The words hit Natalie like a physical blow. She closed her eyes, trying to quell the rage rising in her chest.


    "Check who''s been in my office recently."


    Luna hesitated. "Only Jerome."


    Natalie stormed out of the office. It all came back to her now. Jerome had destroyed her sketches, but he must have photographed them first.


    Luna followed close behind, her voice cold. "I checked the security footage. He took pictures before he tore them up."


    Natalie''s eyes welled up with tears. For the past two years, she had put everything on hold to care for Sebastian, entrusting herpany to Keith. If she hadn''t wasted that time, her business would have been thriving by now.


    It was true what they said: men only slow you down.


    Luna drove Natalie to find Jerome. He was at a garage, checking his race car.


    He looked up and saw Natalie approaching, a storm cloud on her face. A look of disgust crossed his features. "Natalie, what are you doing here? I haven''t even settled the score with you for what you did to Dadst night."


    Natalie marched up to him and pped him hard across the face.


    "What the hell, Natalie? Are you crazy? You think you can just hit me?" Jerome exploded, his handsome face twisting into an ugly, venomous snarl.


    Natalie''s eyes were red, but she refused to cry. It was a curse; whenever she was wronged, her eyes would water, even when she desperately wanted to stay strong.


    met


    Her voice was trembling with fury. "Jerome, I knew you werezy and irresponsible, but I never thought you were a thief. You stole my designs and gave them to Sebastian''spany, ruining everything I''ve worked for You bastard!"


    Cany


    "Do you have any idea how important those designs were? They were the cornerstone of my


    Jerome was stunned. "Natalie, what are you talking about? Why are you falsely using me? I took pictures, yes, but I didn''t send them to anyone. Don''t try to frame me with your dirty tricks!"


    Natalie pulled out her phone and yed a video. "This is the new collection from Sebastian''s design department. It features the exact ten designs you photographed."


    She had been so busy with Marshall that she had let this slip, giving them time tounch the collection.


    "And you were the only person who entered my office. The only one who took pictures. I have proof, Jerome. How could you sink so low?"


    Jerome watched the video of


    himself, his mind reeling. He had done it but only because he thought were good and wanted


    the


    to show them to Joanna. But he had gotten busy and forgotten all about it.


    "Natalie, I didn''t do it! Don''t frame me! I took the pictures to show Joanna, but I never got the chance. You can check my phone if you don''t believe me."


    He pulled out his phone and opened his photo gallery. He stared at the screen, dumbfounded. The pictures were gone.


    "They... I didn''t delete them. Where did they go?"


    Natalie red at his pathetic act, her eyes burning with rage. "Stop pretending. The designs in those photos are identical to the ones the Griffith Group just released."