Marigold finally told Kate about meeting Marcello at the party Devan had hosted that night. She started with Marcello helping her, then told her about their dinner at the café and how Marcello had suddenly proposed to her. Marigold told her everything so Kate would stop wondering about it.
“Oh, so that’s what happened. You changed your mind and decided to accept his proposal because of what Devan said?” Kate asked for confirmation.
Marigold nodded.
“That Devan has some nerve saying something like that! I’m going to confront him later.” Kate clenched her fists.
“Let it go, Kate. Don’t,” Marigold stopped her as she began sipping her coffee.
“I already chewed him out. I think that’s enough. I don’t want any more drama. It’s better if I keep my distance from him from now on,” she continued.
“All right.” Kate understood. “But do you really want to marry Marcello just because of what Devan said? You don’t love him. You’ve only just met him.”
Marigold shrugged. “What do I care about love? The important thing is that my life keeps running smoothly.”
“Yeah, whatever you say. By the way, if I’d gone with you to the party that night, I definitely would’ve gotten to witness Marcello’s romantic proposal to you.” Kate chuckled.
“What was romantic about it?! Oh, forget it. Come on, I’ll drive you home. I want to go home and rest too,” Marigold said as she rose from her seat.
After paying for their order, they left the café. Marigold returned to her apartment after dropping Kate off. She felt truly exhausted that afternoon. Yet for some reason, her heart felt light. Was it because she might have the chance to see Marcello? But would she really be able to meet him?
Marigold never expected her decision to change so drastically. She had gone from harshly rejecting Marcello to suddenly wanting to accept his proposal. Was it all because of what Devan had said? She had no idea. Maybe it was. Marigold became so lost in her own thoughts that she fell into a deep sleep even though night had not yet fallen.
A week passed. That morning, Marigold finally arrived at the Mars Estate office after Hana scheduled a meeting for her. Usually, prospective talent went through an initial selection in the talent recruitment room. But Marigold was taken straight to the talent manager’s office. Apparently, she didn’t need to go through any selection process or anything like that.
“Good afternoon, Marigold. I’m Jessica. It’s nice to meet you.” Jessica, Mars Estate’s talent manager, greeted her warmly after inviting Marigold to sit down.
Marigold returned her warm smile. She lightly smoothed her hair with her fingers while waiting for Jessica to explain the details of their collaboration. Although one of the reasons Marigold had accepted this job offer was because she wanted to see Marcello, she still needed to carefully review the offer being made to her.
“Actually, in addition to having you model in our advertisements, we’d also like to make you our brand ambassador,” Jessica said.
“Oh, really?” Marigold accepted the offer letter Jessica handed her.
Jessica nodded. “You know, Marigold? Mr. Marcello personally requested that you become our talent. He only wants you. He doesn’t want anyone else.”
“Really?” Marigold asked.
“Yes. He seems to be a huge fan of yours. But he also explained why you’re the best fit for this collaboration.” Jessica smiled.
Marigold only gave a faint smile as she looked over the offer letter again. But inside, she was actually thrilled. Had Marcello really wanted her to model for Mars Estate? Did that mean Marcello had deliberately arranged this so he could see Marigold again? She never would have expected it.
After carefully reviewing the points in the offer letter, confirming that none of them were unreasonable, and asking Jessica about everything, Marigold finally decided to accept the collaboration offer. The proposed fee was quite substantial, after all. Of course, a subsidiary of Chandra Grand Corp wouldn’t be stingy when it came to paying its talent.
“All right, then. I’ll be going, Jessica. It was nice meeting you,” Marigold said.
Marigold actually wanted to ask whether Marcello came to the Mars Estate office every day. But it felt too inappropriate to ask. So she held back her curiosity. Now that she had accepted the collaboration offer, she would definitely be coming to the Mars Estate office often—and might even run into Marcello.
Marigold left Jessica’s office and walked toward the elevator to reach the basement where she had parked her car. The moment she stepped inside, her heart began to race. A tall, neatly dressed young man was standing in the elevator. Wasn’t that Marcello? Were they really meeting again this soon? Marigold smiled.