"I didn't do it. I didn't do it. I didn't plagiarize the designs..."
Zara mumbled into the microphone, her voice cracking, lips trembling. She didn't even realize she was saying it out loud.
Her whole body shook, not just from embarrassment, but from something deeper—betrayal, disbelief, and a flood of shame.
Before the media could pounce, Kendrick stepped forward, shoving Irene back. "You stay away from her," he snapped, finger pointed straight at Irene's face.
He crouched beside Zara, pulling her into his arms, trying to shelter her from the room that suddenly felt like a battlefield.
"I know you didn't do it. I know," Kendrick whispered as Nadia hurried over, crouching on Zara's other side.
Then came the venom.
Gina laughed—a loud, bitter, throat-burning sound that silenced even the media team.
