Chapter 111

hapter 111 EARLIER AT T.T. FASHION HOUSE...

Luisa let out a horrified gasp, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at the disaster in front of them. “Oh my God... Thalassa, they destroyed the dresses. They destroyed the dresses! What are we going to do?”

She turned to Thalassa, her pale face stricken with panic, so distraught that she kept pointing out the obvious.” Without these dresses, we can’t compete at the awards show.”

The seamstresses, standing nearby, murmured in despair. One of them, Marta, who had spent hours hand- stitching beads into the ultimate dress that was supposed to be worn by Thalassa, let out a small sob.

“Who could do something like this to us? All our hard work. it’s gone.”

Thalassa remained still, her face calm despite the fury simmering just beneath the surface. Her eyes scanned the room, taking in every ripped seam and every ruined piece of fabric. She had suspected this would happen, but seeing it with her own eyes still made her blood boil. 2 Noticing how Thalassa didn’t even seem moved by the scene in front of them, Luisa grabbed her by the arm. “Why are you so calm, Thalassa? Don’t you realize how serious this is? We’ve lost everything!”

Thalassa turned to her with a steady gaze before looking at the seamstresses. “Have any of you checked the CCTV footage?”

They exchanged glances. “No, we were too distraught to even think about it.”

“Then let’s go,” Thalassa said simply, making her way to the elevator. Luisa and the others hurried to follow her.

They reached the security office, where a confused–looking guard approached them. “Ms. Thompson, I just heard about what happened in the display room,” he said.

Thalassa’s eyes narrowed. “Just heard?” she repeated coldly. “How come you were only just told now? You should have caught and stopped the intruder.”

The guard swallowed nervously. “I’m sorry, Ms. Thompson I’m on morning duty. I wasn’t part of the guards on night duty yesterday.”

“Then tell those guards to come for their severance pay. They’re fired,” Thalassa said sharply. “Now, show me the footage from the CCTV cameras in the showroom.”

The guard nodded quickly and led them into the security room. He sat down in front of a computer, his fingers flying over the keyboard. Minutes passed, and Luisa grew impatient.

“What’s taking so long?” she demanded.

“There’s... there’s at least an hour’s worth of CCTV footage missing,” the guard stammered. “The cameras were hacked into.”

Thalassa’s jaw tightened, but she kept her voice steady. “Check the other cameras–the ones in the hallways, elevators, and the reception.”

The guard continued typing, his expression growing more worried. “It’s the same situation with all the other cameras, even the ones outside. They’ve all been hacked. It looks like someone got into the entire network.”

Hearing this, Luisa’s face turned red with anger. “I’m sure it was Linda Miller who did this! She had those cameras hacked so we wouldn’t be able to prove it.”

Thalassa gave a wry smile and calmly asked, “Who says we can’t?”

1/2 Chapter 111 Luisa frowned. “What do you mean?”

Thalassa didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she turned on her heel and headed for the elevator.

“Let’s go to my office.”

+25 BONUS They rode up the elevator in silence, tension thick in the air When they reached the floor, they saw that more employees had arrived, all talking about how sorry they were that this had happened.

Thalassa nodded at each one but didn’t respond as she and Luisa made their way into her office. Minutes later, the two women came back out, their expressions grim.

“Juana, has everyone arrived?” Thalassa asked her secretary.

“Yes, all the models are here,” the secretary confirmed.

Thalassa nodded and made her way to the models‘ room, Luisa following close behind. As soon as they entered, the models fell silent. The serious look on Thalassa’s face was making them all nervous, especially when she scanned all of their faces with her sharp gaze.

Her eyes finally fell on one particular model. It was Carmen the model she’d taken her frustrations out on a week ago right before Clark had called to invite her out.

Swallowing, Carmen stepped forward. “Lassa, I’m so sorry about what happened. It’s terrible.”

Thalassa’s gaze was absolutely frigid as it locked onto Carmen. “Are you really sorry, Carmen?”

Carmen blinked, a flicker of fear crossing her face. “W–what do you mean, Lassa? Of course, I’m sorry that this happened. We all are because we know how much hard work went into everything.”

The room had fallen deadly silent. All the other models had their eyes locked on Thalassa and Carmen.

Thalassa took a step closer, her eyes never leaving Carmen’s. “How much were you paid to do it?” she asked calmly.

Carmen’s eyes widened in panic. “I–I don’t know what you’re talking about! I didn’t do anything-

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“Don’t bother lying,” Thalassa interrupted, her voice calm but icy. “I have a video of you destroying the dresses.”

Carmen’s face drained of color. “But... but I was told all the cameras had been hacked and shut off!” she muttered under her breath.

Thalassa chuckled softly. “Yes, all the cameras connected to the building’s network were shut off. But I’m not stupid, Carmen. I had a feeling something like this might happen, so I installed another camera in the display room yesterday. One that isn’t connected to the building’s network but directly to my office computer.”

The panic on Carmen’s face turned to fear. “Please, Lassa. Please forgive me. I needed the money. Please don’t have me arrested.”

Thalassa’s expression remained unmoving. “Whether or not you get arrested depends on you, Carmen. Are you ready to expose the person who paid you to destroy the dresses?”

2/2 Chapter 112