Chapter 13

[ ARIA’S POV ]

Lucas took my portfolio from his desk and started flipping through it right in front of us.

The room went dead silent.

I stood frozen by the door, squeezing my fingers together. Next to me, Elara was glaring daggers at the side of my face.

At first, I knew he just wanted to give it a quick glance before sending it off. But the more he looked, the more his face changed.

He stopped on one specific sketch.

The lines were clean, everything had a purpose, and the colors actually felt like something. Luca leaned back a bit, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the page.

"She did this?" he muttered to himself.

He turned another page. Then another.

For the first time since I'd known him, Luca looked genuinely impressed. But he hid it fast. His face went totally blank again as he closed the folder and set it down on the desk.

Elara stood up straighter, trying to mask how nervous she was.

Luca crossed his arms, looking back and forth between us.

"Two companies are ready, I already have it built," he said, his voice completely flat.

My heart skipped a beat.

"Elara," he said, "you're taking the smaller company."

Elara forced a quick smile. "Thank you, Luca"

"And Aria," he cut her off, shifting his eyes to me, "the main client wants the bigger project."

Elara’s smile dropped instantly.

I couldn't believe it either.

Luca leaned back against his desk. "You both have three months. Whoever does better gets the permanent spot as the official designer there."

My chest tightened. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elara digging her nails into her hands.

"Get to work," Luca said coldly.

We both walked out without saying a word. But the second the heavy office door shut behind us, Elara spun around.

Before I could even blink, her hand came flying toward my face.

I caught her wrist mid-air.

She froze, her eyes going wide.

"How dare you mess with me!" she hissed, trying to pull away.

I just looked at her, keeping my grip tight.

"Mess with you?" I said quietly. I took a step closer to her. "Are you admitting you took my work?"

Elara shut her mouth instantly. For a split second, she looked terrified.

I let go of her hand slowly.

"You wanted to win so badly," I whispered, "that you didn't even notice you grabbed the unfinished draft."

Her breathing got heavy and ragged. "You set me up," she whispered, looking at me with pure hatred.

I gave her a small, tired smile.

"No, Elara," I said. "You did this to yourself."

Elara’s chest rose and fell as she glared at me, her breathing heavy.

For a second, I thought she was going to lung at me again, but the sound of footsteps echoing down the hallway stopped her.

She stepped back quickly.

A few maids passed by, lowering their heads the moment they saw us. Elara forced a fake smile, holding it perfectly until they disappeared around the corner.

The second we were alone, her face dropped.

"You think you won?" she hissed.

I didn't say anything.

That just pissed her off more.

"You're feeling pretty smug just because Luca gave you the bigger client, aren't you?" she scoffed, stepping closer. "Don't forget who's been by his side all these years. You're nothing."

I kept my voice steady. "And yet, he still picked my work."

Her face twisted. "You little"

"Elara."

We both jumped.

Luca was standing just a few feet away. Neither of us had heard his office door open. His cold eyes tracked from Elara’s clenched fists straight to my face.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Elara switched moods like a professional actress.

"Nothing," she said, her voice instantly turning sweet. "We were just talking about the new projects."

Luca stared at her for a long moment, clearly not buying it. Then he looked at me.

I could tell he was waiting for today something. But I just looked down. "It's nothing."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elara smirk.

Luca, though, looked annoyed by my silence.

"Good," he said, his voice dropping an octave. "Because I don't have time for high school drama during this contract."

He gave Elara a hard look.

"These companies must pull up millions. If either of you screws up, you're both gone."

Elara nodded fast. "Of course. Understood."

I just nodded quietly.

Luca turned to walk away, but stopped after a couple of steps. Without turning around, he spoke up.

"Aria."

I looked up.

"That sketch on page seventeen..."

Beside me, Elara went completely stiff.

"...the concept was smart. Keep that direction."

My breath caught in my throat.

Luca walked away, his shoes clicking against the floor until he turned the corner.

The hallway went dead silent again. Elara turned to me, her eyes burning with actual hatred.

"You think this changes anything?" she whispered.

I looked her dead in the eye.

"No," I said quietly. "I think this is just the beginning."

I slipped back into my room quietly.

The second the door clicked shut, I leaned my back against it and let out a long breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. My heart was still pounding.

Everything that just happened in Luca’s office kept looping in my head. The way he flipped through my portfolio, the way he praised that sketch even while trying to act indifferent, and the total breakdown Elara had afterward.

I walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge.

For the first time since I'd ended up in this house, I felt something dangerous starting to grow inside me. It wasn't fear, and it wasn't weakness anymore. It was confidence.

A small smile was just starting to touch my lips when a sudden knock on the door made me freeze.

Then a knock sounded on the door and I jolted. Who could it be? Elera?

"Aria."

It was Luca.

My brows furrowed. Why was he here?

I got up slowly, walked to the door, and opened it halfway. Luca was standing in the hallway, looking just as cold and unreadable as always. But his eyes stayed on me a second longer than usual.

"Yes?" I asked quietly.

Instead of speaking right away, he held out a thick folder. "These are the documents for the project."

I took it from him carefully. "Thank you."

He nodded once. But instead of turning to leave, his gaze drifted past my shoulder, looking into my room.

"You looked surprised earlier," he said out of nowhere.

I blinked. "When you gave me the bigger company?"

"Yes."

"Oh..." I looked down at the floor. "I just didn't expect it."

"Why?" he asked bluntly.

I almost laughed, a bitter taste in my mouth.

Because nobody has ever picked me before. Because Elara always finds a way to steal everything. Because people only notice me when I screw up.

But I couldn't tell him any of that.

"I just didn't think my work was good enough," I whispered.

Luca’s expression shifted slightly. For a second, he didn't say anything at all. Then his voice came out low and steady.

"Your work was more than enough."

My fingers instantly dug into the folder. The words hit me a lot harder than they should have.

Luca took a step back into the hall. "Three months, Aria," he said flatly. "Don't make me regret it."

He turned and walked away.

I stood frozen in the doorway, staring down the empty hall long after he was gone.

~~~~~~~~

The next morning, I stood in front of the mirror quietly buttoning my blouse, trying to shake off the heavy weight in my chest.

I’d barely slept. My mind just kept replaying everything from yesterday the tense silence in the office, the way Luca looked at my portfolio, and how Elara’s face completely dropped the moment he spotted the mistake in her drawing.

I fixed my hair, grabbed my bag from the bed, and took a deep breath. Today was huge. Luca had made it clear that I was to work directly at the office until the final presentation was done. Honestly, I preferred it that way. At least at the company, Elara couldn't just rifle through my things whenever she wanted.

Leaving my room, I found the mansion unusually quiet. The maids greeted me with careful, hesitant smiles as I walked downstairs, and I nodded back before heading toward the smell of breakfast.

But as soon as I stepped into the dining room, I froze.

Elara was already there, sitting gracefully at the table as if she hadn't tried to sabotage me less than twenty-four hours ago. She looked up, her eyes locking onto mine. For a long, heavy moment, neither of us said a word.

Then, a small, mocking smirk curled on her lips.

"So," she said, casually stirring her coffee, "you’re finally useful enough to actually go into the office?"

I gripped my bag tighter but forced myself to stay calm. Not today. I wasn't giving her the satisfaction. I pulled out a chair and sat down without a word.

Elara let out a soft, sharp laugh. "What? You think because Luca liked one drawing, you're suddenly special?"

I kept my mouth shut and reached for a glass of water. My silence only seemed to irritate her more. Her smirk vanished, replaced by a cold glare.

"You should watch your step, Aria," she said, her voice dropping. "People like you forget their place way too quickly."

Before I could even think of a comeback, the sound of footsteps cut through the room.

Luca.

The mood in the room shifted instantly. He walked in wearing a sharp dark suit, his face as unreadable and cold as ever. His eyes swept the room, pausing on me for just a split second before shifting to Elara.

"Why aren't you ready?" he asked flatly.

Elara blinked, caught off guard. "Ready for what?"

"The company."

She looked completely confused. "But... I thought"

"You thought wrong," Luca cut her off. "Since you both claim to be designers, you will both work under my supervision."

My heart did a quick flutter. Elara’s face went pale.

"Luca"

"I don't like repeating myself."

The room went dead silent. Elara looked like she was choking on her words.

Then, Luca turned his attention to me. "Bring your original sketches today. I want to look through everything myself."

My stomach flipped. Original sketches. Not copies, not scanned files. The raw, unfiltered work.

I caught Elara's eye across the table. From the sudden look of pure panic on her face, she knew exactly what that meant for her.