Minutes later, Violet Lin sashayed back to her desk.Her smug little smirk said it all: she thought she’d bagged the project.As she passed me, she let out a little scoff.Had she pulled something shady again? Probably.I didn’t bite. Didn’t even blink in her direction.My proposal was solid.But showing up late this morning was a stain I couldn’t scrub off.If I were Eliza Black, I wouldn’t trust someone who couldn’t read a clock either.Thirty agonising minutes later, Savannah stepped out of the office with her phone still in hand.From the look on her face, she’d just hung up.‘Eliza Black’s people got back to us,’ she said, scanning the room. ‘She picked Violet Lin.’Silence.Then—‘Really?’ Violet gasped, one hand clutched to her cheek like she’d just been proposed to. ‘Eliza Black actual
I didn’t bother with a sob story.Just apologised for the delay and launched straight into my pitch.I tugged my shirt into place and let the projector warm up, using those precious seconds to steady my breathing and slow my heart down from hummingbird-on-espresso mode.They weren’t looking at sketches yet, just raw concept.I called mine BloomState.Every piece was based on the fleeting moments flowers go through.I started with the bud: tiny stud earrings, twisted into a barely-there spiral.Then came the open heart necklace. A stylised bloom, fully open.The Seed Pod Ring was the show-off. All structure and sharp angles, but with a kind of quiet rhythm to it.And finally, the Dewdrop Collar. Fine chain, light-catching stones that looked like drops of morning dew.I’d studied Eliza Black’s whole catalogue, stalked every fan theory thread, and read every fashion blogger’s take.She was known for being playful, but this was going to rebrand her as a bloody icon.Halfway through, I fou
The second Rhys and Catherine vanished from Yvaine’s party, the vibe bounced right back like they’d never existed.Yvaine was in her element, gliding from group to group like she’d grown up on a champagne tray.She laughed too loud, hugged too many people, and somehow remembered everyone’s dog’s name.It was her birthday, after all, so every time someone raised a glass, she drank like it was her duty.I kept an eye on her between sips of my own watered-down cocktail.Meanwhile, Cassian had parked himself beside me with a drink he didn’t touch and a smile that was trying a little too hard.He asked where I was from, what I did, whether I preferred Cosmopolitan or Old Fashioned—but he wasn’t fooling anyone.He knew, and he was dying to get the story behind why his good friend Ashton had suddenly decided to wife me up.I played dumb, smiled sweetly, and answered every question without telling him a damn thing.When the party finally broke up, Yvaine found me, clung to my arm and slurred,
After leaving Yvaine’s party, Rhys and Catherine didn’t speak a word.Neither of them had the energy to fake it.The whole night had been one long humiliation marathon, and they were both too pissed to bother pretending otherwise.At the kerb, Rhys pulled his coat tighter and grunted, ‘Wait here. I’ll get the car.’‘Fine,’ Catherine muttered.He’d barely turned the corner when some guy leapt out of the flowerbed, nearly scaring Catherine into an early grave.‘Cathy!’ the boy hissed.He couldn’t have been older than twenty, and he was wearing a rent-a-cop uniform two sizes too big.She recognised him instantly and dragged him right back behind the bushes by the scruff of his sleeve.Her nails dug into his arm.‘Are you insane?’ she hissed, wild-eyed. ‘I told you not to contact me! How the hell did you even find me? If anyone sees us—Jesus, I’m screwed.’He shook her off, flicked a half-smoked cigarette onto the ground.‘Couldn’t reach you on the phone,’ he said with a shrug. ‘Had to co
Rhys blinked.He looked mildly concussed, and maybe he was.Then he snarled, ‘Why the hell should I? She poured the damn drink on purpose, she hit Catherine, you hit me. Now you want us to say sorry?’He looked around as if looking for support.Too bad no one was on his side.Every guest was shouting for him to apologise.Some even pulled out their phones—classic Skyline behaviour. Justice via Instagram Live.Rhys glared at me.His whole body was shaking.If we’d been alone, I bet he’d have swung back.But we weren’t.He might be stupid, but no way was he hitting a woman on camera.So he used his mouth instead.‘Mirabelle, who the hell do you think you are? You cheated, you ran off with some other guy, you broke off the engagement. If anyone should apologise, it’s you.’I smiled. ‘You’re saying I cheated?’Rhys went red. Loud red. ‘Yes! You cheated!’‘You’re saying I ran off with some random guy?’‘Damn right! You’re heartless. You slept around while we were still together, then dumpe
Yvaine had just dumped the pics into half a dozen group chats without a single caption.Then her gang kicked off their performance like it was rehearsed.Voices up, filters off.‘Is that Catherine Vance?’‘Sure is. Lucky gal. Had Rhys Granger wrapped round her finger back in the day, dumped him, disappeared overseas for years, and still crawled back into his bed like nothing happened.’‘Deadass. Word is, he’s paying her to be his secretary now. Like, girl didn’t even study anything close to that.’‘Please, I heard she majored in interior design or something, nothing to do with admin.’‘Nepotism much?’‘Bet they do role-play in the office. “Mr Granger, I need a raise…” Bitch, please, we know how you’re earning that bonus.’They didn’t even bother whispering.If anything, they leaned in louder, like they were auditioning for Mean Girls: The Grown-Ass Version.Rhys and Catherine were maybe two feet away, and their faces said everything.Pale, pissed, cornered.Catherine blinked fast, lik