"Ami! I walked past Lopez’s store in Roo Mall today and saw your design—it's gorgeous! If they had my size, I’d totally have bought it!"Amelia stared at the new message in the group chat, her irritation flaring up as a vein throbbed visibly on her temple. Of course she saw it. Amelia had just made the rounds to check the Lopez stores herself. Sure, her studio’s designs were there—but not in every store. She had to go all the way to the bigger flagship branch near downtown to even find them. The smaller locations didn’t carry her pieces at all. And when she finally saw her collection? It was shoved in a back corner like an afterthought.She'd pretended to be a regular customer, strolling through the floor—not a single sales assistant mentioned her collection. She nearly lost it on the spot, but restrained herself. No point yelling at retail staff who had no clue.Now this so-called friend in the chat had the nerve to say some sizes were sold out? Please. That level of ass-kissing w
The next morning, Amelia took off her sleep mask and pressed the button by the bed. The curtains slid open from both sides, letting sunlight spill into the room.She slowly sat up, stretched both arms high into the air, rolled her neck a little, then glanced at the clock—10 a.m. The campaign for her studio’s collaboration with Lopez had already gone live at 9 sharp.Honestly? She couldn’t care less. It wasn’t her first brand collab. Her studio already had some name abroad, and gaining traction in this city was never hard.So no, she didn’t feel the need to grab her phone the second the clock struck nine. That kind of drama? Totally her friends’ thing, not hers.She got out of bed, took a long shower, dried her hair, slather
Emily had always made it a point not to burden her grandmother with bad news, so she hadn’t told Ruth anything about what had been happening recently. But since her grandmother had brought it up herself, Emily casually mentioned that Aaron already knew about the pregnancy. She left out everything regarding Francie, not wanting to cause Ruth any worry.Ruth went silent for a moment on the other end of the line, then said after a pause,“Have you thought about coming to live with me? I know it’s not as convenient or lively here as the city, but at least you’d be far away from all the drama. There’s plenty of space, it’s a good environment for the baby, and I’ve got some savings and income from the crafts—I can support you both.”Emily understood her grandmother’s heartache—Ruth was afraid Aaron would continue to make life difficult for her. But Emily wasn’t one to run away from problems. If Aaron truly refused to back off, what if he went as far as to show up in a quiet rural communit
Sadie walked with her all the way to the elevator, and then even farther, until they were near the hospital entrance. At that point, Sadie spoke in a very serious tone: “There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”Emily lowered her gaze, her expression cool, maintaining only the most basic politeness. “Okay.”in truth she didn’t feel there was anything left to talk about between them. She still remembered Sadie’s last call—urging her to push for more compensation in the divorce proceedings.While on the surface it had seemed like Sadie was helping her, Emily had clearly understood the real intent: Sadie wasn’t acting out of concern for her, but rather wanted to use her as a way to teach Aaron a lesson.
After lunch, Emily took the chance to excuse herself, saying she needed to use the restroom and that Theo should head back to the office first—she’d stop by a nearby store and return on her own later.Theo knew she didn’t want coworkers seeing her getting too close to her boss, so he respected her wishes.At the convenience store nearby, Emily grabbed a pack of throat lozenges and a bottle of coconut water. While checking out, someone tapped her shoulder."Excuse me, you dropped a piece of paper."The voice was unfamiliar. Emily immediately looked down and saw the rough sketch she’d scribbled earlier lying by her feet. The man, once confirming it was hers, quickly picked it up and handed it back.He pa
Theo had once told her he had a way to help solve her brother’s bar situation. At the time, there were only three weeks left before the deadline for opening. Other than paying the debt outright, Emily couldn't imagine what method Theo had in mind to help Francie out of that mess.Until one day, Francie called her—his voice full of shock.Emily's heart jumped. “Slow down—did Aaron do something to you?”Francie’s voice trembled on the other end. “Our bar… we suddenly got a bunch of huge bookings. Three, back to back.”She blinked in confusion. The place had basically been half shut down for a while now. She was surprised anyone would even show up, let alone place big orders. Still, she was cautious. “Which compan