Revenge best-served cold

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.