“Ma’am, did you hear?” Mila ran into the workroom clutching a tablet, her face anxious. “The gossip sites are saying you’ve been accused of copying Cassandra’s designs. The story is already spreading.”
Rosemary, who had been arranging patterns, froze; her fingers hovered uselessly in the air. “Copying…?” she repeated softly.
Mila nodded quickly. “Yes — and the source is obvious: Cassandra. She made a vague comment on last night’s TV interview. She said, ‘Some people out there aren’t ashamed to copy ideas just to survive.’ Everyone immediately linked that to you.”
Rosemary drew a long, heavy breath; her chest tightened. “She will never stop, will she? Whatever I do, Cassandra always finds a way to bring me down.”
Mila sat beside her, eyes bright with resolve. “But this time we can’t sta
