The Billionaire's Promise
Chapter 158: Timeless Beauty

Chapter 158: Timeless Beauty

Erik and Aryana went back to the hotel to check out and proceeded straight to the airport. Aryana messaged Elaine and Amy and informed them that they will meet up at the airport.

Batan was just a small island. There were only two flights from the island to Central District. In the end, Erik, Aryana, Clark, and John all ended up seeing each other in the plane business class.

Aryana smiled broadly at them. To John, her smile was like the sunflower in full bloom. To Clark, it was as refreshing as the oasis in the desert.

Erik pursed his lips. What were these idiots doing, looking at Aryana with their eyes full of adoration. He stood up and block their line of sight on the pretext that he was getting something from the overhead compartment.

"Yana, let us change seats. You like to be beside the window, right?" Aryana nodded.

Aryana was asleep during the entire duration of the flight. When she woke up, the plane has landed and most of the passengers have already alighted including John and Clark. Erik purposely did not wake her up, so she did not have to interact with those two men. He did not understand why he easily became jealous if men were close to Aryana.

...

Aryana did not have a chance to wear the two dresses designed by Vince when she was on Batan Island. She and Elaine however find a good location in Central District and Elaine took photos of Aryana wearing the cocktail dress and the office ensemble.

"Look, there are so many likes on the photo of the off-white dress that we took in Batan. Many are inquiring how to make orders." Elaine excitedly showed her the comments on her post.

"We need to register our brand. We will call it CoChi short for Cool and Chic."

During the following days, Elaine and Aryana were busy with the brand registration process. Aryana asked Marlon’s help and it take only a short time before they got their brand registered.

She partnered with Rex for the raw materials and labor. She also partnered with an e-commerce platform where she could sell the clothes online.

Elaine took care of the orders and passed them to Rex’s assistant for production. Vince on the other hand made variations of his design such that CoChi only released a dozen pieces of the same design. Aryana purchased software from an emerging company called Red Phoenix Technologies. It automatically created different variations of the original design.

The brand CoChi was just in its first week but it already started to make a buzz in Central District.

Aryana was ecstatic. She was looking at the first week’s sales from the e-commerce platform called U-Shoppe. They sold all six dozen from the first batch of Vince’s designs and many have been added to their wishlist.

She was working on her laptop in the living room when Erik arrived. She gave him a peck on the cheek and handed him his slippers.

"How’s dinner?" Aryana casually asked.

"It is okay." Erik loosened his necktie and removed his shoes.

"What are doing? You seemed to be in a good mood." Erik asked and curiously peeked at the laptop.

"I’m reviewing the dashboard on U-Shoppe. The first batch was all sold out. It is a good thing that Elaine had placed the order for the second batch earlier." Aryana’s eyes were filled with happiness.

"So how much is your net profit?"

"Our markup is fifty percent. Net profit at thirty percent."

"You are doing well. Do you plan of putting up an offline store?" Erik was curious.

"What do you think?" Aryana threw the question back to him.

"I’d like to listen to your thoughts." Erik persisted.

"Well, not at the moment. I want to set up the brand first. Once it is recognized I’ll open a branch in one of your malls." Aryana was still focused on the laptop. She did not see Erik’s smile when she said she will open a branch in Erik’s malls.

"The inauguration of Timeless Beauty is on Friday. Did you receive an invitation?" Erik sat down beside her on the sofa.

Aryana shook her head. "Why would I?"

"Aren’t you and Cassie belonged to the same company? I thought you are good friends. Anyway, you can come as my female companion."

"I don’t think it is a good idea." Aryana hesitated.

"Why not? It’s an opportunity for you to do networking and to showcase the clothes produced by CoChi."

"You are right. I’ll go with you then." Aryana flipped through the designs of the second batch. There were around five gowns included in the second batch and those will be ready by tomorrow. She showed Erik the designs and let him select the dress that she will wear.

Erik selected the burgundy dress. It has a wide cut-out strap, a one-shoulder neckline, and a princess-seamed bodice. Light gathering accented the waist before flowing into an overlapping midi skirt with an asymmetrical hem.

On Friday, Erik arrived with Aryana at the venue. Cassie and her friends were already there and greeting their guests and so were Cassie’s grandparents. Timeless Beauty’s main branch was at the AZ Mall, one of the most prestigious malls in Central District. It was very spacious and some of the products were already on display.

"Why is this woman here? Did you invite her Cassie?" Karla was agitated.

"No. But since she came with Erik, looks like Erik brought her along. Don’t mess with her Karla. Just let her be. I don’t like any accident to happen during the inauguration." Cassie warned Karla.

Cassie came to the door to greet Erik and Aryana. "Erik, what a pity. You missed the ribbon cutting ceremony." She smiled sweetly at Erik. Her gaze shifted to Aryana. She dressed pretty well tonight and she looked beautiful. "I am glad to see you here Aryana. I hope you can try one of my products and endorse it as well."

"Why not?" Aryana answered politely. "If the product is good I will definitely endorse it."

Cassie gave her an exquisitely wrapped box which contained samples of the flagship products of Timeless Beauty.

Aryana accepted it politely.

"Enjoy the food Aryana." Cassie gave her a fake smile.

’Damn she really looked good on that dress. The color and the design was very eye catching.’

Aryana went to the buffet table to get some food. She heard a sneer behind her. When she turned around, she saw that it was Cassie’s friends, Marriane, Karla and Rhia.

"You really have thick skin. How can you come here when you were not even invited?" Karla glared at her.

"Don’t speak loudly Karla. Other people might hear you and think that you are a lady with no upbringing. Didn’t you see me come with the CEO of Gaeya Corporation? I believe Mr. Lee is a shareholder and I came being his assistant." Aryana spoke softly so only the four of them can hear her words.

"You..." Karla struggled to say what was on her mind. It was true that she came with Erik Lee.

A group of five young ladies surrounded Aryana.

"I am right. It is really Aryana Jones. Can we take a photo with you?" A petite lady in her early twenties spoke in a pleading voice.

"Sure." Aryana responded with a slight nod.

They crowded around Aryana and took a groupie. Cassie’s friends can only watch in exasperation.

"Wow your dress looks very nice. Is this the latest design from CoChi?" One of the five asked as she touched the fabric. "The color suits you and the design is so unique. The fabric is so soft."

"Yes, this is part of the second batch. How did you know about CoChi?" Aryana asked. She scanned her memory to remember if she met these five ladies before.

"We are your followers and we love the design of the dresses that you post."

"Oh, that’s great! I am happy that you like the CoChi brand."

"Of course we do. It is cool and chic. I hope you can model more designs for us to choose from."

"What are you guys talking about?" It was Cassie. She approached when she saw people fuzzing over Amaya.

"We are talking about a new clothing brand called CoChi which Aryana Jones is endorsing." One of the five woman spoke.

"Look at the dress she is currently wearing. It is from the second batch. Isn’t it pretty? The shoulder strap is very unique." a woman wearing an eyeglasses chattered.

Cassie nodded and smiled but the smile did not reach her eyes. She pursed her lips and looked at Aryana hatefully. This was her company’s inauguration. She should be at the limelight, but Aryana was stealing that from her. How dare she!

"Since you like the products endorsed by Aryana, I hope that she can also endorse Timeless Beauty’s products. I also hope that you girls will use and recommend them to others" She handed the product sampler kit to the five ladies.

"We will definitely do that Cassie." the five happily checked the product sampler and then went to the buffet table to get some food.

Cassie glanced at Aryana. "I hope you understand that this is my company’s inauguration and not a venue for you to showcase your dresses. Show some respect!" Cassie gave her a hostile look.

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