Fake Mating To My Ex's Powerful Enemy

Chapter 108: Chapter 108 When Fame Strikes Back

Christina’s POV

Savannah’s fist crashed down on her desk. A mug shattered across the floor.

I suppressed a smile.

Violet seized the moment. "Did you see that? She totally panicked when I tried to check her phone. Classic guilty behavior!"

I faced Savannah squarely. "For the hundredth time, I had nothing to do with this leak."

"ENOUGH!" Savannah shouted, her face red with stress. She looked like she’d aged ten years in minutes. "The fundamental problem here is plagiarism. That’s what started this whole disaster. Who exposed it is completely irrelevant. Violet, you stole someone else’s work. That’s not in dispute. Yes or no?"

"I..." Violet’s teeth sank into her lower lip. "You have to understand, I was only thinking of Nyx’s interests—"

Savannah’s palms slammed against the tabletop so violently that several pencil holders rattled and toppled, scattering supplies across the surface.

"We’re getting absolutely destroyed online! I had an entire campaign scheduled after this launch! You’ve completely sabotaged everything! Now find a way to fix it!"

"B-but how?" Violet stammered, her voice small.

"How should I possibly know?" Savannah snapped back. "Maybe you should have considered that before executing your brilliant little theft?"

Savannah’s phone buzzed on the floor. She grabbed it, cursed when she saw who was calling, took a deep breath, and answered professionally. "Miss Holloway, I was just about to—"

She yanked the phone away from her ear as angry shouts blasted through. Savannah could only nod and apologize weakly while her face turned bright red. She rubbed her forehead and gripped the table so hard her knuckles went white.

Even from several feet away, I could hear fragments of the tirade. Whoever was on the other end wasn’t holding back.

After an excruciating five minutes of one-sided conversation, Savannah finally hung up.

"That was Eliza’s agent. Eliza’s losing major brand partnerships. Several companies are already pulling out, calling her bad publicity. Contracts are being terminated left and right. They’re demanding breach-of-contract compensation from us."

"What?" Violet’s sobbing halted abruptly. Her knees seemed to give out as she collapsed into the nearest chair. "How... how much are they asking?"

"She didn’t specify an amount," Savannah muttered, looking shell-shocked. freēwēbnovel.com

Violet swallowed visibly. "You can’t possibly expect me to cover all of it, right?"

Savannah’s silence spoke volumes.

That triggered another meltdown from Violet. "This isn’t entirely my fault! If Christina hadn’t leaked everything, we wouldn’t be in this situation! She’s just as responsible! She should share the costs!"

"You’re completely delusional," I said with a smirk.

"It’s YOU!" Violet shrieked. "If you’d just kept quiet, nobody would have discovered anything!"

"Um..." A timid voice interrupted as one of our colleagues raised her phone. "Someone just tagged Christina. It’s... it’s Octavia Grey."

I grabbed my phone and saw my notifications going crazy. Octavia always showed up to red carpets last to get maximum attention. Her late entrance had completely stolen the spotlight from every celebrity who came before her.

Her PR team had posted the standard package—designer credits, styling details, makeup brand mentions. Exactly what Eliza’s team had done.

But then Octavia posted something unexpected on her personal account.

It was a selfie from our dinner meeting with just the two of us, captioned—"My jewelry plug @ChristinaJewels"

The comments section went nuclear.

"OG finally posting! She looks INCREDIBLE!"

"Who’s the woman with her? New actress?"

"Jewelry designer apparently. Her work is stunning!"

"Beautiful AND talented. Following immediately!"

"OG always discovers the best things. This blows away anything from major brands lately."

I scrolled through a few more reactions, watching in amazement as my follower count rocketed past ten thousand within seconds.

"Christina!" Savannah’s voice cracked with disbelief. "When you mentioned creating pieces for someone, you meant OCTAVIA GREY?"

"Yep," I nodded casually.

"Why in the Goddess’s name didn’t you tell me?"

"I did mention it. Just neglected to specify her name." I shrugged. Bragging prematurely never seemed wise.

Savannah lunged forward and grabbed my hand. "She’s astronomically bigger than Eliza! If I’d known you had connections with her, I would have contacted her team myself immediately!"

"That wasn’t necessary."

Violet interrupted, her voice shrill. "Savannah, Christina works exclusively for Nyx Collective. She’s contractually forbidden from taking outside commissions."

Savannah whipped around, eyes blazing. "Shut your mouth. You’re the one who created this catastrophe. You dragged all of us into your mess."

Violet’s face mottled with rage. Her mouth opened to argue but quickly closed. She simply stood there, breathing heavily through flared nostrils.

Savannah turned back to me, suddenly all sunshine and smiles. "Post something mentioning Nyx. Just a quick company tag. Let everyone know where your talent is based."

"No."

She blinked rapidly. "Excuse me?"

"I said no." fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

Her grip on my hand tightened. "Come on, Christina. We desperately need positive publicity, especially now. Just this once. Do the company a favor."

I locked my phone and placed it face-down on the table.

"Violet caused this damage. That’s not my responsibility to repair. Even if I did post something identifying myself as a Nyx employee, what would that accomplish? Violet still committed plagiarism. People don’t simply forget scandals overnight. All my post would do is associate me with a company that employs thieves."

Savannah stared longingly at my phone but didn’t attempt to grab it. Unlike Violet, she retained some boundaries.

"Christina, if you post right now, I’ll guarantee you the Aureate slot. No competition. It’s yours automatically. Deal?"

That actually gave me pause.

The Aureate Awards happened biannually, an international design competition backed by major sponsors with extensive media coverage. Getting a spot was nearly impossible without corporate backing. Nyx barely secured one entry per cycle.

The last designer who placed in the top twenty disappeared from our office within two months, snapped up with a lucrative contract elsewhere.

"If merit matters at all, that spot belongs to me anyway. Giving it to anyone else would be wasting an opportunity. You know that perfectly well."

"Please!" Savannah leaned close, whispering. "I’m begging you."

"Don’t give in," Akira advised. "Your success shouldn’t bail out their failure."

I remained motionless.

Savannah cursed under her breath. "Fine. We’ll use the corporate account instead. Someone log in and repost Octavia’s tag. Make it absolutely clear that Christina works for us."

One of the administrative assistants quickly opened her laptop and reposted Octavia’s tag through Nyx Collective’s official account.

Comments began appearing gradually.

"Didn’t realize @ChristinaJewels worked at Nyx Collective."

"Isn’t that the company with the designer who plagiarized @ElizaBlack’s jewelry?"

"One bad designer doesn’t make the entire company corrupt."

Savannah hovered over the screen, lips pressed tightly together as she scrutinized each comment. She seemed marginally calmer now.

Then Octavia posted again.

"Absolutely loved collaborating with @ChristinaJewels. Custom piece, personal commission. Pro bono work. Completely independent from her employer."

The color drained from Savannah’s face. She stared unblinking at her screen, rereading the message multiple times in stunned silence.

Two full minutes passed without anyone speaking.

Then her phone rang again.

Savannah answered, listened briefly, ended the call, and collapsed into her chair.

"That was Eliza’s agent," she whispered. "They’re demanding two hundred million in damages."