Prime Priority - Chapter 7

---- Chapter 7 The next morning, my contact sent me one last message on his own. It was news about Ethan witha link attached. The article said the heir of the Fuller family had not appeared in public for months, and that all corporate matters were now handled entirely by Thomas. There was a photo attached, taken secretly from afar. Ethan stood alone at the edge of a cliff, thin and hollow-eyed, with his expression empty. I stared at the picture without hatred or satisfaction, only calmness. Maybe his regret was real. But so what?

Ino longer wished to be the wife he used as a shield, and I refused to become the redemption he sought after waking up too late. "Ms. Schmidt." The familiar voice of the regular customer sounded beside me. He had come again today. He handed me a beautifully bound folder. ---- "T'm not going," I said immediately without even looking at it. "Why?" he asked. "Don't let your past trap you. Your talent deserves more than this place." I didn't answer. He sighed. "I don't know what you've been through, and I don't know why you're here making coffee.

But I do know what you sketched on that napkin is the real you. Talent doesn't lie. Your gift deserves a stage big enough to honor it." That night, I finally opened the folder. Inside was a contract offering me the position of chief designer, along with brand materials from their atelier and concepts for future collections. As my fingers brushed over the designs, that long- lost feeling and the instinct to create surged back into me.

In the past, to prove myself worthy of Ethan and of becoming the Fuller family's perfect hostess, I treated my design career as nothing more than a tool to serve their world. ---- But now, I understood something clearly. If I accepted this job now, it would be for one person- myself. Six months later, in Dreles, the old jewelry atelier that had been stagnant for years became the new star of Outola's haute jewelry world after I joined. A leading fashion magazine called me "the poet who taught gemstones to breathe again". The new collection I directed was named the masterpiece of the year.

The success brought me peace I hadn't felt in a long time. That afternoon, I was working in the design studio as usual. The door suddenly flew open, and someone burst inside. "Laurel!" I looked up and froze. It was Vivian. Her belly was heavy with pregnancy, and her face was pale, but her eyes were full of wild hatred. "I knew it ---- was you! You ruined everything for me, and now you get to hide here and live your happy little life!" I frowned. My voice was cold as I said, "How did you find this place?" Her smile twisted. She threw a magazine from her bag onto the table.