Chapter 3

Ginny's POV

On Wednesday, after I had finished handing off the last of my assignments, I started packing my personal belongings.

The director suddenly summoned me into the meeting room. The shortlist for the market's latest designs was already up on the large screen.

"Ginny, did you submit these designs yourself?"

The director tossed a file over to me. I flipped it open and was greeted by a cover I knew all too well.

I had spent countless late nights working on that same set of designs last month. The key visual, color palette, and layout were exactly the same.

However, the credit for those designs went to Ivy Studio, which was where Martha worked.

"No."

The director frowned. "We were going to submit these designs next month. Now that there's an overlap in the designs, our legal department is already looking into the timelines. Did you ever show your designs to anyone else?"

I stood in the meeting room. Even though it was the height of summer, I suddenly felt cold all over.

At night, the moment I got home, I set the file on the coffee table. "Martha, did you submit this design?"

Martha was leaning against the couch, biting into an apple. The moment she saw the file, she went still.

"Ginny… Where did you get that from?"

"I'm asking if you submitted it."

"I did." Martha set the apple aside, her voice growing softer.

"I just wanted to give it a go. I never thought it'd get shortlisted. Ginny, did I mess things up?" she asked, her eyes already turning red.

Gavin brought over a plate of grapes he had just rinsed. He glanced at the file on the coffee table before looking up at me. His voice was far calmer than I had expected.

"It's just a set of designs, right? You don't have to scare Martha like that."

"Gavin, this project is already in the works at my company. The legal department's already investigating it."

"I'm a designer too. Do you really think I don't get what's going on?" Gavin sat beside Martha and pushed the plate of grapes toward her.

"Your company's huge. How could one design from the shortlist even affect you?"

Ethan leaned against the wall and chimed in, "That's right, Ginny. I'm sure your company has plenty of projects lined up. You should let Martha get something out of this."

"Seriously? But I worked so many late nights over the past month to finish those designs."

All they cared about was whether it would hurt my company. They never considered that all the hard work I had poured into those designs had just gone down the drain.

Ethan smiled. "Look at you. There you go. You always have to make a big deal out of everything."

Bryan was the last one to get back.

The moment he walked in and saw everyone gathered together, he noticed the file on the coffee table. He immediately understood what was up.

Bryan didn't even bother looking at me. He glanced at Martha first. "What are you crying for? Ginny won't hold it against you."

He took his time hanging up his coat before coming over and sitting next to me.

"Ginny, don't hold it against Martha."

I turned to look at Bryan. "So you think it's my fault too?"

Bryan chuckled and shook his head, speaking more gently. "That's not what I meant. What I'm trying to say is, you don't have to take it this far."

Martha came over to me at the right moment and took my arm, her voice trembling with tears. "Ginny, I'm sorry. I didn't think things would end up this way.

"I saw those designs on your table and assumed you didn't want them anymore, so I thought I could try submitting them and give it a go."

As she explained herself, tears started spilling down her cheeks.

Gavin immediately scowled. "Look at what you've done. Did you have to make Martha cry?"

Ethan tried to smooth things over. "There, there. You're cousins. Don't let something like this come between you."

Bryan reached for some tissue and handed it to Martha. "Here, wipe your tears. Ginny didn't mean it that way."

Everyone was trying to comfort Martha.

No one asked if my director had given me a hard time. No one cared how I felt during those few minutes in the meeting room. No one cared how hard I'd worked that month.

I suddenly felt drained. I was so tired that I didn't even have the energy to confront them.