Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 101 - Chapitre 110

ColeA few moments ago...I should have been paying attention. The board member in front of me droned on about projections, sales performance, and quarterly reviews. I nodded out of habit, my thoughts miles away. Literally. I couldn’t care less about any of it at the moment.Skylar.I could practically picture her right now—probably laughing, maybe dancing with someone with a glass of champagne in hand as they congratulated her.I glanced at my phone again. Nothing. No text, no missed call, not even a photo from the party. I’d checked it so many times tonight I was starting to feel uneasy. Shouldn’t she have at least updated me? Told me how it was going? A simple “It’s amazing here” or even a blurry selfie would’ve been enough.But there was nothing.Not a word from her.Why hasn’t she called or texted?I knew she was most likely the center of attention in the company celebration party as the lead designer, but she had gone ahead…alone. I trusted her, but I didn’t trust everyone else

Skylar I woke up with what felt like a hammer pounding against my skull.Ugh.I groaned, turning my face away from the light that slipped through the curtains. Everything hurt. My head, my back, even the muscles in my thighs. I reached out, fumbling blindly for something—maybe a glass of water?—but all I touched was the cool bed sheet. I peeled one eye open, blinking against the soft light filtering into the room.My vision was blurry at first. The bedroom was slightly messy, clothes I didn’t remember taking off were flung carelessly on the chair in the corner. The air felt unusually warm against my skin.Wait.My skin?I slowly sat up. The sheets slipped down my body, revealing bare shoulders.Oh no.I was completely, utterly naked.My heart froze.What… what happened last night?I racked my brain, trying to remember —and just like that, they came flooding back in vivid, chaotic waves.The party. Ethan.Me losing it.Tearing him apart with words I didn’t even know I had inside me.

IvanaWas Skylar really to blame?The question rang through my head like an annoying alarm I couldn’t turn off. It wasn’t just Ethan’s words lingering inside me—it was the way he had looked at me, like I was nothing. Like I was stupid not to see it all along.“If there’s anyone you should hate, Ivana… it’s Skylar.”I had left Elegance Company without looking back. Not because I didn’t want to scream and cause a scene—believe me, I still wanted to curse out Ethan loudly and make everyone see the bastard he was—but because my body betrayed me.My legs felt weak, and the hot embarrassment I felt when the guards stared at me smugly. My eyes were red, but I refused to let the tears fall. I wouldn’t give Ethan the satisfaction.As I stepped out of the tall, guarded gates, the sun hit my face again. It was scorching. My blouse clung to my back with sweat, and the heat was making my already pounding headache worse. I felt like I was dragging myself through a desert with no end in sight. I cro

SkylarIt had been a relatively quiet afternoon in the design department.I was in my office, eyes glued to the screen, fingers busy sketching new patterns on my tablet. The lines transformed into shapes, curves, and color combinations that had been playing in my head for days. Working on new designs was my escape, especially with Tara still breathing down my neck as my supervisor.Tara was firm but fair, and even though her gaze often felt like a silent critique, I had come to accept that she pushed me only because she believed in my potential. I was already mapping out a new collection line that could rival my last for the Biannual Collection Event. Ideas poured in faster than I could sketch, and my fingers barely paused.The silence and peace at home since Cole traveled had started to gnaw at me. It was just me and Ingrid now. Too quiet, too many spaces in between the hours. But working overtime, pouring my mind into my designs, it helped me stay afloat.Still, there was something

SkylarCeleste had just slapped me!For a long second, all I could hear was the ringing in my ear. My face burned with the sting of her palm, and the room had gone deathly quiet, as though the entire company floor had frozen in place. My cheek throbbed, but that was nothing compared to the fire rising in my chest.I stood frozen in shock, my hand clutching the side of my face. The shame, the humiliation, the audacity—That was when I noticed Ethan. He stepped forward quickly, inserting himself between me and Celeste like he was protecting her from me. His hand came up gently as he turned to her, speaking in a soft tone."Celeste, calm down, okay? Just breathe. Let's not cause a scene."Was he serious?I stared at him in disbelief. That was his first reaction? Not concern. Not apology. Not even an ounce of guilt—just worry that his precious fiancée might be embarrassing herself.Celeste wasn’t the least bit interested in calming down. Her cold eyes zeroed in on me, her voice sharp and