Chapter Six

Chapter Six: The Press Conference 

By the time Sarah arrived at the venue, it was already noon. The lobby was packed with reporters even though the conference had not yet started, and the noise level told her everything she needed to know about how much attention this event had drawn.

She walked straight into the main hall and took her place, offering a brief apology for being late.

Nathan saw her the moment she stepped in and went completely still. This same woman. 

Sarah walked up to the stage. Cameras began flashing immediately, lighting up the room from every direction. She steadied herself, gripped the podium lightly, and spoke into the microphone. "Thank you all for coming. This partnership between our company and Reed's Corporation represents—"

The doors burst open.

Emma walked in like she owned the room, her eyes locked on the stage with an expression that made several reporters turn around in their seats. "No way, Sarah." Her voice carried easily across the hall. "What exactly are you doing up there? Since when did you become a designer?" She turned to address the room with a sharp laugh. "You're all going to stand here and listen to this woman? She is a liar."

The room went silent for exactly one second before the whispers broke out everywhere at once.

"Miss Ray, is there any truth to this?" one reporter called out immediately. "Are you misrepresenting yourself?"

Sarah opened her mouth to respond but Emma was not finished.

She pointed directly at Sarah, her voice taking on a wounded, theatrical quality. "Sis, why are you doing this? Why are you trying to ruin what is left of our family's name by pretending to be Irish? All you have ever brought us is shame. What could you possibly gain from this?"

Nathan looked completely shocked. At the far side of the hall, the board members from Reed's Corporation were already getting to their feet.

"Emma, that is enough!" Sarah's voice cut through the noise sharply. "You cannot walk into a professional event and disrupt everything just to make a scene."

Emma smiled. She was enjoying every second of this. "Of course I had to stop you. Someone has to."

Nathan stepped forward, his jaw tight and his voice controlled in the way that meant he was barely holding his composure together. "Why does it always have to be you?" he said, looking directly at Sarah. "Do you understand what this could cost me?"

"I am Irish," Sarah said calmly. "I don't know what any of you think you are saying, but none of it is making sense."

"Then prove it," another reporter called out. 

"Can you show us evidence that you are actually the chief designer?"

"There will be no need for that."

The voice came from the entrance.

Everyone turned.

A woman walked in at a steady, unhurried pace, dressed with the quiet authority of someone who had nothing to prove to anyone in the room.

 Emma recognized her immediately and rushed forward, relief written all over her face. "Thank goodness you are here. My sister has been up there impersonating your chief designer, Irish. Please tell them—"

Sophie did not even glance at her. She walked straight past Emma and up to the stage, took the microphone from Sarah's hand, and faced the room. "As I said, there is no need for proof. I am the CEO of the international fashion company, and Sarah Ray is Irish. She is the designer every single one of you already knows." She paused and let that land before continuing. "Do you think I would allow a liar to sign a deal worth millions of dollars and stand on my company's behalf?"

She turned and looked directly at Nathan. "Mr. Reed, I expected significantly more from you. And from your fiancée."

Nathan's expression shifted. The shame on his face was visible enough that even the reporters caught it. "Sophie, I apologize. I should not have — I thought she was—"

"You thought she was lying," Sophie said flatly.

"Yes," he admitted. "I'm sorry."

"You should not be apologizing to me." Sophie pointed at Sarah without looking away from him.

Before Nathan could turn, Emma's voice cut across the room again. "Don't you dare, Nathan. I know Sarah better than anyone here. She must have paid Sophie to come and do this. Sarah cannot even draw a proper line, let alone design a collection worth millions."

Nathan turned and looked at Emma. Then he signaled to security.

The guards moved in and escorted Emma out of the hall, her voice rising as they went, still insisting loudly that Sarah was a fraud, that they would all regret it, that she knew the truth. Her voice faded down the corridor until the doors closed behind her and the room finally went still.

The tension she left behind was heavy and thick.

Cameras were already flashing again. Reporters were typing rapidly on their phones, and the energy in the room had shifted from professional curiosity into something closer to live scandal coverage.

Sarah stood at the podium for a moment without speaking. Her fingers gripped the edge of it just slightly. Her heart was hammering in her chest but she refused to let it show on her face. 

Emma had always found a way to walk into whatever Sarah had built and set fire to it. But today was not five years ago. Today she was not the girl sitting on the floor of her father's hallway with nowhere to go.

She lifted her head, looked out at the crowd, and let out a slow breath.

"I apologize for the disruption," she said quietly.

The room began to settle.

Sophie stood beside her with her arms folded.

Nathan stood off to one side, unable to meet Sarah's eyes. He looked, for the first time since she had met him, genuinely ashamed of himself.

Sarah continued from exactly where she had left off. "As I was saying, this partnership between our company and Reed's Corporation will introduce a new collection centered on original design and quality craftsmanship that speaks to a global market."

The reporters redirected immediately, notebooks and cameras swinging back toward the stage.

"This collaboration matters to both companies," Sarah went on, her voice steady. "And we believe what we are building together will bring something people have not yet seen."

Nathan cleared his throat and stepped forward. "That is correct. Reed's Corporation is honored to be working with Miss Irish and her team." He paused briefly before turning to Sarah. "And I owe you a direct apology for what happened here today."

Sarah looked at him. Her expression was composed and gave nothing away. "It happens," she said simply.

The two words were polite. But the distance in her voice landed on Nathan like a quiet verdict, and he felt it.

The board members who had been halfway to the door quietly returned to their seats.

One reporter raised a hand. "Miss Irish, can you speak to the inspiration behind the new collection?"

Sarah considered the question for a moment before answering. "It began during one of the most difficult periods of my life," she said. "I created this work when everything around me was falling apart. I have found that is usually where the most honest work comes from."

The room went quiet again.

She spoke about the collection for the next several minutes, the story she had been building toward for five years without knowing it would one day stand in a room like this.

The press conference found its footing and carried forward the way it was always supposed to.

But Nathan could not stop watching her.

The woman he had looked down at without a second thought was standing on that stage running the entire room. And he was the one standing off to the side, trying to figure out what to do with that.

Then a reporter near the back stood up and raised his hand.

"Mr. Reed." The man's voice cut clearly through the settled hum of the room. "There is a photograph circulating online of your son standing beside a child who bears a striking resemblance to him. Can you confirm whether or not you have an illegitimate child?"