The past few weeks had passed in a blur for Olivia—meetings, deadlines, last-minute changes, frantic calls, and more caffeine than any sane person should consume. Ever since they secured the land for Ashford Corporation's first solo runway venue, things had kicked into overdrive.
From coordinating the renovation to finalizing partnerships with designers and handling endless internal meetings, Olivia had barely had time to sleep, let alone breathe. Each day blended into the next, and each morning she woke up feeling like she had barely closed her eyes.
Somewhere in that madness, the thought of taking a leave to visit her parents had completely vanished from her overworked mind. She'd told Emily she would take a break… That was nearly a month ago.
Now, as she sat behind her desk, sunlight pouring in through the wide office windows, Olivia finally felt a sense of peace. The office was calm, the renovations were nearly complete, and all departments had submitted their final reports. The designs were ready, the marketing team had launched their teasers, and the event team was on standby for final rehearsals.
All that remained now was waiting for Fashion Week to begin, finally.
She leaned back in her chair, letting out a long sigh and stretching her arms above her head. Her neck cracked, and she winced.
"Finally…," she muttered to herself with a tired smile.
Gone was the stress she had carried on her shoulders for weeks. For the first time in what felt like forever, there were no urgent emails to respond to, no documents waiting to be printed at the last minute, no frantic interns running down the hallway asking if the world was ending.
It was… weird. But nice.
She stood up and walked to the window, gazing out at the city skyline. The renovation site for the Ashford runway was visible in the distance—a once-empty block now transformed into a sleek glass structure surrounded by minimalist modern landscaping.
"Not bad," she whispered, a small spark of pride swelling in her chest.
They had done it.
Despite the stress, the impossible deadlines, and the occasional shouting match between departments, the project had reached completion. Now, all eyes would be on Ashford during Fashion Week.
She allowed herself one last lazy stretch before returning to her desk. The storm had passed, but the spotlight was just beginning to shine.
The next morning, Olivia woke up and got ready for work, but she couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad was going to happen, and after reaching the office, she knew that she was right.
Olivia arrives at the office and gets ready for the final meeting for the fashion week. At this meeting, they will present a summary of the work.
The moment Olivia stepped into the meeting room, she knew something was wrong.
The meeting room was thick with tension, and the only sound echoing through the space was the low hum of the projector.
Adien stood near the large glass window, his back to the room, hands in his pockets.
No one in the room spoke. Designers sat frozen, jaws tight, eyes flickering between the screen and each other. Marketing leads exchanged glances, worried.
Olivia stepped in, clutching her tablet and a warm smile that quickly froze the moment she noticed the atmosphere. Every single head turned toward her.
She blinked. "Did... something happen?"
Aiden turned slowly, and the look in his eyes made her stomach twist.
He took a step forward. "Did something happen?" His voice was calm, but in the way a storm was calm right before it hit. "I suggest you take a seat, Olivia."
Her brows drew together as she sat slowly, eyes darting to the now-black screen. "What's going on?"
Aiden didn't look at her, but straight ahead, where the screen was lit up, playing a video.
The video was of clothes. Olivia looked closely but didn't find anything wrong with the video; it was their design, their main collection, that was the highlight of the show.
One reason for the meeting was also this, along with the summary, they were going to see the teasers that the editors had made and decide which one they should release on the website.
Hmm... The video looks good, but why does everyone look like someone died?
Do they not like the video?
Then she sees the reason why everyone was looking like that.
At the end of the video, a logo appears: the logo of their rival company, Blackwood.
After seeing the logo, Olivia's blood ran cold. She understood what happened: their designs were stolen by their rival, and they had made a public appearance with their designs before them now. If they show these designs at the fashion week, they will be accused of copying their rival when it was their idea to begin with.
When the video ended, Aiden walked over to the table, picked up a folder marked Confidential – Fashion Week, and tossed it in front of her.
"Do you want to explain how our signature designs ended up in another company's teaser?"
The whole room stiffened.
Olivia stared at the file, heart pounding. "—I-I don't know. I haven't—"
"You were the last to approve the final presentation files," Aiden said sharply. "You handled them. And you signed off on it."
She looked up at him, stunned. "You think I leaked this?"
"I don't know who did this, I'll find out that too, but it didn't change the fact that it got leaked under your supervision," he snapped. "And it's cost us everything we've built these past months."
The way he said it—it wasn't just blame. It was a betrayal.
She stood abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor. Her face was flushed—anger, disbelief, and exhaustion all boiling at once.
"Are you seriously putting this on me?" Her voice rose, unfiltered. "I've barely slept in weeks, covering mistakes that weren't even mine, running between renovation sites, chasing designers, organizing meetings—and you think I leaked the designs?"
Aiden's eyes were like ice. "You were the last one to access the file, Olivia. You signed off on the security protocols. Either you were careless or you were complicit."
After hearing his words, something in her snapped. After all, she didn't do anything, so why was she being blamed?
"Careless?" She laughed bitterly. " I haven't had a full day off in months. I haven't seen my family in over a year. I've poured everything into this place, and you think I leaked it?"
"Then maybe you should've done your job properly," he snapped, stepping toward her. "Because I don't care how many sleepless nights you've had—your negligence just handed our fashion week concept to the competition on a silver platter!"
Olivia's hands trembled, but not from fear—from fury.
"And blaming me without facts doesn't fix anything either!" she shot back, voice cracking.
Aiden's eyes darkened. "That doesn't erase what's happened."
She clenched her fists, blinking back the burn in her eyes. Was this what she got after everything?
For a moment, there was silence. Just the sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears.
She looked at the man in front of her, and all she saw was his cold, closed-off expression.
After looking at him, she knew that he didn't trust her.
She took a deep breath and decided to call it quits if they couldn't appreciate her and didn't even trust her after all the time she had given this company. There is no need to stay here.
She looked at Adien, her voice dropped low. "You know what? I've taken a lot of your shit. But this? Accusing me? Blaming me in front of everyone like I'm some backstabbing traitor? Fuck you!!"
Gasps rippled quietly through the room, but Olivia didn't care.
This was the first time for them to hear Olivia curse.
She snatched her tablet off the table with a harsh jerk. "You want to act like I'm just another disposable name on your payroll? Fine. If I'm such a liability, then shove this job up your perfectly tailored ass."
She looked at Adien, who was so shocked that he couldn't even speak, her voice still sharp but lower now, dripping venom.
" I'm off. I quit. I hope you choke on your arrogance."
She stormed to the door, heels pounding across the polished floor, and just before she stepped out, she threw the files that she picked up from the table along the tablet over her shoulder:
And then she was gone, leaving a stunned silence—and Aiden, standing in the wreckage of the storm he'd just unleashed, was too stunned to speak.