A Fake Heiress’s Guide to Love and Power novel Chapter 357

“What?” Stella’s voice shot up in shock.

Queenie quickly brought a finger to her lips, and Stella clapped a hand over her mouth, ducking her head.

“What’s going on? No way, we need to go confront her right now!” Stella hissed, keeping her voice low.

“Don’t lose your cool. This is their turf. If we make a scene, it’ll only backfire.” Alessia reached for Stella’s hand, her tone calm as ever.

“So what do we do?” Stella didn’t doubt Queenie for a second. In her mind, if Queenie and Alessia were saying it, then someone had definitely stolen their design. No question.

“We don’t even know if she copied the whole collection or just one piece,” Alessia said, her gaze flicking from Sienna back to the group. Sienna must have sensed the attention–she lifted her chin, a smug smile playing on her lips.

“I do have a suspect,” Queenie said, “but I need to check before I accuse anyone. If she managed to get her hands on our flagship piece, odds are the others aren’t

safe either.”

“Nobody’s seen the limited edition one, right?” Alessia double–checked.

“No, you’re the only one I showed,” Queenie answered without hesitation.

“Do you

have

any backup plans?”

Even if they called Sienna out for plagiarism now, it was too late to redesign. And if their main piece had already been copied, the launch would be pointless. The odds were stacked against them.

Queenie glanced at Sienna, who seemed to be going out of her way to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, flashing the matching earring from their own

collection.

“What a shameless show–off,” Stella sneered, flipping Sienna the finger without holding back.

Justin couldn’t help but laugh. He ruffled Stella’s hair, but didn’t stop her. Sure enough, Sienna’s smile slipped. She clenched her jaw and turned away. “Coward,” Stella muttered, pulling a face at Sienna’s back. Sienna didn’t see it.

08:02

“The Tree of Life collection had three versions. The second one looked the best–it. was the real showstopper,” Queenie reminded them.

“A&P has that factory we’ve worked with for years…”

“And The Whitley Group has one too. Let’s get in touch with both,” Alessia added.

“I know someone as well. I’ll reach out on my end,” Justin chimed in.

No one wasted time complaining or wallowing in frustration. Their first instinct was to huddle together and figure out a way forward.

As they brainstormed, Alessia raised a hand for silence. They all looked up to see Sienna, arm in arm with Fortune, heading straight toward them.

“Well, if it isn’t the whole gang,” Sienna greeted them with a bright, practiced smile. Fortune gave Alessia a once–over, then his eyes settled on Cole and he offered a polite nod.

“People who walk the high road don’t cross paths with those who only know how to sneak around,” Stella said, her disdain obvious.

Sienna’s smile faltered. Her hand drifted to the necklace at her throat.

“I hear you have a launch this Friday too? I can’t wait to see what you come up with.” She extended her hand. Queenie shook it, but said nothing. Both women kep their smiles fixed, their eyes locked, but the warmth never reached their eyes–a silent battle of wills.

After the event, no one went home. Instead, they regrouped at Queenie’s studio. Trading their stiff formalwear for brand new jeans and sweatshirts, they gathered around to hash out a new plan.

“These are the alternate sketches,” Queenie said, spreading out the printouts. “If we rush, we can only produce the most basic version. As for the main piece–there’s just no way. It was handcrafted by an artisan; even if we start today, it’ll take at least a month to remake.”

She handed the stack of designs around, a heavy silence settling as everyone realized just how little time they had left.