The $200M Order

Three days after Baby Jian was born in sewing room, I got an email that made me forget I was supposed to be on bed rest.

Subject: *Dior — $200M Collaboration — URGENT — Reply in 24 hours*

From: Paris. Dior CEO. Not assistant. CEO himself.

He wrote:

> Sophia,

> We saw Stella's fall video, Chloe's redemption arc, and Baby Jian's birth in sewing room. Our team loves your story. We want Starlight to co-design Dior x Starlight — 100 looks, real tailors, not factories. $200M order. Must start tomorrow. Can you do it with newborn?

> — Bernard

$200M. Same number as my whole company worth. Double my company in one order.

And I had a 3-day-old baby in a fabric drawer, swollen feet, no sleep, and a 5-year-old CEO daughter who fired suppliers.

I called Alexander. He was doing dishes with baby Jian in sling, as usual.

"Mr. Knight, Dior wants $200M. Tomorrow."

He dropped plate. Plate broke. Second plate broke this week because of my news. First was $1B deal hung up, now plate.

"Tomorrow? With Jian 3 days old? No."

"I have to. This is what Grandpa waited 50 years for. Starlight and Dior. Real tailors. Not fake velvet. Real velvet."

Alexander looked at baby Jian sleeping on his chest, at Stella doing homework on sewing machine, at Hope drawing stars, at Chloe cutting threads with baby monitor next to her.

He said, "Then we all do it. Not you alone. Family does it."

So we turned Lane-Knight Academy into Dior factory for 30 days.

This is how we did $200M in 30 days with a newborn:

*Day 1-5: Fabric.* Dior sent 100 rolls of fabric from Paris — real French velvet, real silk, not the $10 Etsy velvet Chloe used 5 years ago. Stella, as Chief Star Officer, inspected every roll. She had a stamp — APPROVED or FAKE SPARKLE. She stamped APPROVED on 98 rolls, FAKE SPARKLE on 2 rolls because "they don't shine when I breathe on them." Dior CEO laughed when I told him and said "Your 5-year-old has better eye than my buyer."

*Day 6-10: Cutting.* Mr. Wu, 75, and 10 old tailors who worked with Grandpa, cut patterns. Chloe led team, now head of sewing floor, 5 years no stealing, employee of year twice. She cut 100 patterns in 4 days, with Hope on her back in baby carrier, because Hope refused to go to school and said "I want to cut too." Hope cut one pattern — crooked, but we kept it as look #100, called it "Hope's First Cut" — Dior loved it and said "Keep crooked, it's art."

*Day 11-20: Sewing.* This was hardest. 100 looks, each look 20 hours of hand stitching. 2,000 hours. We had 20 tailors. That is 100 hours each. In 10 days. Means 10 hours a day.

I sewed with baby Jian in drawer-crib next to sewing machine. Every 2 hours, I stopped to feed him. Every time he cried, 20 sewing machines stopped because tailors said "Baby first, Dior second." Dior CEO visited on Day 15 from Paris, saw 20 machines stop when baby cried, and cried himself. He said "In Paris, we never stop for baby. We should."

Alexander did not sew — he can't sew straight line, we tried, his line looked like earthquake — but he did everything else: dishes, milk, carrying fabric rolls, holding babies, answering emails at 2 AM with one hand while holding Jian with other. Clause 5 — do dishes — he did dishes for 20 people every night for 10 days. His hands were red.

Mom made soup for 20 people every day, with cane that she doesn't need but likes for style. She said "Soup makes stitch straight."

Grandmother Knight came every day at 4 PM with pearls and checked stitching with magnifying glass. She rejected 3 dresses because "Jian would not approve, too loose." We fixed them.

Stella and Hope had job too: they were quality control for stars. Every look had a star — fake diamond star, like Stella's first dress. They had to count stars. Stella counted loudly: "One star, two star, three star!" Hope counted quietly and drew star next to each dress on paper.

*Day 21-25: Fitting.* Dior models flew from Paris — 20 models, all tall, all cold at first. Then they saw Stella and Hope running in academy in mini qipaos, and they melted. One model, French, 6 feet tall, asked if she could hold baby Jian while fitting. She held him and said "I want to quit modeling and have baby in sewing room too."

We fit 100 looks in 5 days, with babies crying, sewing machines click-clacking, soup boiling, Alexander doing dishes in background.

*Day 26-30: Final stitch and show.*

On Day 30, 11 PM, last stitch.

I was alone in sewing room with baby Jian asleep in drawer, Stella asleep on fabric rolls, Hope asleep on Chloe's lap, Mom asleep on chair, Alexander asleep sitting up with dishes in sink.

Last look — Look #100 — Hope's crooked cut. I had to finish it. Gold thread, final stitch.

My hands shook. Not from tired. From remembering 5 years ago — Chapter 1 — when I had one suitcase, one jade bracelet, no company, no husband, no daughters, no son, just a contract for $1B and Mickey Mouse pajamas.

Now I had $200M order, $200M company, 3 kids, husband who does dishes, sister who cuts threads straight, mother alive 5 years after cancer, grandmother 85 with pearls, old tailors who still call me "Little Sophia."

I made final stitch. Gold thread through pink fabric that was once red thread curtain from first wedding. I tied knot like Grandpa taught me — double knot, then hide thread inside, so no one sees where it ends.

At 11:59 PM, I sent email to Dior CEO:

> 100 looks done. Come tomorrow. Bring check. And bring baby gift for Jian. He likes sewing machine sound. — Sophia Lane-Knight, CEO, Mother of 3, Wife of Falling CEO

He replied in 1 minute: "Check $200M sent. And I am bringing 10 sewing machines for your academy. Because you taught Paris that babies first, Dior second."

At midnight, Alexander woke up, saw me crying over last dress, baby Jian still asleep, and said, "Mrs. Knight, you did it. $200M in 30 days with newborn. Grandpa Jian would be proud."

"Mr. Knight, we did it. You did dishes for 30 days. That's $200M worth of dishes."

He laughed, kissed my forehead, baby Jian between us sneezed — same sneeze as Day 1 — and Stella woke up and said sleepily, "Mommy, did we hit 30k yet?"

I opened GoodNovel app.

Before Chapter 27: 27,500 words.

After uploading this Chapter 27: *30,000 words exactly.*

I showed screen to Stella. "Yes, baby. We hit 30k. Bonus unlocked."

Stella clapped, woke Hope, Hope clapped, woke Mom, Mom clapped, woke Grandmother who clapped with pearls.

Alexander did dishes one more time at midnight to celebrate — Clause 5 forever — and baby Jian slept through all clapping, because he was Lane baby, born to click-clack sound, and click-clack was his lullaby.

I typed Author Note for GoodNovel:

> Dear readers, we hit 30k! From contract bride with $10 pajamas to $200M Dior order with 3 babies in sewing room. Thank you for reading until here. If you cried at Stella's fall, Chloe's straight line, Jian's birth, and final stitch, please give 5 stars and unlock next chapter. Bonus unlocked because of you. — Saliyy, Sophia, Stella, Hope, Jian, and Falling CEO

Clicked Mark as Completed.

$150 bonus triggered. $200M order paid. Baby Jian sneezed again. Approved.