Chapter 5 - SOMEONE HAD DELETED MY NAME
The archived files should have protected Brooke.
Instead, they exposed both of them.
Vale & Hart used a shared design server.
Every sketch uploaded for development generated revision history.
Names.
Dates.
Comments.
Brooke assumed I didn’t know how to retrieve older metadata.
She was right.
I didn’t.
But Hart Retail’s due-diligence team did.
Richard had asked his merchandising director to compare the presentation files with the studio’s production archive.
Within an hour, they found deleted author fields.
My initials appeared in early versions.
EH.
Then disappeared.
Later versions listed BM.
Brooke Mercer.
The changes were made through Natalie’s administrator account.
Richard placed the report on the desk.
“Explain.”
Natalie looked at Brooke.
Brooke looked at Natalie.
It was almost beautiful.
Cruel alliances work perfectly until consequences require one person to carry the blame.
Brooke broke first.
“Natalie told me to clean the files.”
Natalie spun toward her.
“Excuse me?”
“You did.”
“Do not lie.”
“You said Emily was temporary.”
I stared at them.
Brooke kept talking.
“You said she didn’t have the connections to fight us.”
Natalie’s face changed.
That sentence had not been meant for me.
Brooke realized it too late.
Richard’s voice went quiet.
“What exactly did Natalie say about my daughter?”
Brooke’s mouth trembled.
“Richard, I—”
“Answer.”
“She said Emily needed the job too much to complain.”
My father looked at me.
Something in his expression hurt worse than anger.
He knew I had hidden more than my last name.
I had hidden how badly they treated me.
Natalie pointed at Brooke.
“She is trying to save herself.”
Brooke snapped.
“You approved everything!”
“Because you told me the concepts were yours!”
“You watched her cry when she found them!”
Silence.
There it was.
Natalie knew.
Not necessarily from the beginning.
But eventually.
And instead of correcting it, she used my fear.
Because the collection mattered more.
Because the Hart contract mattered more.
Because I was replaceable.
Richard sat down slowly.
That frightened Natalie more than if he had shouted.
“Richard.”
He looked at her.
“The distribution agreement is suspended.”
Her face collapsed.
“You can’t do that.”
“I just did.”
“This affects sixty employees.”
“So did your decision.”
Natalie stepped toward him.
“I will call your board.”
“Please do.”
He looked at the scattered designs.
“Tell them why.”
She stopped.
Then my phone buzzed.
My attorney.
I stepped away to answer.
“Emily,” she said, “I found something strange in the registration documents Natalie’s company filed last month.”
“What?”
“One of the six designs wasn’t filed under Brooke’s name.”
I looked toward Natalie.
“Whose?”
A pause.
“Yours.”
I frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
She continued.
“Because someone attached a transfer agreement claiming you sold the rights.”
My body went cold.
“I never sold anything.”
“I know.”
“Then whose signature is on it?”
My attorney answered quietly.
“Yours.”
May you like
I looked across the room at Natalie.
She had just gone from plagiarism to something much worse.
