Sabine waved the single sheet of paper in the harsh backstage light. The graphite lines of the finale gown caught the glare of the overhead bulbs.
"Missing one original page, they will believe this is my collection," Sabine announced. Her voice rang loud enough for the passing stagehands to hear.
"Look closer at the paper, Sabine," I told her, my tone dead flat.
Sabine frowned. She held the sheet higher, her eyes darting across the sketch.
"I recognized the texture of the corner fibers the second you pulled it out," I said, pointing at the frayed edge near her thumb. "It is a standard printer copy. The original draft, drawn on heavy-weight cotton paper, remains exactly where I left it. Inside the seventh folio at the bottom of my transport box."
I turned my head toward the security guard. The green light on his body camera still blinked steadily.
"Officer," I said. "State for your official log what you just witnessed."
The guard shifted his weight, his heavy boots scraping the concrete floor. "Madame Vallois, I don't think--"
"I am Camille Laurent," I corrected sharply. "And you just watched an unauthorized individual reach into a court-sealed asset container and remove a document. Log the theft immediately."
"It is just a piece of paper," Sabine scoffed, tossing the crumpled copy onto the lid of the plastic box.
"It is intellectual property," I replied. I stepped toward her, closing the distance between us. "And you just committed a crime on camera."
Sabine took a half-step back, bumping into a rolling garment rack. Her hand shot up to grip the metal pole. The gold thimble on her index finger caught the light, flashing a bright, metallic yellow.
My mother's thimble.
I reached out and grabbed her wrist. Sabine gasped, trying to yank her arm away, but my grip held firm. I dug my fingers into her skin.
"Let go of me," she snapped, looking around for the guard.
"Take it off," I demanded.
Theo stepped forward, his velvet blazer brushing against my shoulder. "Mom, stop it. You are hurting her."
"She is wearing stolen property," I told him, keeping my eyes locked on Sabine.
With my free hand, I pinched the gold thimble and slid it off Sabine's finger. The metal felt warm. I flipped it over, holding it directly in front of the guard's body camera lens.
"Zoom in," I ordered the guard.
He leaned forward awkwardly. The lens focused on the inner rim of the gold band.
"Read the engraving aloud," I said.
The guard squinted at the metal. "C.L. two thousand and eight."
I released Sabine's wrist. She rubbed her skin, glaring at me with narrow eyes. I slipped the thimble into my blazer pocket.
"I hired you two years ago," I said to Sabine, projecting my voice so the backstage crew could hear every word. "You were a junior assistant who couldn't thread a serger. I gave you that thimble to manage the backstage alterations desk. Ownership never transferred to you. You are a glorified intern playing dress-up."
"I brought the investors!" Sabine fired back, her face flushing a deep, angry red. "Adrien gave me the creative director title. He gave me the brand!"
"He gave you an empty title," I said. "You cannot sew. You cannot draft. You cannot survive a single season without my archives."
A stage manager rushed down the hallway, waving a heavy clipboard. "Theo! The broadcast feed goes live in two minutes. We need the intro clip recorded now."
Theo turned his back on me. He walked toward the monitor station set up near the heavy velvet curtains. A makeup artist darted out of the shadows, raising a powder brush to his forehead.
He was going to do it. He was going to stand in front of millions of viewers and credit the woman who just tried to steal my sketches.
I reached into my oversized leather tote bag. My fingers brushed past my wallet and closed around a thick, blue plastic folder. I pulled it out and walked straight over to the monitor station.
I dropped the folder squarely at Theo's feet. It hit the concrete floor with a loud, sharp slap.
Theo flinched. He looked down at the blue cover. "What is this now?"
"Pick it up," I said.
He didn't move. "I have to record my interview."
"Four years ago," I began, my voice cutting through the chaotic backstage noise, "a hidden-camera video leaked online. You were eighteen. You were caught doing lines of cocaine in a nightclub bathroom in Milan."
Theo went rigid. The makeup artist froze, her brush hovering inches from his cheek. She slowly backed away into the shadows.
"Dad handled that," Theo muttered, staring at the floor.
"Your father went to his members' club and turned off his phone," I corrected. "I handled it. I sat in my office for thirty-six hours straight. I made sixty-one phone calls to editors, publicists, and lawyers. I scrubbed through seventeen raw video clips to find the angle that proved you were coerced."
"I saved your three major endorsements," I continued, refusing to lower my voice. "I kept your face on the billboards in Paris. I saved your career before it even started."
I pointed down at the blue plastic cover resting against his expensive leather shoes.
"I built twenty-three of those blue folders over the last decade," I told him. "Twenty-three times I cleaned up your messes, covered your mistakes, and protected your name. I bled for your future. That folder holds the proof."
I waited for a crack in his expression. I waited for a single word of apology. A flicker of the boy I raised, the boy who used to sit on my cutting table and watch me sew.
Theo looked at the blue folder on the ground. His jaw tightened. Then, he looked past me, his eyes fixing on the glowing teleprompter screen positioned right beside the camera lens.
"Sabine shaped my aesthetic," Theo read aloud, practicing the line. He adjusted his collar, completely ignoring the physical proof of my sacrifices lying at his feet. "She taught me how to translate emotion into fabric."
The words hit me harder than a physical strike. My chest tightened. I stared at my son, realizing he was entirely his father's creation now. He didn't care about the truth. He only cared about the spotlight.
"Positions," the stage manager called out, clapping his hands twice. "Going live to the main feed."
Sabine walked over and stood next to Theo. She flashed a brilliant, practiced smile at the camera lens, her posture perfect.
"Ready," Theo said, resting his hand on the broadcast console.
He reached out and pressed the blinking red button to launch the live feed to the massive screens out in the main hall.
The monitor above the camera flickered. Instead of showing Theo and Sabine's faces, a massive text graphic dominated the screen. The news ticker crawled across the bottom, displaying a press release authorized by the CEO.
The headline glowed in stark white letters against a black background: Out of Control Former Design Assistant Steals Maison Vallois Archives.
