Serena’s POV
"Serena, we can’t tolerate this theft! We need to take legal action immediately!" Sally’s voice crackled with rage through the speaker.
I let out a cold laugh. "Legal action? In this hurricane? The courts won’t even be open, Sally."
"What matters most right now is Fashion Week. This situation..." My voice trailed off as I weighed our limited options.
"Serena!" Sally practically shouted. "Are we just going to let this slide? This is clearly Sophie’s trap! That bitch—I don’t understand why she’s always targeting Elegant Realm!"
She continued cursing, venting her anger without actually solving anything. I sighed, feeling my expression harden.
"Sally, legal action can wait. We need to identify the mole first, or our future designs will just keep getting stolen." I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming on. "Elegant Realm absolutely cannot sustain losses like this again."
Sally made a sound of agreement. "I’ll start investigating immediately. Vivi was in charge of these designs—she might know something."
"If she knew," I countered with a bitter laugh, "the designs wouldn’t have been leaked in the first place."
"Wait—you don’t suspect Vivi, do you? She’s been with us for years!"
"It’s not about suspicion. It’s about responsibility. Whether she was directly involved or not, this happened under her watch. She’s accountable."
Sally hesitated. "I understand she failed as team leader, but we really need all hands on deck right now. Vivi is—"
"Vivi can stay at Elegant Realm, but she’s off the Fashion Week project," I cut in firmly. "If she has a problem with that decision, tell her to come talk to me directly."
I spoke quickly, my mind already racing ahead to damage control. Sally didn’t argue further—my punishment was fair, if not lenient.
"We need to identify this mole immediately. None of Vivi’s team members can work on designs anymore." I took a deep breath. "Time to activate Plan B."
Sally gasped. "Serena, with this hurricane raging, do you really have the bandwidth?"
Plan B meant Sally and I would handle everything ourselves. Sally could manage the extra work, but I was already juggling my roles as both Elegant Realm’s founder and a key Fashion Week organizer.
"I can handle it," I said, pressing my fingers against my temples. "Besides, this storm won’t last forever."
Sally sighed in resignation. "Let’s call Summer and Lucius for an emergency meeting to discuss our new approach."
"Good idea. I wasn’t satisfied with the current versions anyway, so this is actually an opportunity to start fresh." A cold determination settled over me. "Let ARt play their dirty games. Evil always eventually faces the light."
"You’re right," Sally’s voice brightened. "People like Sophie never succeed long-term. The public will see through her tricks eventually. She’ll get what’s coming to her."
After Sally hung up to arrange the video conference, I barely had ten minutes of peace before my phone lit up with Vivi’s name. I frowned—given her direct personality, she was clearly unhappy with Sally’s decision.
"Vivi," I answered without hesitation. "What is it?"
"Mrs. Lancaster," her voice trembled with indignation, "I’ve been with you since Thailand! How could I possibly betray you? I had no idea about the design leak!"
"Mrs. Lancaster, I’ve been working overtime for weeks! You can’t let one spy erase all my contributions!"
I hardened my voice, cutting off her tearful protests. "Vivi, Elegant Realm needs to investigate this thoroughly. Until then, for transparency’s sake, you’re off the Fashion Week project."
"Focus on your existing client orders and maintain those relationships," I continued firmly.
The line went silent for a moment before she responded, her tone noticeably colder. "So you don’t trust me, Mrs. Lancaster?"
"I believe you weren’t directly involved, Vivi, but you failed to properly vet and monitor your new team members. That’s still your responsibility." I didn’t soften my tone. "Instead of complaining, you could be helping identify who did this."
Vivi inhaled sharply, momentarily silenced by my directness.
"I understand, Mrs. Lancaster. I’ll find this mole immediately!" Her voice was razor-sharp with determination.
"Thank you for your hard work recently, Vivi," I said evenly, then hung up before she could respond.
Yes, Vivi had been working hard, but the leak proved her carelessness. If this incident didn’t prompt some serious self-reflection, her chances for future promotion were slim to none. I’ve always been fair with my employees—close relationships don’t earn special treatment. Vivi’s negligence demanded consequences, period.
Seeing Sally’s message that the video conference was ready, I took a deep breath and joined the call. After briefly explaining the situation, I dropped my bombshell decision:
"We’re scrapping all previous designs and concepts. We’re starting completely fresh."
Sally didn’t seem surprised, though I could tell she was concerned about our timeline. The other two designers, however, looked genuinely panicked.
"Mrs. Lancaster, Fashion Week is next week! If we start from scratch, we might not finish in time," Summer protested.
"This could be a complete disaster," Lucius added nervously.
"Mrs. Lancaster, please reconsider. Some of our previous designs were quite good—we could modify those versions instead. That would save time and—"
"Enough!" My voice cut through their excuses like a knife. "The batch I received this morning was supposedly our best version. Do you really think the others were any better?"
I leaned closer to my camera, my face filling their screens. "This is Elegant Realm’s first major domestic debut. Are you ready to compromise so easily?"
My harsh rebuke silenced them both. Sally quickly jumped in to smooth things over.
"They’re just concerned about Elegant Realm, Serena," she mediated. "But I agree with Mrs. Lancaster’s assessment. As one of the main organizers, if we don’t present exceptional work, we’ll be crucified by critics. How would Elegant Realm survive that kind of industry reception?"
Her words hung in the air as everyone absorbed the stakes. I softened my tone slightly.
"I already have a concept in mind," I said, my confidence growing with each word. "We’ll use the raging hurricane as our theme. What do you think?"