After My Best Friend Stole Two Men From Me, I Took Back Everything

Chapter 2

By the time I arrived at the studio, the access control system no longer recognized my credentials.

The receptionist recognized me and hurried out from behind the desk.

"Miss Bennett, the system may have missed your access permissions during last night's upgrade."

She swiped me through the glass doors, but her eyes kept shifting away from mine.

The office area had been rearranged overnight.

The design display boards that had carried my name were all gone. Tessa's personal posters now hung on the walls.

Beneath one of the posters was a line of text: "Founder of Lumaire and Lead Designer of the Homecoming Collection — Tessa."

I stood in front of the poster, my fingers gradually turning cold.

I had founded Lumaire when I was twenty-six.

I sold a small apartment my mother had left me and used the money as startup capital. I had also spent three straight sleepless nights at the factory overseeing the completion of the first batch of products.

By the time Tessa joined us, the studio already had a steady stream of orders.

She knew nothing about design, but she was good at marketing.

I gave her twenty percent of the shares and made her the public spokesperson for the brand.

At the time, she hugged me and cried, promising that she would never let me down again.

So this was what she meant by not letting me down: removing my name from the wall.

I pushed open the conference room door.

Ethan was leading the morning meeting, and Tessa was sitting in the seat that had originally been mine.

Jason was there too.

He was the campaign photographer for the Homecoming collection, and freshly taken promotional photos lay on the table.

In the photos, Tessa wore my brooch and smiled brightly.

When they saw me, the conference room fell silent.

Ethan closed his laptop.

"Perfect timing. Sit down so we can talk. Who arranged the access restrictions and the posters?"

Tessa stood up and offered me her seat.

"I arranged them. Claire, don't misunderstand. I just think that with the launch so close, the brand needs a unified public message."

"A unified public message saying that you founded Lumaire and designed Homecoming?"

Her eyes immediately reddened. "I never wanted to steal your credit."

Ethan curled his fingers and tapped them against the table.

"It was my decision. Claire, you haven't been emotionally stable lately. The investors need someone who can cooperate with the publicity campaign, not a person in charge who might cancel an event at any moment."

He slid a document toward me.

"The copyright for Homecoming will temporarily be transferred to the company, and Tessa will handle the external promotion. We can discuss it again once your emotions have stabilized."

I turned to the last page. The signature was indeed mine.

A month earlier, Ethan had brought me a stack of prenuptial property documents. He said they were meant to protect my father's interests.

I trusted him and did not check them page by page.

The copyright transfer agreement had been tucked in among those documents.

"You tricked me into signing this?"

"Don't make it sound so ugly." Ethan leaned back in his chair. "I have invested in the company. Once you and I get married, the brand will be a shared asset too. I have no reason to hurt you."

Jason suddenly let out a laugh.

"Of course she believed him. She never learns her lesson when it comes to relationships."

I looked at him.

"You sent the hotel key card, and now you're sitting here taking promotional photos for them. What exactly do you want?"

Jason fiddled with his lens cap, his voice filled with the satisfaction of revenge.

"I just wanted you to know that Tessa did not choose only me. Back then, you blamed me for everything and said I could not resist temptation. Now Ethan has made the same mistake. You should admit that the problem is not men. Tessa is simply very good at attracting them."

I understood what he meant.

He had exposed Ethan not because he had suddenly grown a conscience.

He had merely realized that Tessa no longer revolved around him, so he wanted everyone to be miserable.

I picked up the promotional photos on the table and tore them in half in front of them.

"The Homecoming launch is suspended. All finished products are to be sealed away."

Tessa's expression changed.

"The launch has been promoted for half a month, and we have already received preorders. What right do you have to stop it?"

"Because I have the core design drawings, and the mass-production authorization does not bear my signature."

The production supervisor lowered his head, not daring to look at her.

Ethan stood up.

"Claire, the penalty for breach of contract is eight million dollars. Think this through."

"I have thought it through very clearly."

I placed my notice of resignation as executive director on the table.

"From this moment on, I am withdrawing from Lumaire's day-to-day operations. The accounts, inventory, and intellectual property will all be handed over to a third-party audit. And if anyone produces even one more Homecoming piece, I will sue."

After saying that, I turned and walked out.

Tessa chased after me from behind.

She leaned close to my ear and spoke in a voice that only the two of us could hear.

"Claire, you still have not learned how to protect yourself. You have to lose either the man or the company."

I turned my head toward her.

"Then you had better hold on to him tightly. Because the things taken from others are the easiest to lose."