1 Prologue

Today, almost everyone's eyes were glued to the television. They were watching business news with excitement. This sudden news that the two major powerhouses of the Emerald City were collaborating had shaken the whole industry. 

Who doesn't know in the whole of Vulgaria how big of a rivals Hawthorne Industries and Spencer Cooperation are? 

Amidst the excitement, a feminine voice was heard on the TV,'' Today, the two major business rivals Hawthorne Industries and Spencer cooperation will collaborate on the dream project 'Midnight Lily'. The project 'Midnight Lily' was announced to be stopped seven years ago when the lead designer Elena Derek had died in an unfortunate accident.''

Another News channel," Gideon Hawthrone and Lucian Spencer are collaborating on 'Midnight Lily' after fighting for seven years."

"Midnight Lily which was said to be dropped seven years ago, launched once again by the notorious Billionaires arch enemies -- Gideon Hawthorne and Lucian Spencer!"

"Midnight Lily was the dream of Vintage's (Hawthorne Industries subsidiary company dealing with luxury jewellery) late lead designer, Elena Derek. It is said that she was Mr Spencer's mentor too which is enough of a reason to say about the most surprising collaboration of the year."

Almost every channel was broadcasting the same news again and again. 

This hype was not only limited to TV but even the netizens were discussing this particular topic like the government had announced some freebies for everyone. 

Regardless, the excitement of netizens was infectious. 

"Oh!! My husbands are finally collaborating! Why must Gideon Hawthrone and Lucian Spencer be fighting against each other all the time?!" @Gideon_is_my_husband. 

[These fans can be described in many categories z the major ones could be: girlfriend fans, wife fans and mommy fans. These women are just netizens commenting on posts featuring Gideon or Lucian.] 

"The commenter above, I must say they look extremely hot while lashing out at each other."@Gideon is hotter than sin. 

It should be said that Hawthorne Industries' CEO  and Lucian Spencer of Spencer Corporation's hate for each other always give rise to the most entertaining verbal battles which were loved by their girlfriend and wife fans. These videos were always trending on social media sites. It could be said that these two businessmen were more famous than any worldwide successful actor or actress in their country Vulgaria. 

"Does this mean they will not fight with each other anymore *sad emoticons*?"@my_tears_can_drown_your_village. 

These netizens loved discussing Gideon and Lucian's life as if they owned them. However, it didn't stop those two men from behaving even a bit in front of the media. They were known for their unique animosity and they do their best to live up to that image. 

As if these debating netizens were not enough, someone deliberately came to drop another bomb in the comment section. 

"Holy smokes! Check Marilyn Hawthorne post. She and Lucian Spencer are engaged!!" Someone else posted while sharing Marilyn Hawthorne's post. 

It took netizens mere seconds to like and share Marilyn's post. Netizens were faster than several media agencies that had their eye set on this event. 

Marilyn was Gideon's younger sister. She was literally a princess of the Hawthorne family, spoiled rotten by her two extraordinary brothers. It was rather surprising news that she was marrying her brothers' archenemy, Lucian Spencer.  

It was odd news in all honesty. And why would it not be? Who did not know about the infamous rivalry between the Hawthrone and Spencer families? 

But did it stop Netizens from sharing the news like wildfire? 

No, not even a bit! 

Soon, netizens started showering praises as to how big of an angel she was, who by the power of her true love, united two arch enemies, who once used to be best of friends but turned into enemies because a certain witch had cast her evil eye on the pair of best friends-turned-enemies.

Marilyn, who was smiling, while reading the comments suddenly started scowling as the direction of the topic changed once again from her and Lucian to someone else. Someone, she had started to despise, even before knowing or meeting her. 

"Grace to be the lead designer of Midnight Lily!"

This news was getting shared and hyped more than the previous two. Now one would ask who Grace was? 

If one claimed to be a jewellery enthusiast and didn't know about Grace, then the person had no reason to even look at gold and silver in the whole of Vulgaria. 

Grace was a genius designer who started seven years ago from scratch in a small enterprise in London and today, she is one the most sought out jewellery designers in not only America but Europe too. 

A few years earlier, rumours were surfacing that Grace was a young Vulgarian woman but as it was elucidated later that they were just rumours. How could a young person, much less than a woman achieve such fame in just seven years? It sounded absurd to even a common man who had no knowledge of the jewellery industry. 

To many people, it didn't make sense. They couldn't believe that Grace was just twenty eight years old this year.  

As for why people couldn't believe that Grace was only twenty-eight years old.  

Simply, because it was impossible for anyone to achieve what Grace had achieved today in the span of seven years. It takes years, hell even decades to reach where she was today. 

And there were some people who were of the view that Grace was not the real name of the designer but rather an alias used by him/her. 

However, no one knew what was a  rumour and what was not! 

Only Grace could tell the truth! 

.....

Author Note: The story is set in Emerald City. It is a fictitious city set in a fictitious country called Vulgaria. The traditions and the setting of the place could be similar to Europe. Since the author is Asian, the story might have a bit of Asian touch but it would be as subtle as it's needed. 

The real story starts from the second chapter. 

....

I started writing the story in Chinese setting but failed miserably. So, I just changed it into western setting.