us would not have been an issue. I mean we could easily search for another supplier with the same quality. Yes, the process of getting a legit supplier with the same high quality will be cumbersome but we will get one.
Now the issue here was that, for weeks now, all of Luxe vogue suppliers have been pulling out. Some, like this one seated before me, were polite enough to come to meet us in person and withdraw their services while some did not even bother, they just sent a mail – Good day, I will not be rendering my services to your company again. Thank you.
And that was it! No reason. Every attempt to reach them has been futile. Now that this one managed to be here, I have been trying to get him to tell me why he suddenly didn’t want to work with us again but he wouldn’t speak.
“Look,” I licked my l*ps, attempting to get him to talk. “Our relationship has grown far more from just business partners. You are a friend of Luxe Vogue. We can’t just lose you like this.” His
eyes softened and I knew I had been able to reach his heart a bit. He sighed and faced me, “I get you. I personally enjoy doing business with you guys but…” he looked around and leaned. closer. “The existence of my business is on the line as we speak…”
I frowned, “What do you mean? We pay on time, we ne-”
“It’s not you,” he shut me up. Then his voice lowered so that I had to lean in forward to hear him. “I don’t know but there’s someone pressuring all of the people working with you to pull out.” What the-!
“I thought it was just me but I met with a fellow supplier during a meeting. We got talking and somehow, we talked about Luxe vogue. We’ve all been receiving strange texts, warnings, threats. anyone pulling out of your company is being threatened. Our lives, our businesses are on the line if we don’t cease to work with you.”
I was tongue tied after he pulled away. I couldn’t understand why anyone would be against us. We have stuck to business and government rules, we have ensured we always satisfy our clients; Grace works hard on their designs to ensure that, so why?
“So you see,” he pulled me out of my thoughts. He looked at me with pity. “I wish it would not get to this but there is nothing I can do. I cherish my life and my business. Then he stretched out his hand for a handshake.
I swallowed and took it. “It was nice working with you,” he said with a tight smile. Then he turned and walked out of the cafe where I had coerced him to.
rival in
I walked back to my office in a daze. So everything that’s been happening has not been our fault. Someone was behind this. Maybe it was our rivals? But Luxe vogue had not had any rival in years. We have owned the fashion spotlight for years and no one dared to compete with us. Perhaps someone has grown the balls to stand up to us?
As I got into the elevator, our social media manager ran up to me. “Wait! Wait!”
I quickly stopped the elevator and stepped out. The lady worked mainly remotely so her
presence was enough to raise alarms. I met her halfway, “What’s the problem?”
She hadn’t spoken but I was already preparing myself for another bad news or report. It was the only type of news we heard these days anyway. It was either there was a bad review on our page or an investor suddenly thinks investing in our business was not the best investment anymore.
Chapter 60 Chapter Sixty
1/3
“There is another stream of comments on the menswear series page,” she said and my shoulders slumped.
“What type of comments?” I already knew her response but I asked anyway.
“Bad, ma’am. They’re even worse than the previous ones.”
Haven’t you taken down the posts?”
The videos and posts that Grace had spent hours and so much effort putting together for the advert of the menswear series that we launched had to be taken down because it attracted a lot
of negative comments. They accused Grace of plagiarism. So we had no choice but to take down all of them.
“Every single one, ma’am. The page is dormant as it is tight now.”
“Then what is their problem again, haven’t they done enough damage?” I ran my hands through my hair. “You know what? Just delete the page.”
She raised her brow, “I should? We’ve spent a lot promoting i-”
“Yes, I know that. But what is its use if it becomes a platform for negative comments and reviews?”
She sighed and pursed her l*ps. “Okay,” she said in a small voice.
I felt bad, really bad. She and Grace had really put their all into promoting the menswear seri after the launch. Now all of their efforts and the money spent into it had all gone down the drain.
So as of now, the long–planned menswear series had been postponed due to the sudden breaks. in the supply chain.
I climbed the elevator and it stopped on the floor where my office was.
My assistant stood up as soon as she saw me approach. “Welcome, ma’am,” the poor girl managed a smile despite all the disastrous news she had had to relay to me in just a few weeks. I couldn’t even bring myself to answer her greeting. She followed me into my office with a stack of envelopes in her grasp.
I swallowed as I recognized what they were. I hadn’t even approved the previous one and more were already here. Great!
She opened her m*uth to speak but I stopped her. “More resignation letters.”
She folded her l*ps and slowly shook her head. “The ones who submitted before threatened that they would leave if you refuse to approve them.”
I nodded. “Drop them.”
She dropped them and left. Just as she reached the door, she took a step back as the door was pushed open with much force. It was Grace. My assistant greeted her and left.
Grace marched to my table and plopped on the empty cushion chair. She looked like she would burst into tears any minute.
“Another shareholder has called for a meeting.” She sounded frustrated as she announced. “He’s coming into the country by flight. He’ll be here in the next hour.”
We both understood what this meeting meant. In the last shareholders meeting, we had to pay
about two shareholders money worth of their shares before the conflict was settled.
די
guess, we have to prepare for his arrival then.” Grace said nothing, she just kept staring at her nails. “Is it just him?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
Just then, my door was pushed open again and the accountant stepped in. His forehead was coated in sweat as he strode towards us.
