INICIAR SESIÓNWyatt’s POVThe noise didn't stop, if anything it got louder in the corridor the moment Elise left. The press had followed us, and security was still pushing people back somewhere behind us. Further ahead, music poured through the walls. Another show going live. Models lined up behind a curtain, staff rushing past with racks of clothes, someone calling lighting cues into a headset.Fashion Week didn't pause for anyone. The crisis hadn't stopped a single thing. The industry kept moving, and now Avery was back in it. Something in my chest eased slightly.Her team intercepted us before we made it halfway down the hall. Her assistant, two of the team leads, all of them waiting."What happened in there?""Is it handled?"Avery stopped walking and glanced at me. "It's handled but someone made another story out of it for the press.” I shifted slightly beside her, and tried to cover a small cough that escaped. The team looked at me then. Their whole tone adjusted in about three seconds,
Wyatt's POV“Well, that was me.”Nobody reacted at first. Then I heard someone near the back of the table, barely above a whisper."Wyatt Kane?"Nobody stood, or reached for anything but the energy in the room changed completely.Every eye that had been locked on Avery swung toward me. The organizer with his hands flat on the table leaned forward a little, the journalist with her pen still raised, Elise Laurent straightened her back. All of them recalculating. My gaze moved between the organizers, my voice stayed calm and even. "If you're making decisions based on that photo, then you should at least get it right." Nobody spoke, so I gave them the rest."We're together."No further explanation, no backstory, no details about when or how or why it wasn't public yet. They didn't need any of that. They needed one thing and I'd given it to them. One of the organizers leaned back in his chair, shoulders dropping. Another reached up and adjusted his glasses with shaking hands. The journa
Avery's POVThe room went quiet when I walked in, not the calm kind of quiet. The kind that meant they had already decided everything before I arrived.Chairs lined up in a neat row. Papers spread across the long table. I looked down at the one closest to me and my name stared back at me in big black letters. The collaboration had already been cut in half and this was the half they were keeping.Nobody greeted me, nobody smiled. They all watched me pull out the chair and sit down.Elise was already there, sitting slightly to the side, back straight, hands folded on the table. She was seated like she was a witness, not a participant. An organizer cleared his throat, his palm pressed flat on the table. "We'll keep this brief."I looked at him and didn't say anything."Last night's show performed extremely well." He said, letting it hang in the air for a moment. "Buyers are interested, the press coverage is strong till today."I nodded once, already knowing what was coming. "Which is
Avery’s POVAnother voice cut in from behind. “Not just adjust.”I turned.Another organizer had stepped in. He looked straight at me, his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t bother lowering his voice.“We’ll pull you from the closing events,” he said. “Unless this is resolved by tomorrow evening.”My fingers curled at my sides, nails pressing into my palm.“Resolved how?” I asked.He held my gaze without blinking, expression unreadable.“You control the narrative,” his hands dropped to his sides. “Before it controls the rest of the week.”“Because right now,” he added, glancing briefly at the corridor behind me, “this is becoming bigger than your show.”I let out a slow breath, and my face steady despite the tightness in my chest.“Understood.”The first organizer gave a small nod, his shoulder relaxing a little. “We’ll expect clarity by morning.”The corridor didn't empty after they walked away, the atmosphere just changed. People were still standing around, they were still talk
Avery’s POVI couldn’t move. I just stood there, staring at the screen.The photo was clear enough. I was outside my apartment. Someone's hands on my face. The kiss looked deep and real. But the headline underneath it made my stomach turn over completely."Monochrome CEO Arielle Montreaux Caught Kissing Unknown Man."The unknown man was Wyatt Kane!I checked the picture again. The angle was bad, his face turned just enough away from the camera that they couldn't see who it was. All they saw was a man, tall with dark hair and broad shoulders. That was not enough for anyone who did not know already. "Where did this come from?" My voice came out even, despite the panic rising in my chest.My assistant twisted her hand together. “Anonymous account. It was posted thirty minutes ago."Thirty minutes, while I was backstage with tears burning my eyes and my team shouting how incredible the show was. While I was still breathing through the relief of it, someone had already lit the match.I l
Avery’s POVThe backstage was louder than usual. Voices filled the air. People moved fast in different directions. Energy buzzed all around like electricity. Tension and excitement mixed together. My show was tonight. Not in two days like we planned. Tonight, in an hour, in minutes. I stood in the middle of it all, my heart beating fast. Models were seated. Twenty of them. Tall, composed, and trained, some of them looked a little nervous. Stylists rushed around them, fixed hair, did final touches of their makeup, adjusting clothes, shoes, and accessories. Everything had to be perfect. I moved through them myself, not waiting for anyone else, adjusted a neckline, pulled a hem, fixed a strap, and switched two looks entirely. “No, switch those,” I said, pointing to outfits on the rack. “That one goes last.” My team moved with me. They worked fast and smoothly. We had done shows before. But never with this kind of pressure, never with this many eyes watching.My assistant leaned in
Wyatt’s POVTwo weeks of running the California branch of Sterling Industries. Meetings, contracts, damage control and a mountain of problems Nathaniel had conveniently left behind.I worked sixteen-hour days. Most nights I stumbled into bed long after midnight, too exhausted to think. Then morning
Wyatt’s POVThe meeting ended.Martin left first, James came in later to finish locking down the remaining security system with the tech team.I watched Avery across the room. She stood at the window staring out at the city as if she couldn’t see it at all.The legal options were exhausted. Interna
Wyatt’s POVI had waited patiently since I had placed that call that day, but no feedback. It’s been seven days of checking my phone every ten minutes. Of course Marcus told me to eat something, sleep, to get busy, to stop staring at the same blank wall like it would answer me back. Then my phone
Avery’s POV“The designs were sold,” James said quietly. “To a manufacturing company overseas.”I stared at the screen, the proof was right in front of me.Daniel hadn’t just stolen from me. He’d sold me out.James’s words lingered in the office long after he finished speaking. Wyatt stood beside







