While My Husband Cheated, I Married His Powerful Brother

Chapter 176: Chapter 176 The Unexpected Price

​The empty commercial space was completely filled with lively energy and excitement.

​Jade stood right in the center of the dusty floor, her preliminary sketches and floor plans spread wide across a makeshift table made from two old wooden sawhorses. She had been talking nonstop for over twenty minutes, her voice animated and full of enthusiasm while her hands gestured wildly in the air to demonstrate her ideas.

​"Alright, everyone," Jade said, leaning over the table. "Here is the complete visual concept I’ve put together."

​She tapped her finger on the main drawing. "This entire back wall will be turned into a custom floor-to-ceiling display unit. We’ll install floating glass shelves and recessed warm LED lighting strips throughout. It will showcase rare collectible figurines, rotating monthly collections, and exclusive brand releases."

​Mia leaned over the table to look closer, her brows pulling together. "That setup sounds really expensive to build."

​"It definitely will cost a bit upfront," Jade admitted without hesitation. "But the return on investment will be huge."

​She immediately flipped to the second sheet. "The seating area won’t just be plain tables either. Each private booth will have its own distinct theme, a unique character motif, and a customized color scheme."

​Megan’s eyes widened with genuine surprise. "Wait, so almost like a full themed café?"

​"Exactly like that," Jade said with a proud smile. "People might drop in out of curiosity for the collectible figures, but they will stay for the incredible atmosphere. They’ll take endless photos, share them on social media, and tag our shop. It acts as a built-in marketing strategy that costs us zero advertising dollars."

​Mia still looked hesitant as she stared at the drawings. She was clearly worried about the financial risk.

​"Jade," Mia said, keeping her tone gentle. "I really do love the visual concept. It looks amazing on paper. But I’m genuinely worried about whether our target audience is too narrow."

​Jade tilted her head, curious. "What do you mean by that?"

​"Collectible figurines are a pretty niche interest," Mia explained, crossing her arms. "Not everybody collects them, and not every customer walking in for a drink is going to care about display toys. What if we spend all our remaining budget on these custom cases and nobody comes through the door?"

​Jade shook her head confidently. "That’s actually a common misconception."

​She pulled her smartphone out of her pocket, unlocked it quickly, and scrolled through a gallery of saved event photos before holding the screen up for Mia to see.

​"Look at this," Jade said. "This was from a major figurine convention last month. There were thousands of people packed into the venue, ranging from young kids all the way to older adults and grandparents."

​Mia blinked, staring closely at the crowded venue in the photos. "There are really that many active collectors?"

​"Figurine collecting isn’t just a trend for young kids," Jade explained. "It comes down to popular characters, nostalgic stories, and personal memories. People of all ages hold deep emotional connections to specific movies, series, books, and video games they grew up with."

​Megan nodded along in agreement. "She actually has a solid point. My mom still loves old sci-fi films and collects small Yoda statues for her desk at home."

​Jade grinned broadly. "See? Exactly my point."

​Veyra stayed quiet for a long moment, carefully considering everything they were saying.

​Her mind drifted back to the detailed business and interior design manuals she had been studying late into the night. She recalled the structural frameworks, the commercial theories, and the foundational principles outlined in those guides.

​She cleared her throat and spoke up softly. "Jade’s overall idea actually aligns directly with four core design principles I was reading about yesterday."

​Mia turned around to face her, looking curious. "What specific principles?"

​"Absolute differentiation, brand experience, narrative design, and multi-experience spaces," Veyra said clearly.

​Mia blinked, looking slightly confused. "Can you break those down simply?"

​Veyra stepped closer to the makeshift table and rested her hands on the edge. "Absolute differentiation means making sure our business stands out completely from the competition. It means being bold and unique instead of just blending into the background with every other ordinary tea shop on this street."

​She paused, pointing toward the booth layout drawings.

​"Brand experience is about creating a strong emotional feeling. It’s about designing an inviting atmosphere and building a lasting memory that customers automatically connect with our store name whenever they think of us."

​She continued smoothly, gesturing to the themed seating plan.

​"Narrative design means every corner tells a cohesive story. Every seating booth, every glass display cabinet, and every small decorative choice should add something meaningful to the overall theme of the room."

​Veyra looked around at the wide, empty space.

​"And multi-experience spaces give people several distinct reasons to visit us. They won’t just come by to grab a quick drink and leave. They’ll come to enjoy the environment, take fun photos with friends, look at the rare collectibles, and connect with a community."

​She turned her head to look directly at Jade. "Your concept hits every single one of those four guidelines perfectly."

​Jade’s eyes opened wide, her face instantly lighting up with pure joy. "So you’re saying you actually agree with the plan?"

​Veyra offered her a warm, genuine smile. "I’m saying yes, 100 percent."

​Mia let out a long breath, her shoulders relaxing as her worries faded. "Alright then. If the design strategy makes that much sense, I am completely on board too."

​Megan clapped her hands together happily. "This whole place is going to look beyond amazing when we finish!"

​Veyra turned her attention to Jade to delegate the next steps. "I need you to focus on finalizing the official design proposal and precise structural measurements as soon as possible."

​Jade gave a sharp nod. "I can definitely have the complete draft ready before the end of this week."

​Veyra then looked over at Mia. "Mia, I need you to manage procurement. Start looking into high-quality suppliers for the seating booths, front counter fixtures, and kitchen equipment."

​Mia nodded firmly. "I’ll start gathering price quotes from local vendors first thing tomorrow morning."

​Finally, Veyra turned to Megan. "Megan, start reaching out to local hobby groups, online figure collectors, and neighborhood clubs. We need to start building our core community before our grand opening."

​Megan smiled brightly. "Consider it done. I know just where to start."

​With their main tasks assigned, Veyra turned her attention back toward Jade.

​"There’s just one more important thing we need to settle," Veyra said calmly. "Your professional design fee."

​Jade blinked in surprise, her expression going blank. "My... my what?"

​"Your design fee," Veyra repeated gently. "You’ve put an immense amount of hard work into these plans, and I have zero intention of letting you work for us for free."

​The moment those words left Veyra’s mouth, Jade’s entire face flushed bright red. She looked completely caught off guard, her posture stiffening as her fingers began fidgeting nervously with the edges of her notepad. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, looking deeply uncomfortable.

​Veyra raised her eyebrows slightly, surprised by Jade’s sudden reaction. "Jade? Is everything okay?"

​Jade opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out. She quickly closed it, casting her eyes down toward the dusty floor, then up toward the bare ceiling, and finally back down at her scattered sketches on the table.

​She visibly hesitated, completely unable to find her voice.

​Mia and Megan quickly exchanged a nervous glance behind Veyra’s back, their faces filled with growing worry.

​It was obvious what they were thinking. They were clearly worried that Jade was about to ask for an astronomical design fee, a massive price tag that their small team simply couldn’t afford, which would instantly destroy their tight start-up budget.

​A faint lump formed in Veyra’s throat, and her heart sank a little.

​She had trusted Jade’s intentions completely. She believed in Jade’s talent, supported her vision, and really hoped they could reach a fair, reasonable agreement for her hard work.

​Seeing Jade hesitate so intensely was starting to make Veyra extremely nervous.

​After a painfully long silence, Jade finally attempted to speak again. Her voice sounded tiny and strained. "I..."

​She stopped mid-sentence, biting down hard on her lower lip.

​Veyra waited silently, keeping her eyes fixed on her.

​Jade’s face was burning a deep shade of crimson now, and her hands were shaking slightly as she gripped her pencil tight.

​"I just... I really don’t know the best way to say this out loud," Jade admitted nervously.

​The entire empty shop fell into a heavy, dead silence. Nobody moved, and even the noise of traffic from the street outside seemed to fade away.

​Veyra’s heart began pounding rapidly against her ribs, and her palms felt uncomfortably clammy.

​Her mind immediately began racing through their tight financial breakdown. They had roughly 230,000 dollars total to cover every single expense, including full structural renovations, custom glass displays, heavy commercial equipment, inventory, and marketing.

​There was simply no room in their numbers to pay a massive, high-end design fee.

​Veyra took a quiet breath and prepared to step in. She was just about to speak up, to gently reassure Jade and ask her to keep her price reasonable so they could all stay within budget.

​Veyra opened her mouth to speak.

​At the exact same instant, Jade opened her mouth as well.

​Everyone in the quiet room held their breath, waiting for the words to come out.

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