To Be or Not To Be A Family - Chapter 68

All the problems of Samvlta were solved. Paul Baston was ready to share the royalty with them. It was a big piece of news in the fashion industry. Baston apologised in an open letter to Samvalta. He vowed never to buy designs again. He said that he would either design dresses by himself or would hire designers and pay them royalties.

On the other hand, Rishabh was behind the bars for twenty-four hours and with a warning, he was released. Ashma only wanted to teach him a lesson not destroy his life. He too apologised and came to meet Ashma with his mother. They kept following her in the whole office asking her to listen to them.

“I really have no time to hear you out,” said Ashma.

“I just came to say that I am sorry,” said Rishabh.

“What kind of moron are you?” shouted Ashma.

“Listen to him, Beta (Beta means child here)” said Rishabh’s mother.

“Don’t you say a single word. I kept calling you but you never received my call. You hid your son and now you have come to face me,” screamed Ashma. Everyone wanted to look at Rishabh getting the scolding but they were too busy with the work.

“I had a money problem,” pointed out Rishabh.

“What kind of money problem?” asked Ashma.

“I am a gambler. I owed money to a lot of bad people,” explained Rishabh.

“Why didn’t you ask me for help? Why did you stab me in the back, you idiot?”

“I was ashamed.” Rishabh lowered his head in shame.

“And how did you feel after spending a night in jail?” inquired Ashma.

“Humiliated,” replied Rishabh.

“Exactly.”

“Please forgive me,” said Rishabh.

“Please forgive my son,” said Rishabh’s mom.

“You would not be out of the prison if I didn’t forgive you,” said Ashma calmly. “Is your problem solved?”

“Yes,” said Rishabh in a guilty tone.

“Then send him to a rehab and help him,” said Ashma to his mother.

“I will.”

“Thank you for seeing us,” said Rishabh’s mother.

“Hmm, leave and be well,” said Ashma.

“I apologise again,” said Rishabh. She just nodded and went into the design department to complete her work.

Everything was settled except that their work increased. Now they had to design and make new dresses in 4 days. Not only that, they had to alter the dresses according to the models who will be wearing them.

For day and night, the whole team only concentrated on their work. They stopped going to their respective homes. Ashma took her phone and placed it in a locked drawer. She wanted no distractions.

It was the news of the week. Everyone was buzzing with the anticipation of new dresses. A few were spreading rumours that Samvlta won’t participate and would withdraw within the last moment. Other rumours were that Samvlta would present generic designs as they do not have the time or would revamp their last designs and make their spring collection. So many theories and rumours were floating around.

Her phone kept vibrating in the drawer asking about her progress but she never replied to any of it. Bong-Cha and Vidhi were getting impatient. For their peace of mind, she would send a message per day. Her inbox of messages and emails and chat apps were full but she didn’t reply to any of them.

Working day and night, without eating, without sleeping, cutting their bathroom break in half, they finally finished 35 dresses completed with shoes and accessories. It was a low number but they had to do with that number this season. Even the dress from Korea arrived. It was the one dress that no one saw yet was famous because of the description from Salt. Everyone was eager to see that green dress that made Salt apologise to Ashma.

They dressed the models and created the lookbook. Copies and copies of the lookbook were created for future use. One of the lookbooks was sent to the Fashion Design Council of India in advance. A sneak peek was posted on their social media. The suspense was created about their showstopper. The stage was set and it was the day of Samvalta’s presentation in the Spring Fashion week.

Bong-Cha hooked her TV to the FDCI channel and sat with her family and pop-corn for the live show. Everyone came to cheer Ashma. The Park family, the Seo family and the Man family were there except Young-Jae and Hae-Won. Young-Jae was still in his office and Hae-won was out of Korea on a business trip.

The announcement was made, “presenting the Samvalta with their collection ‘Diversity’. To everyone’s surprise, there were no models. Fifteen regular people whom everyone shoes in their daily life started walking on the catwalk with beautiful patterned and coloured dresses.

Some were maids, some were doctors, some were sanitation workers, some were actors, some were influencers, some were students. Ashma got a girl from almost every profession for the representation. A tag stating their profession was placed on every girl’s chest.

The dresses presented almost all the states of India. One dress had Zardosi work, the other had Madhubani painting on the fabric, another one had Hawa Mahal printed on it. One had the colour pattern of Nilgiri hills on it, the other had dancers in classical dances pose. Some were inspired by northeast India, some were inspired by central India.

Everyone was in awe. A sense of patriotism, women power and nationalism was invoked in every guest. Every dress was received with huge applause. It was the time for the show stopper. To showcase the farmers, the lifeline of India, Ashma chose the green coloured dress to be her showstopper dress. She added light green beads to add to emphasise the crops. The accessories were blue to signify water. The showstopper arrived on the catwalk. People’s eyes were widened with shock.

Pop-corn flew out of Bong-Cha and Chin-Sun’s mouth. They could not believe their eyes. Baek-Hyeon and Yong-Sun screamed with shock. Vidhi and Eun-Kyung were too stunned to speak. Young-Soo and Jong-Woo’s eyes were glued to the TV. No one was able to understand what they were seeing. The showstopper was Man Hae-Won.

She looked gorgeous in an emerald green chiffon dress. The wide smile on her face added to her beauty. Even though the models were slim and young, she overpowered their beauty and grace. With poise, she completed her walk and everyone welcomed Ashma on the catwalk.

Yong-Sun jaw drooped to the floor. Ashma was dressed in a tricolour saree representing the flag of India. Her long hair was tied in a bun and a bindi on the forehead emphasised her big brown eyes. She looked mesmerizing. The small portion of her waist that was visible was enough to make his heart flutter.

She walked the catwalk with Hae-Won, hand in hand with a huge smile. Her collection was a huge success. She was going viral on social media.

After the show, she ran to Hae-Won and hugged her. “Thank you for coming on such short notice, you were absolutely phenomenal.”

“No, thank you for giving me this opportunity,” said Hae-Won.

“You made the show a success,” appreciated Ashma.

“Come on! It was your design that made it a success,” said Hae-Won.

“Ashma! Everyone is ready for you,” said Priyanka.

“Just a moment,” she said to Priyanka. She then addressed her team, “Guys! Take care of her, I will be back after the press conference.” She then looked at Hae-Won, “tonight you are coming to my house, not that crappy hotel.”

“Crappy? It’s a seven-star hotel.”

“I don’t care.”

She then followed Priyanka to the press conference. Cameras were clicking her picture. Flash after flash appeared before her eyes.

“Hello everyone, please proceed with your questions,” said Priyanka.

“Hi, Ashma! My question is how you are feeling after a busy schedule and how did you manage to pull this off?” asked a journalist.

Ashma laughed at the question. “oh, you have no idea how much I miss sleep. My team worked day and night and the results are before you. I would like to thank my highly dedicated and hard-working team. For their hard work, I am announcing to the whole world that I am increasing everyone’s pay with 10% increments and two months salary as a bonus.”

Her whole team hooted from behind the stage. The press laughed at their hooting.

Another journalist raised his hands. “Yes, please,” said Ashma.

“Are you really going to design a wedding dress?” he asked.

“No, I am not going to design a wedding dress. I am going to design dresses for some other wedding rituals. I have never designed a wedding dress and I don’t if I will ever,” replied Ashma.

Another journalist asked her after that, “what gave you the idea to use the influencer Hae-Won as your show stopper?”

“Well, I met her in Korea during my trip. Whatever she wore was stunning on her. I will be designing dresses for them, so in a way, this was my test run.” Everyone laughed at her comment.

Sorry guys we are out of time. Let’s welcome designer Hardik Veer and you can ask questions from him,” said the announcer.

“Thank you for your questions.. Bye,” Ashma thanked them and went backstage.