She Was Fired From Her Father’s Fashion Empire—So She Returned and Became the Designer He Couldn’t Afford to Lose
CHAPTER 9
The press conference began at noon.
Reporters filled the ballroom.
Cameras flashed.
Jonathan stood beside Victor Frost.
Mara watched from the crowd.
Ethan stood beside her.
“You nervous?”
“Terrified.”
“Good.”
She smiled.
“Why?”
“Means you care.”
Frost stepped onto the stage.
“Bennett House has suffered.”
Jonathan lowered his head.
“But today, we begin a new chapter.”
Mara’s hands tightened.
Then Frost unveiled the Autumn Collection.
The room applauded.
Jonathan looked relieved.
Until Sloane and Celia walked onto the stage.
They wore the dresses Mara had given them.
The audience went silent.
The designs looked ridiculous.
The proportions were wrong.
The fabrics clashed.
The buttons were obviously counterfeit.
Frost’s face changed.
“What is this?”
Sloane stared at Mara.
She finally understood.
The folder had been a trap.
Mara stepped forward.
“The collection is fake.”
Everyone turned.
Victor Frost shouted:
“Who are you?”
A voice came from the back.
“Miles Reed.”
Mara stepped into the light.
Jonathan stared.
Something about the walk.
The eyes.
The voice.
He knew.
“No.”
Mara removed the hat.
Then the glasses.
Finally, the disguise.
“Hi, Dad.”
The room erupted.
Jonathan couldn’t speak.
Vivian turned pale.
Ethan smiled.
Mara looked toward the cameras.
“I was fired from this company for stealing designs.”
She held up the original sketches.
“But those designs were mine.”
Victor Frost moved toward the exit.
Maurice blocked him.
“Not so fast.”
The screens behind them changed.
Videos appeared.
Vivian.
Frost.
Payments.
Meetings.
Everything.
Jonathan turned toward Vivian.
“You.”
Vivian began crying.
“It isn’t what you think.”
Jonathan’s voice was cold.
“It is exactly what I think.”
Then Mara placed one final document on the table.
A forensic report proving the emails used to frame Miles had been fabricated.
The room fell silent.
The truth was finally impossible to bury.
