The late morning sun poured through the high glass windows of StoneTech's design studio, washing everything in clean, white light. Bolts of silk shimmered on tables, mannequins stood like silent witnesses, and the faint scent of coffee and fabric starch lingered in the air.
Most of the team was out preparing for the presentation, but inside the main workspace, Chloe and Damian were locked in a quiet, stubborn war.
Damian stood at the center table, tall and sharp in a tailored black shirt, his sleeves rolled up with immaculate precision. Across from him, Chloe leaned over a mannequin, adjusting a half-pinned bodice made from pale satin.
The design— a couture evening gown for fashion show event— was their joint project. Or, as Chloe liked to call it, their battlefield in silk.
"Move that dart half an inch to the right," Damian said, his tone as exact as his posture. "It ruins the symmetry of the bodice line."
