The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep - Chapter 106: Chapter 106

The next day at the office, Serena saw a crowd of people all gathered together. When she walked over, she found a woman sitting in the middle of the group, head to toe in designer brands, chatting away and answering everyone's questions.
"Serena, let me introduce you. This is Nicole Wallance, our new designer," Graham said, walking over from the other side.
Nicole stood up from her spot at the center of attention and looked Serena up and down. "So you're that designer Siren?"
Serena was a bit surprised that Nicole knew who she was, but she nodded politely and extended her hand. "That's me. Hi, I'm Serena. Welcome to the design department."
But Nicole didn't move. She crossed her arms and smiled. "I thought there'd be someone really impressive behind the name Siren. Turns out it's just some rookie designer."
Graham could feel the tension in the air and quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "Actually, I needed to talk to Serena about something. Nicole, why don't you get settled at your desk and familiarize yourself with the work? We'll head out now."
Serena nodded at Nicole and followed Graham out. Once they were in his office with the door closed, Graham looked apologetic.
"Sorry about that, Serena. I didn't expect her to be so rude. You might have heard of her though. She's Cole, that designer who's been getting a lot of attention online lately," Graham said.
Serena repeated the name silently, and then it clicked. She remembered that name, but not because she'd been following Cole's work. It was because a lot of people had been saying Cole was like a mini-Siren, with a nearly identical design style.
In terms of current popularity though, Cole was definitely ahead right now, especially since Serena hadn't updated her work in a long time.
Graham continued, "Brannon Creative Group specifically recruited her for the design department and offered her a huge salary, so she's probably feeling pretty full of herself. I'm sorry she gave you a hard time just now."
Serena shook her head. "It's nothing." Some people would like her, others wouldn't. They were just coworkers, and if she couldn't get along with someone, she'd just keep her distance. It really wasn't a big deal.
Graham felt both relieved and a little sorry for her seeing how good-natured she always was about these things.
Someone knocked on the door outside. Graham and Serena exchanged a look and silently agreed to drop the subject.
"Come in," Graham called out, clearing his throat.
A colleague opened the door. "Mr. Brannon is here. He says he needs to make a personnel announcement. Graham, Serena, you should both come listen too."
'Keith is here?' Serena thought in surprise.
They walked out of the office, and sure enough, Keith was standing at the department entrance with Nicole right beside him, staring at his profile.
'That look in her eyes seems familiar,' Serena thought.
"Mr. Brannon, everyone's here now," his assistant said.
Keith's gaze swept over the group, lingering on Serena's face for a moment before he spoke, "I'm here to announce a personnel change. Graham's team currently has an open deputy team leader position. Management has decided that Serena will take on this role."
Everyone's eyes turned to look, and Serena was genuinely surprised since she hadn't known about this news beforehand.
When they found out it was Serena, her colleagues weren't really shocked. Even setting aside the fact that she was Siren, she'd already designed plenty of great work during her time at the company. She'd definitely earned this assistant team leader position.
"Alright, if no one has any objections, that's settled then," Keith said.
The moment Keith finished speaking, Nicole jumped in to object. "Mr. Brannon, I don't think that's the right way to evaluate this."
The atmosphere had been pretty harmonious until her comment came out of nowhere, and everyone turned to stare at Nicole. She always loved being the center of attention, so she crossed her arms and lifted her chin with obvious arrogance, a hint of disdain in her eyes.
"I know I just started today, but when it comes to qualifications and ability, I should be stronger than Serena, right?" Nicole sneered.
Serena stood there calmly, and when she heard this, she didn't show any signs of anger.
Serena's calm and composed attitude only made Nicole more furious. To her, it felt like Serena was mocking her confidence.
"So you think you're more capable than Serena?" Keith didn't show much reaction, just cut straight to the heart of what Nicole was saying.
"That's right," Nicole said with a cold snort. "If the deputy team leader can't earn everyone's respect, then even if she gets the position, it's meaningless. It won't do our team any good."
Keith turned to look at Serena. "What do you think about this, Serena?"
Serena usually didn't like getting into fights, but this was a matter of principle. She wasn't about to give up something that rightfully belonged to her just because she was afraid of conflict.
Her gaze was calm but carried a quiet determination. "I believe I'm qualified for this position. If Nicole thinks she's better than me, we can have a competition."
Nicole hadn't expected this. Serena had seemed like such a pushover, but now she was actually standing up to fight back.
Keith's eyes showed a hint of approval. When it came to work, even though he had a better relationship with Serena, he wouldn't play favorites.
The truth was, Nicole's story was full of flaws. No matter how famous she might be compared to everyone else here, she was still new to the company and had no business being made assistant team leader.
But if they just brushed her off like this, it wouldn't be good for Serena either.
"Since Serena already said that, Nicole, do you want to have a little competition with her?" Graham turned to look at Nicole. 'This is going to be easy,' he thought.
Keith knew Serena's abilities better than anyone, so he was completely confident that even if she was up against Cole himself, Serena would definitely win.
"Fine, let's do it," Nicole said, staring straight at Serena. She'd originally gotten famous on social media by copying "Siren's" style, which was why so many people called her "Little Siren".
Nicole didn't get it. Siren had been silent for so long, which obviously meant she'd run out of talent and couldn't create anything good anymore. 'Why do I still have to live in that person's shadow?' she thought.
'Today I'm going to prove to everyone that Serena just got famous earlier than me. Her actual design skills are nowhere near as good as mine,' Nicole thought.
"Alright, since both sides agreed, let's do this competition right now," Keith said, his expression unchanged. "If Nicole's design is better than Serena's, then the team leader position is yours."