Christina’s POV
Violet’s phone erupted with notifications, the screen lighting up like Tis Square on New Year’s Eve. Her lock screen flooded with ssages, tags, and ntions—all glowing angry red.
She silenced it with a trembling thumb, her face draining of color faster than a vampire victim.
"Vanna, I can explain..."
"Save it," Savannah cut her off with brutal efficiency. "Just answer one thing—did you steal that design or not?"
I watched the drama unfold with satisfaction.
Violet’s mouth worked like a fish gasping for water. "There’s context here—"
"Context?" Savannah thrust the phone screen inches from Violet’s face. "Here’s your context! Roux & Lune released these pieces three years ago. Your identical designs? Last week. Did you work for them before Nyx?"
Violet’s head movent was barely perceptible as she shook it no.
"Are you secretly the owner of Roux & Lune?" Savannah’s voice held desperate hope.
Another pathetic head shake.
"Related to anyone at Roux?"
When Violet shook her head a third ti, I snickered quietly. The hole she’d dug herself into just kept getting deeper.
Savannah’s face turned red to match her blazer. "Then unless the Moon Goddess herself whispered these designs in your ear while you slept, explain how your work is a carbon copy of theirs."
I sat back and crossed my arms. This was better than any soap opera.
"ANSWER !" Savannah roared.
Violet flinched like she’d been struck. "I copied it, okay? I’m sorry!"
"No shit," Akira muttered in my mind.
"I’m counting the seconds until she tries to bla soone else," I replied ntally.
Savannah stumbled backward like she’d been physically pushed. "Oh Goddess, no."
"You don’t understand what I was up against!" Violet’s voice rose. "Eliza rejected everything! Every single design! The contract penalties would’ve bankrupted us if we didn’t deliver. I was protecting Nyx!"
The office fell silent. The bullshit was thick in the air around Violet.
She scanned the room, desperation in her eyes. "Co on, guys, back up here! You all saw how impossible Eliza was! Her agent called constantly, harassnt-level stuff! Nothing I created was good enough. We all stayed late trying to make it work!"
I rolled my eyes so hard I worried they might get stuck. Classic narcissist move—"we all" did this. As if we’d all agreed to commit career suicide together.
"So plagiarism was your solution?" One of our coworkers asked, "You thought stealing another designer’s work would fix everything?"
"It almost worked!" Violet’s voice went shrill. "They’re so tiny boutique in Belgium with one store! Nobody knows them outside design circles! The chances of getting caught were microscopic! Everything was fine until..."
Her head swiveled toward like sothing from The Exorcist, eyes narrowing to slits. "Until SHE leaked it."
A chorus of "What?" erupted around the office.
I didn’t bother hiding my smirk. Three... two... one...
"Christina knew!" Violet’s volu increased with each word. "She recognized the design and stayed quiet just to sabotage later! This is all her fault!"
"Damn, I was off by half a second," I told Akira.
"Called it," she replied.
Violet thrust her phone skyward like she was summoning lightning. "Look at the location tag on the leak! Highrise City! It’s her! It has to be Christina!"
I examined my nails, feigning boredom. "There are nearly twelve million people in Highrise. But sure, must be ."
"But you’re the only one who would recognize both Roux & Lune AND my designs! Vanna, she did this! She leaked everything! If she’d kept her mouth shut, no one would ever have known!"
Savannah’s eyes darted between us. "Christina? Did you do this?"
Before I could answer, Violet jumped in. "Of course she did! Vanna, check her phone! The post ca from her account, I guarantee it!"
"You want my phone?" I laughed, "Sorry, the warrant store is closed today."
"See?" Violet pounced. "She won’t show us because she’s guilty! This is all about jealousy. You couldn’t stand that I got the spotlight, so you waited for the perfect mont to destroy ."
Goddess, her victim complex could fill the Grand Canyon. I contemplated how satisfying it would be to see Hudson deal with her. One cold stare from my Alpha mate would have her pissing herself.
Violet stabbed her finger in my direction. "I saw you staring at my screen earlier. You watched when the pieces were packaged for delivery. You KNEW. Only another designer would recognize that obscure brand. You’ve been planning this!"
She advanced on . "You didn’t care about the fallout! You just wanted revenge! You’ve ruined and now you’re tanking the entire company!"
Whispers rippled through the office. Several colleagues glanced between us, clearly picking sides.
"I’M tanking the company? That’s rich. Did I sohow possess your body and force you to steal soone else’s designs? Did I make you pass them off as your own? Weird, I don’t rember doing that," I shot back.
Violet’s eyes glistened with crocodile tears. "I had no choice! Eliza’s demands were impossible. I was trying to save us from a lawsuit!"
"She’s kind of right," soone murmured from the design corner. "Eliza made her redo everything like a million tis. Violet was losing her mind."
I swung around, locking eyes with the speaker. "Oh, I see. So now she’s Mother Teresa in Prada? If her intentions were so good, we should just forgive blatant theft? Next ti I need a car, I’ll just steal one to save on paynts. It’s for the greater good, right?"
The girl withered under my gaze, suddenly finding her keyboard fascinating.
"For the record," I said, turning back to Violet, "I didn’t post anything. Yes, I noticed the plagiarism today, but I’ve barely had ti to breathe, let alone orchestrate your downfall online."
"LIAR!" Violet screeched.
"Eliza Black has photographers following her to the bathroom. Her jewelry was bound to be scrutinized by soone who recognized the design eventually. Your little theft was living on borrowed ti."
"No!" Violet shook her head frantically. "Nobody would have recognized that brand unless they were specifically looking for it."
In a move I didn’t see coming, she lunged for my desk and snatched my phone.
"What the actual fuck?" I dove after her.
She twisted away, clutching my phone like it was the last lifeboat on the Titanic.
"Give it back before I make you regret being born," I growled, feeling Akira’s rage.
"I need to check it! The proof is here!"
I grabbed her wrist and twisted hard until her fingers released my phone. If I used a bit more wolf strength than necessary, well, oops.
Violet howled like I’d broken her arm. Maybe I had. I couldn’t bring myself to care.
"You won’t show us because you’re guilty!" she wailed, cradling her wrist. "If you’re innocent, prove it! Show everyone your phone!"
"I don’t have to prove a damn thing. You’re the one who—"
"ENOUGH!" Savannah’s roar silenced the entire office.
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