The Design She Left Out

"Serena, just this once. For the IPO." Derrick used the low, patient tone that had worked on me for years. He stood beside the Starlight Gown, six months of my work in midnight silk and hand-sewn crystals. The gown occupied the center of the showroom under its own bank of lights. Every crystal had been placed to catch movement without making the skirt look heavy. Derrick had watched me finish it and still expected me to sign it over. Chloe held his arm. Tears sat ready in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Serena. I never wanted your credit." She moved closer to him. "Derrick says the brand needs a fresh face." His hand covered her shoulder. I had seen all of this before. In my first life, I brought out sketches, fabric samples and dated notes. I begged them to tell the truth. Derrick called me difficult. The board preferred "cooperative." Chloe wore my dress, took my title and collected the applause. I kept working in the background until there was nothing left of my name or my life. I had spent that life trying to prove a theft I could not explain. Chloe always showed up with the finished idea before my own design left the studio. Every accusation made me look less stable and made her look more gracious. Now Derrick would get no argument from me. "The board believes Chloe's story will sell," he said, looking past my shoulder. "She's marketable. Cooperative." He reached for the silver coffee pot. Five years together had taught his hands my order: black, no sugar. He poured, started to pass me the cup, then Chloe gave a small cough. The cup stopped midway. Derrick placed it beside his own. There it was. He still remembered what I drank. He had simply decided who deserved his attention. The coffee sat between us, untouched. Derrick continued to speak about market research and the IPO as if this were an ordinary board decision and our engagement had nothing to do with it. I smiled. "You're right." Chloe forgot to cry. Derrick straightened. I crossed the showroom and stopped beside the gown. The crystals were cool under my fingertips. I remembered sewing each one on, and exactly how many nights it had cost me. Behind me, Chloe shifted against Derrick's arm. Neither of them asked why I had agreed so quickly. Derrick's silver cigar lighter lay on the conference table. I picked it up. "Serena, what are you doing?" He stepped toward me. "Don't be childish." The lighter clicked. A flame rose above my thumb. "I'm making sure she gets none of it." I touched the flame to the hem of the Starlight Gown. The experimental silk was mine, too. It caught at once. Blue and orange fire climbed the skirt while the hand-sewn crystals blackened and dropped. The heat drove Chloe back first. Derrick reached for the fabric, then stopped when a burning strip fell across the polished floor in front of his shoes. Chloe screamed and stumbled into Derrick. "Are you insane?" He lunged for the gown, already too late. The alarm started. Heat drove him back, and smoke rolled across the showroom ceiling. I pulled the diamond engagement ring from my finger. It struck Derrick's chest and fell between us. "We're done. So is our partnership." I raised my voice over the alarm. "My lawyers will contact Hale Group about every patent licensed under my name." The anger left his face. The patents covered more than one dress, and he knew it. Hale Group used my textile treatments, seam systems and production methods across several lines. The licenses had seemed harmless when I believed we were building one company together. Without them, the board would have more to discuss than Chloe's marketability. I walked out before the sprinklers came on. In the corridor, I texted my best friend, Mia. *I need the bunker. Total signal blackout. I'm going ghost hunting.* Water hammered the showroom behind me. It could finish off the dress. It could not answer the question I had carried back from my first life. Chloe used to produce my designs before I had finalized them. I found no surveillance, leaked files or spies. This time I would draw in a sealed room. If the design still reached her, the leak was inside my head.