Chapter 16

[ ARIA’S POV ]

Juliet gave my back a gentle pat and smiled.

“Don’t worry, Aria,” she said. “Everything is going to be fine.”

Her words actually made me feel a bit better.

We left the building together and walked over to the other office where the job interviews were happening. Along the way, Juliet kept cheering me on.

“We just need to focus on finding the right people,” she said. “We need hard workers who really get fashion. If we build a good team with people who have an eye for style, our company will make it.”

I nodded. She was completely right.

There was no use stressing over things I couldn't change. The future of our business depended on the choices we were making today. I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and forced myself to stop doubting everything.

When we got to the building, I looked at the crowd of people waiting outside. Some were shifting nervously, some looked completely confident, and others just seemed excited.

A small smile finally crept onto my face. Maybe this really was the start of something great.

“Let’s go find our team,” I said.

Juliet grinned. “That’s what I like to hear.”

We stepped inside together, ready to get to work.

The second we stepped inside, the whole mood shifted.

The big lobby was packed with people waiting for their interviews. Some sat quietly with their portfolios resting on their laps, while others whispered back and forth.

I stopped for a second, just taking it all in. This was actually happening. For the first time, I wasn't just working on sketches in my room or daydreaming about success. I was helping build a real company from the ground up.

Juliet saw me looking around and smiled. “Nervous?”

“A little,” I admitted.

She gave a soft laugh. “You’ll do great.”

We walked over to the interview room, where a stack of resumes was already lined up neatly on a long table. I picked up the first folder and started reading. The applicant had great qualifications, but as I flipped through the rest of the files, it hit me. We didn’t just need people with experience. We needed people with passion. People who actually loved fashion and would treat this company like it was their own.

Hours flew by as we went through one interview after another.

Then, the door opened again and a young woman walked in. Unlike a lot of the other applicants, she wasn’t wearing anything flashy or expensive. She dressed pretty simply. But the moment she set her portfolio on the table, she had my full attention.

The designs inside were incredible. They were elegant, unique, and totally creative. Even Juliet leaned forward, looking surprised.

“Did you design all of these yourself?” Juliet asked.

The woman nodded. “Yes.”

I looked over at Juliet, and she looked back at me. For the first time all day, I felt a rush of real excitement. We might have just found exactly what we were looking for.

I was just about to ask her a question when the door suddenly swung wide open.

A familiar voice cut through the room. “So, this is where you’ve been hiding.”

My heart did a sudden drop. I turned around toward the door.

Luca was standing right there in the entryway. And looking at the serious expression on his face, he definitely hadn't stumbled in by mistake.

The whole room went completely quiet. Every single applicant turned to look at him.

Luca walked in with his usual confident stride, his sharp eyes scanning the room before finally locking onto me.

“Looks like you’re taking this pretty seriously,” he said.

I sat up a little straighter in my chair. “Of course I am. If we’re going to build a successful fashion company, we need the best people.”

For a second, he just stared at me. Then, to my surprise, a small smile showed up on his face.

“Good answer.”

Juliet looked back and forth between us, then quietly asked the applicant to step out so we could talk privately. Once the door shut, Luca pulled out a chair and sat down right across from me.

“I came by because I wanted to see how the hiring was going,” he said.

“It’s going well,” I told him. “We’ve already found a few really promising people.”

“Only a few?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I sighed. “Finding talented designers isn’t the hard part. Finding people who are actually loyal and hardworking is.”

Luca nodded thoughtfully. “Exactly.” He leaned back in his chair. “A company can survive without a genius. It can't survive without trust.”

His words really stuck with me. Maybe that was why he was so successful. He just understood how people worked.

Right then, there was a knock on the door. Before anyone could even answer, it swung open and Elara walked in. The smile on her face completely vanished the second she spotted Luca sitting next to me.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice sharp.

Luca’s face hardened instantly. “I could ask you the same thing.”

Elara crossed her arms. “I came to help with the interviews.”

Juliet almost choked trying to hide a laugh. Everyone knew Elara hadn’t shown a bit of interest in the interviews until she found out Luca was here. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling myself. Elara noticed and shot me a nasty look.

Then, her eyes landed on the portfolio of the talented designer we had just interviewed. Without even asking, she snatched it right off the table.

The mood in the room turned tense in an instant. As she flipped through the pages, her expression changed from shock, to disbelief, and finally to pure jealousy. The designs were so good that even she couldn’t deny how talented the girl was.

A dangerous look came over Elara's face, and right then, I got a bad feeling that she was already planning something.

She shut the book slowly, forcing a fake smile.

“These are nice,” she said, her voice way too sweet. “But are we sure she actually drew them?”

The room went dead quiet.

The poor girl froze. “What do you mean?”

Elara just shrugged. “I’m just saying, anyone can copy stuff off the internet these days.”

I bit my lip, my jaw tight. There it was. The exact kind of petty move I knew she’d make.

The designer looked totally crushed. But before she could even try to defend herself, Luca spoke up.

“That’s enough.”

He didn’t yell, but his voice made it clear he wasn’t playing around. Elara shut her mouth instantly. Luca took the portfolio right out of her hands, flipped through a couple of pages, and looked at the girl.

“How long did this take you?” he asked.

“Three years,” she said honestly.

“Do you have your rough drafts?”

“Yeah, right here.” She quickly opened another folder, showing him pages of messy ideas, quick notes, and unfinished sketches.

Luca nodded once. “Good enough for me.”

Elara’s face turned sour, while the designer let out a massive sigh of relief. I couldn't help but respect Luca in that moment. He wasn't about to let someone’s hard work get trashed just because Elara was jealous.

We kept going with the interviews, and by the time evening rolled around, we had picked out a few really good people. As the last person walked out, I leaned back and stretched my arms.

“I had no idea hiring people was this tiring,” I said.

Juliet laughed. “Just wait until we actually have to manage them.”

I groaned, and Luca smirked.

“Hey, you wanted responsibility,” he teased.

“Not this much of it,” I muttered, making everyone laugh. For a second, things actually felt normal.

Then, one of our new hires rushed back into the room, looking completely pale.

“Miss Aria,” she gasped, totally out of breath. “There’s a problem.”

My smile vanished. “What’s wrong?”

“The storage room downstairs…” She swallowed hard, looking terrified. “Someone broke in.”

The whole room went completely still. Luca stood up immediately.

“What did they take?”

The girl looked at me nervously. “Some of the main design files.”

My heart did a total drop. Those files had our newest, secret concepts in them. And there was only one person who had been eyeing our work all day.

Slowly, I turned my head and looked straight at Elara.

She froze. And for the first time since I’d known her, she actually looked scared.