Ex Cried as I Wed a Tycoon

Chapter 69

Everyone froze for a moment.

Sure, they'd all had their doubts, but nobody else had dared to voice them so bluntly.

Then, as if on cue, the memory surfaced for them all-Effie was the same woman who'd been at the center of that plagiarism controversy during a recent competition, the one who'd trended on social media. The investigation had cleared her name, but that didn't automatically make her a star in their eyes.

After all, the design department was packed with talent; it wasn't easy to stand out. For Effie to join straight away as lead designer? Naturally, some people would feel a bit resentful.

The department head's expression hardened when she heard Nelly's words had gone too far. She said sternly, "Nelly, we're all colleagues here. Let's not say things that create division."

Nelly forced a sheepish smile. "Sorry, ma'am. I sometimes speak before I think." She glanced at Effie afterwards, her eyes full of disdain.

Effie felt exasperated, but she understood-this was just how the workplace worked.

"All right, to welcome our new teammate, let's go out to dinner after work," the department head announced. Instantly, the whole room broke into cheers.

Fantastic-another free meal.

Effie felt genuinely grateful to her boss. It would help her break the ice and get to know everyone faster.

Effie spent most of it familiarizing herself with the office and learning about the company's design style and

of the day, Effie sent a quick text to Lyman, letting him know about

as soon as he saw her message, he replied with a

to arrange for the design team to dine at an upscale restaurant-on

the dinner would be,

been to such a fancy place

all laughed and joked that they were riding on Effie's

tone dripping with sarcasm, piped up, "Well, the higher-ups must've finally noticed how hard we've been working and decided to reward

found it odd

of art and tasted just as good. No wonder The Etheridge Group was the industry leader-they certainly took care of

was having

Lyman was also entertaining business partners at

a happy accident,

instructed Luther to make sure their private room was treated to the best-lobster, jumbo shrimp, fresh

walked in with the servers, carrying platters of seafood, jaws dropped all around the

for your new teammate, so he asked me to send over some seafood

questioned it; they were