Married To The Billionaire Alpha King-Chapter 109 - I’ll handle the rest

109

~Elara’s POV

Janae’s name flashed on my screen, and I answered without thinking because she would never call this early unless something was really wrong. Her voice came through the phone, rushed and uneasy as she said that I needed to come to the company immediately, and when I asked her why, she told me that someone had leaked one of our new designs to another company, and not even a big one, just a small, hungry brand desperate for attention.

For a second, I couldn’t breathe properly because I felt something collapse inside my chest, almost like someone had punched the air out of me, and I stood there staring at my reflection as if the mirror would explain who would do something like that.

Darlon was still sitting on the bed, pulling his shirt over his shoulders, and he looked up the moment he heard the shift in my tone.

"Elara? What is wrong?" he asked, and there was worry already forming between his eyebrows. I told him everything quickly, explaining how a design from our upcoming fashion week was stolen and leaked, and how this could ruin sponsorship deals, brand trust, and the entire runway lineup if the wrong company claimed it first. He listened in silence, then stood up and came to me, placing his hand on my shoulder in a steady, grounding way.

"We will handle it," he said, voice low and certain, like the kind of promise a leader makes when he has already decided what must be done.

"It has to be someone from inside the design team. No outsider would have access to your drafts. When you get there, I want you to send me the security logs or the IP address of whoever accessed the files. I will trace them myself."

The certainty in his tone surprised me because part of me still wasn’t used to having someone stand this firmly with me, and I nodded, even though my hands were beginning to shake. I told him I had no idea who would do it, and he replied that betrayal usually came from someone who wanted things that were never theirs to begin with. When he said that, my mind went straight to Lira even though I had no proof and no reason except pain, and I hated that she still had that kind of power over my emotions.

I didn’t waste time. I went into the bathroom, took a quick shower, pulled my hair into a low ponytail because I didn’t have the energy for anything else, and then I dressed in a simple white blouse tucked into black trousers, nothing dramatic, nothing showy, just something clean enough to face a crisis. I grabbed my bag, my keys, and my tablet, then headed out of the house while Darlon followed me to the entrance. He told me again that I shouldn’t worry, that if this was deliberate sabotage, he would make sure the person faced consequences, and that I wasn’t alone in this.

On the drive there, my thoughts wouldn’t settle. My hands gripped the steering wheel too tightly, and I replayed the last week of conversations with every staff member, wondering who had smiled too warmly or avoided eye contact like they had something to hide. I kept thinking about how hard we had worked for that design, how many late nights, how many drafts and fabrics and changes just to get it right, and how someone had taken it casually, like it was nothing, like my work meant nothing, like all I had built was a door anyone could walk through.

When I arrived at the company, the workers greeted me with "Good morning, Luna Elara," but I couldn’t return the same energy, so I just gave a small nod and walked past them quickly. I knew they could see the tension in my shoulders, and my silence probably told them that something was wrong, which was fine, because I didn’t have the strength to pretend that everything was normal.

Janae was already waiting in my office when I entered, standing by the desk with her tablet pressed to her chest like she had been pacing before I walked in. I closed the door and asked her immediately what happened and how the design got leaked when we had triple security layers, two passcodes, and a clearance system. She explained that when she came in early that morning, one of the interns reported seeing our design posted by another company online with their watermark, and she showed me the screen. I stared at the image, trying to swallow the anger in my throat, because it was my design, down to the smallest detail, the stitching, the neckline, the custom embroidery, all of it.

"Do we know who accessed the files?" I asked, and she shook her head slowly as she said the system had tried to trace the IP address, but whoever did it used something that blocked the tracking, so the location bounced around different servers and disappeared. She said she had no idea who could have done it and that she had checked the staff system, but none of the activity logs made sense, almost like someone deleted their tracks.

I slammed my hand on the table before I realized I was doing it, the sound echoing sharply across the office, and I told her that I knew it had to be someone inside because there was no other explanation. We didn’t have time to create new designs, not when fashion week was so close, and I refused to let another company take credit for something that was born out of my effort, my creativity, my identity. I stood there in my office, staring at the stolen sketches on Janae’s tablet, and something in me shifted. It wasn’t fear. It was anger that finally had a direction.

"I am tired, Janae," I said, my voice a little raw. "Tired of things being taken away from me. Tired of surviving instead of living. Tired of losing pieces of myself to people who don’t think I deserve my victories." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Janae didn’t interrupt; she just watched me with that careful expression people wear when they don’t know whether to comfort you or give you space.

"Elara," she said after a long second, "what do you want to do? Tell me. Whatever you choose, I’ll stand with you."

I took a breath that felt like the beginning of something.

"I want a meeting with the company that released our design," I said. "Face to face. I want to sit across from whoever thought they could steal from me and walk away without consequences."

Janae blinked, surprised but not doubtful. "You want to confront them directly?"

"Yes," I answered, steady.

She slowly nodded, her voice growing firmer. "I’ll arrange it immediately. I’ll call their office, get the CEO on the line, and set a location."

"Good," I replied. "And make sure they know I’m not coming to beg. I am coming to claim what is mine."

"I will," she said. "Just say the word, and I’ll handle the rest."