The glass-walled atrium of Croft Luxury’s corporate headquarters was suffocatingly quiet. Over two hundred employees—designers, marketing executives, and junior assistants—were gathered in the center of the room, their eyes darting nervously toward the podium.

Clara stood near the back, her heart

The new corner office was bathed in natural sunlight, a stark contrast to the windowless basement closet Clara had worked in for the past four years. The expansive room was lined with dress forms, drafting tables, and walls of premium fabric swatches. It was a designer's paradise.

But Clara barely

The design studio was a graveyard of shredded silk and slashed chiffon, but as Alexander Sterling stood amidst the wreckage, he looked entirely unfazed. He didn't see a disaster. He only saw a battlefield, and the Kingmaker never lost a war.

He shrugged off his bespoke suit jacket, draping it over