Page 36 of Love Redesigned
“She told me she has a new design team that’s handling the dresses. Maybe they’re off location somewhere?”
“I guess that part makes sense,” Chase said. “Of course she would need a separate location. That way no one here has to know she isn’t actually designing the dresses herself.”
“Truly? You don’t think she could design a gown?”
Chase put a hand on my shoulder. “Dani, Sasha’s only contributions that actually get taken seriously are the pieces you design for her. The woman is a cheat and a master manipulator. That she’s convinced Alicio to give her a line of wedding dresses is evidence of that. Because she doesn’t have the talent to justify it.”
“But designers get help all the time,” I argued, feeling the futility of my words even as I said them. Chase had never spoken so blatantly about Sasha before. “Alicio has a full team of people who work for him. He still gets to put his name on the clothes.”
“But it took him years to build his brand. He did the work, in the trenches. He earned that right. But what has Sasha done? She hasn’t earned her place with her design skill, I can tell you that much.”
“So you think she’s using other designers to create her dresses, and she’s doing it away from LeFranc so no one knows she’s actually a fraud?”
“Exactly,” Chase said, his tone gentle. “But my hunch is that whatever underlings she hired don’t have what it takes to create a wedding dress good enough for her to wear herself. She had to find someone else with that kind of talent.”
I closed my eyes, a hand pressed to my stomach. “Someone like me?”
Chase nodded. “She already has Paige’s dress? Like,inher possession?”
I leaned back into my chair. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
Chase picked up the magazine and started fanning me with it. “Talk me through it, Dani. Tell me what happened.”
“She showed up at my apartment. I guess she’d looked through my sketchbook, and then Paige was actuallywearingthe dress when she came in because I’d been fixing the hem, and then she just told me so many amazing things. Talked about bowing from the runway at fashion week. She didn’t give me any reason not to believe her, Chase.”
“I’m sure. She’s very convincing.”
And yet, Ihadhad a reason not to believe her. Alex’s warning had told me not to trust her.
“How long would I have kept picking up lattes and answering her emails before I realized it was all a lie? I’m her pawn. Her puppet. That’s all I’ve ever been to her.” I forced a breath out through my nose. “No decent designer in all of New York would stand for Sasha Wellington claiming one of their designs as her own. But she knew I would, right? Because I’ve been doing it for months.” Tears welled in my eyes and I pushed a hand against my forehead. “Why am I so gullible?”
Chase reached for my hand, then scooted around and sat on the edge of my desk, our clasped hands resting on his knee.
“I’m an idiot,” I said.
He rubbed slow circles on my back. “Hey. We’re going off our hunches here, right? We don’t know anything for sure. Maybe she’s telling the truth.”
“She promised me she’d turn me into someone. Said I would be a part of something special.” I hiccupped a laugh. “And I fell for it.”
“Shhh. Maybe you still will be. You could absolutely be freaking out for no reason.”
“I appreciate the encouragement, but I’m done being optimistic. She stole my dress. Simple as that.”
Chase was silent long enough, he had to agree with me. “So what do we do about it?” he finally said.
Good question. “Make another one?”
“You could, though you run the risk of her accusing you of stealingheridea.”
My shoulders fell. If it actuallydidcome to that, no one would ever believe me over Sasha. I pulled my sketchbook out of my purse and opened the page to the finished rendering of Paige’s dress. I flipped the book around and handed it to Chase.
He whistled, running his hands across the image. “It’s stunning, Dani. It’s no wonder she wanted it.”
“I feel like such an idiot.”
Chase leaned forward and kissed my temple, giving my shoulders a final squeeze. “Let’s find out the truth first. Don’t lose heart until you absolutely have to.”
Later that night, a text came in from Paige.Staying at work tonight so don’t wait up. How’s my dress?
