The Shadow Designer

Chapter 3 The Crocodile Tears

On my last day, I archived the company files and cleared my personal data. The handover was complete. Julian would have no excuse to contact me.

I was rinsing my coffee mug in the communal kitchen when Serena blocked the doorway.

“I need the core pattern data for the Starlight Gown.” It came out as an order. “Manufacturing is waiting.”

“The production head has every finalized project file.”

“I want the raw data.”

“That belongs to the lead designer.”

Her eyebrows rose. “I'm the lead designer now. Julian said so.”

I set the mug on the drying rack. “Then recreate it.”

She turned toward the coffee machine. A half-full glass pot sat on the warming plate.

Before I could move, she grabbed it and threw the coffee at me.

The first splash hit my forearm. Heat went straight through my sleeve, and the mug slipped from my hand into the sink.

Some of the coffee ran over Serena's own fingers. She shrieked and backed away, already opening the camera on her phone.

“You witch!”

She aimed the recording at the faint red patch on the back of her hand. Tears appeared as soon as the screen faced her.

Julian rushed into the kitchen. He went directly to Serena and took her wrist.

“Let me see.”

Coffee dripped from my elbow and spotted the tile. The skin beneath my soaked sleeve had begun to blister, while Serena's camera stayed trained on the faint pink patch across her hand.

Julian finally turned. “What did you do?”

I stared at him. “Check the security camera.”

He pointed at the floor in front of Serena. “Kneel and apologize. Now.”

“No.”

“Your entire annual bonus is gone. If I hear one word about this outside the office, I'll make sure every design house in the country knows your name for the wrong reason.”

The burn pulsed with each beat of my heart. I opened my bag and looked at the neat stack of pending tasks I had brought for him.

I folded the handover notes in half and put them back.

“Did you hear me, Chloe? I am not finished with you!”

I walked past him.

At reception, I unclipped my ID badge and dropped it into the trash beside the desk. The plastic card still showed the smiling photo taken on my first day.

“Keep it,” I said. “I'm leaving.”

Outside, Julian's name flashed across my phone. I declined the call, blocked his number, and kept walking.

Rain came down hard enough to soak me before I reached the curb.

A black Rolls-Royce stopped beside me. Its tinted window lowered, and Arthur Sterling looked from my wet clothes to my blistered arm.

Sterling Industries sat beside Thorne Enterprises in every business report Julian hated reading.

“Get in, Chloe,” Arthur said.

I opened the door and slid into the back seat. The locks clicked as the car pulled away.