Aidan was still in bed at 7am which was unusual enough that Priya knocked on the door at seven thirty to check he was alive.
“I’m awake,” he said, plainly
A pause.
“I have again moved the London meetings to next week.”
”I didn’t ask you to do that.”
”No.
But it didn’t seem like you wanted to attend the meeting anymore, so I had to postpone”
Another pause.
“And your mother called.”
He opened his eyes.
“Any issues?”
”She said, and I’m quoting directly: tell him to stop moping and do something useful.”
Aidan sat up.
“She said moping?”
”Her word.
Not mine.” A beat.
“I’ll have coffee ready in ten minutes.”
Her footsteps moved away from the door.
He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the room.
The desk with the laptop, The free tiny sofa and the drawing Leon had given him.He looked at the drawing for a while.
Then he got up.
He told Priya over coffee that he wasn’t going back to London yet.
She looked at him deciding whether to have a professional opinion or a personal one.
“Can I ask why?”she said.
“Because there’s nothing in London that can’t wait and there’s something here that can’t.”
”Well, the deal was terminated, Boss.”
”I know.”
”There’s no professional reason to stay.”
”I know that too.”
She looked at her coffee.
Then back at him.
“Drink your coffee, Priya.”
********
It started at six in the morning.
One article.
A fashion blog Evelyn had never heard of posted a headline: LUXE — Fashion’s Darling or Fashion’s Fraud?
Inside Sources Reveal Unethical Production Practices.
By seven, larger outlets had picked it up.
By eight, it was everywhere.
Evelyn found out from her receptionist, Sophie.
Sophie appeared at the office doorway with a tablet in hand and the expression of someone arriving with bad news.
“Ma’am, It’s bad,” Sophie said.
Evelyn took the tablet and read the article once.
None of it was true.
Every lie had just enough truth wrapped around it to sound believable.
She set the tablet down. The source of this chapter is g.com.
“Who’s called?”
”Three retail partners, two investors, a journalist from MF Italia.
Zara’s called fourteen times already, she’s on her way.”
”Put the investors through to legal first.
I’ll call them personally before noon.
Tell the journalist no comment for now.” She stood.
“And send Zara straight to my office when she gets here.”
Sophie nodded quickly and walked out.
Evelyn sat back down and opened the article again.
She read slower this time, strategically.
She looked for weak points.
Specific wording.
Information too detailed to be guessed.
Someone had fed this story.
Someone who knew enough about LUXE to make the lies dangerous.
She opened supplier contracts from staff payment records to design credit files.
If people wanted proof, she would bury them in it.
Zara arrived less than thirty minutes later, still wearing her coat.
“So sorry I’m late Eve, I saw the magazines, it’s spreading fast,” she said immediately.
” Even on Instagram, trade pages, fashion forums.
Everyone’s reposting it.”
”I know.”
”This isn’t random bad press, Evelyn.
Someone coordinated this.”
Evelyn looked up from the documents.
“I know that too.”
Zara stared at her for a second.
“Jane?”
Evelyn shrugged.
“I can’t prove it yet.”
”But you think it is.”
”Yes.”
Then Zara pulled out a chair and sat.
“Okay,” she said.
“What’s the plan?”
”Facts.” Evelyn pushed a folder toward her.
“I want every staff payment record from every atelier.
Full supplier contracts.
Design references too. Get faster updates on g.com.
If they want transparency, we’ll give them more than they asked for.”
”Press conference?”
”Tomorrow morning.
Not today.” Evelyn closed another file.
“Today we stabilise the people keeping this company running.”
The next few hours became controlled chaos.
Phones ringing, staff whispering and emails multiplying faster than anyone could answer them.
But inside LUXE, nobody panicked because Evelyn didn’t.
She called each investor personally.
She did not apologise.
She did not reassure in the hollow way that made people more nervous.
She presented facts; clean, specific, documented — and let the facts do what feelings could not.
By eleven, two of the three nervous investors had confirmed they were staying.
The third asked for a meeting.
She scheduled it for Thursday.
The retail partners were more complicated.
Fashion moved on perception as much as reality and perception was currently ugly.
Two partners asked for a temporary pause on new orders pending clarification.
She accepted this without argument and sent them the documentation before the call was finished.
One partner said something that landed harder than the rest.
“I have to ask,” he said.
His voice was careful.
Too careful.
“There’s something else circulating.
Not about the production practices, something more personal.
About you and the AS Tech CEO.
Is there any truth to the—”
”My personal history has no bearing on LUXE’s production ethics,” Evelyn said.
“Which is what we are discussing today.
I’ll send the documents through within the hour.”
She ended the call.
Then she searched her own name.
And found the second article.
Did LUXE’s Evelyn Cole cancel her ex-husband’s acquisition deal because his wife showed up?