Chapter 1
Vivian Xavier was the most drama-obsessed, troublemaking woman you'd ever see.
A month earlier, she'd registered her marriage with Julian Lennox, her boyfriend of 5 years. They hadn't held the wedding yet.
It should've been the happiest news of her life. Instead, she'd gone after every female employee at Julian's company, one by one. Then she'd turned her sights on me.
That day, she kicked my office door open with a deafening bang and flipped my desk over without saying a word.
Tools, blueprints, and half-finished pieces went clattering across the floor, piling into a chaotic mess.
"Julian keeps coming in here every other day for no damn reason. Do you think I'm blind? You're just jealous because I'm marrying into the Lennox Family, aren't you? You wanna sneak in and steal him before we even have the wedding, right?"
I meant to explain, but her eyes had already landed on the diamond wedding ring set inside the safe in the back room.
"Nora, the evidence is right there for everyone to see. What's the point of pretending you're innocent now? You even had a ring set made for yourself. You're that desperate to take my place? Fine. I'll knock some sense into you today."
Vivian grabbed the hammer from the table and swung it straight at the diamond rings with all her strength.
I lunged forward to shield them, but she shoved me hard to the floor. Her stiletto came down on my wrist, grinding into it.
Shattered diamonds flew everywhere, glittering like handfuls of salt scattered across the floor.
My assistant, Sadie, stood frozen to the side, her face white as a sheet.
"Nora, we were commissioned by Mr. Lennox to make that custom ring set for Vivian. He paid 3 million for it! Now it's completely ruined. What are we supposed to give him?"
*****
I calmly shook my head.
"Don't worry. The contract spells it out in black and white. If we're at fault, we'll cover the damages. But this mess? Vivian smashed her own wedding ring. It's got absolutely nothing to do with us."
Vivian wasn't paying the slightest attention to what Sadie and I were saying.
There was no point wasting my breath on someone who refused to listen to reason.
Julian had already made his position clear. As long as our studio wasn't at fault, he'd pay every last cent of the remaining balance.
What I really wanted was to make sure the crowd gathered outside heard everything clearly, so they'd be my witnesses.
Vivian was so consumed by jealousy that she didn't even bother to think about what I'd just said.
She lifted her chin, her voice rising to a shrill yell.
"You think I'll regret it? The only thing I regret is not seeing through your true colors sooner. If I had, I never would've given you the chance to get anywhere near him! Everyone, look at her! This woman secretly had a multimillion-dollar diamond ring made for herself. What do you think she's plotting? She's just waiting to push me out of the way so she can take my place as Mrs. Lennox!"
What an i***t.
I hadn't even opened my mouth, and she'd already shouted her accusations loud enough to do my work for me.
The crowd outside immediately started whispering among themselves, ugly rumors spreading like poison.
All kinds of nasty comments followed.
Being called a shameless homewrecker was one of the milder insults.
"Nora always acted so stuck-up. Who knew she'd pull something like this?"
"Seriously. She's even after her cousin's man. Who'd dare trust her with their custom jewelry after this?"
"Not me. I'm done coming here."
Sadie knew better than anyone that this studio was the result of 5 years of my blood, sweat, and tears.
She was terrified that my reputation would be ruined just like that, and she tensed up, ready to defend me.
I gently pressed her hand and lowered my voice.
"Don't rush it. The shop's been wrecked. We were going to have to close for a while anyway. Let them say whatever they want. The harsher they are on me now, the harder they'll tear into Vivian when the truth comes out later. Besides, once they realize how badly they misjudged me, they'll feel guilty. To make it up to us, they'll only be more eager to support our business.
"Just hang in there, Sadie. Once we get through this mess, there'll be plenty of good things waiting for us."
Sadie, the rest of the staff, and I cleaned up until well past midnight.
We'd just sat down to catch our breath when Julian walked through the door.
