A wave ofmotion swept through the crowd as reporters eagerly <b>snapped </b>photos of Sienna’s humition. Fortune, unable to stand it any longer, <b>grabbed </b>Sienna’s arm and tried to pull her away. But both the backstage entrance <b>and </b><b>the </b>exit to the exhibit hall had been locked–they were trapped.
On the big screen, the VCR kept ying.
“So you admit you leaked the designs, is that right?”
“…Yes.” The woman pressed her lips together before finally nodding.
“Why?”
“I didn’t want to!” Her voice jumped an octave, then dropped again, quivering.
“But… but I designed things too! Why is it that everyone only remembers Queenie?”
“Do you hate her?”
The woman shook her head, shoulders trembling as if she were quietly crying.
“If I stayed at Awe Studios, I’d never make a name for myself–I just couldn’t. Isn’t the reason any of us do this because we want to be head designer, to see our own name on a brand? Who wants to spend their whole life in someone else’s shadow? Queenie’s amazing–she’s always helped me, always given me advice. I… I never meant for this to happen…”
“What did you mean to do?”
“I just wanted to finish this event and then quit. But it was Sienna… she said if I helped her this once, she’d make me head designer at The Winston Group.” The woman’s words tumbled out, desperate.
“I–I just made a terrible mistake, but I never gave her the final draft. I only handed over my original version–the one that kept getting rejected. I didn’t know what else to do. I’ve dreamed of being the lead designer for so long. I swear, I never meant for things to go this way, I really didn’t…”
Her frantic exnations fell on deaf ears. No one in the crowd seemed to sympathize; instead, all eyes zeroed in on Sienna.
Sienna’s face was a mask of panic and fury. She red at Queenie and stalked straight toward her, but Alessia moved faster, stepping in front of Queenie protectively.
08:03 11
<b>Watching </b><b>this </b><b>unfold</b><b>, </b><b>Ste </b>couldn’t <b>sit </b><b>still </b><b>any </b><b>longer</b>. <b>She </b><b>gave </b><b>instructions </b><b>to </b><b>keep </b>things under control and dashed out.
<b>“</b>Queenie! Was this your doing? Was it?” Sienna shrieked, her voice <b>grating </b><b>enough </b>to make people wince.
“Dream on. Stealing wasn’t enough for you? Now you want to y the victim too?” Alessia shot her a cold look. “You did this–own it.”
“I didn’t steal anything! This is all you–you’re framing me! You just drag in some random person to use me, is that it? And what about the ckout, huh? That was your little trick too, wasn’t it?”
Cornered, Siennatched onto any argument she could find.
The cameras turned on them, shes strobing across their faces in the darkness.
“You didn’t steal? Then why so nervous?” Alessia didn’t flinch, herposure unbreakable despite the barrage of shes.
“And another thing–the VCR isn’t even finished. How do you know we’re setting you up, unless you really did steal from us?” Queenie’s hand tightened on Alessia’s, he gaze steady and calm—a striking contrast to Sienna’s frenzy.
“Do you have any proof?” The words appeared on the screen, but nobody seemed to notice.
“I do! I have proof!” Sienna’s voice rose over the din, drawing every gaze back to the screen.
Sienna clenched her jaw so hard she looked like she’d shatter her teeth, longing to smash the screen herself.
“I was afraid Sienna would go back on her word, so I made a recording,” the woman said shakily, pulling out her phone. Her hands trembled so badly she missed the button several times.
She finally managed to y the recording. The first thing they heard was her muffled voice–obviously recorded from inside a purse or pocket.
“This… this one won’t work either?”