Chapter 582 I think we’ve got an idea

With Voren standing right there in front of her, Athaliah figured it had to be Sera who’d shown up this time. But then Bryan and Esperanza came into view, and every bit of the fury and crushing disappointment she’d been carrying around just melted away on the spot.

“Bryan, Espe!” She rushed straight over and pulled both of them into her arms at once.

“Aunt Liah, we missed you,” Bryan and Espe chorused together, their little voices full of pure relief.

Warmth flooded through Athaliah’s chest as she scooped them both up and held them tight. Her eyes drifted past them a second later and landed on the red-haired woman standing off to the side.

“Jasmine.”

She barely got the name out before the one person she’d been aching to see pushed his way through everyone standing between them.

Athaliah’s eyes lit up the second she spotted him. “Corvine!”

Still holding both kids, she hurried straight toward him and practically crashed into his chest, burying her face against him like she’d been holding her breath for days.

“You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”

She couldn’t even pinpoint the exact moment Corvine had become this important to her, but just having him there filled up every empty, exhausted place inside her heart with the kind of steady warmth she’d been desperate for.

Seraphine and Voren stepped forward at the same time and gently took Bryan and Esperanza from her arms.

The second her hands were free, Athaliah pulled back just enough to look up at Corvine’s face, then wrapped her arms around him all over again, holding on even tighter this time.

Corvine’s own emotions were a complete mess. Liah had left in such high spirits, but looking at her now made it painfully clear that the last few days had worn her down hard.

Dark circles sat under her beautiful eyes, and the front of her shirt was still damp from the tears she hadn’t quite managed to stop.

“I thought I could handle everything on my own,” she whispered, her voice cracking as she clung to him, “but I gave it all up. I just couldn’t accept their conditions.”

Voren watched the two of them with growing curiosity before turning toward Elodie.

“Can you ask everyone to give us a minute?”

As Elodie started speaking to the crew in French, questions started flying from every direction.

“Is it really off?”

“Should we go?”

Voren didn’t understand enough French to follow the back-and-forth, so Elodie turned and filled him in.

“She already told them we’re calling the whole show off.”

Voren’s brow furrowed. He knew exactly how much this show meant to Liah. He’d been one of her biggest patrons from the start, even if he’d always dealt with Elodie directly. For Corvine’s sake, he wanted to step in and help however he could.

“Why?”

“No agency will work with us anymore, and our latest designs got hijacked by the mafia.”

Voren’s expression hardened instantly. Something about this whole situation was clearly off.

“Has anyone come to see her?” His eyes narrowed as he looked at Elodie. “I don’t know if you catch what I’m getting at.”

Elodie understood right away. He told Voren about the two men who’d shown up earlier and repeated the names Athaliah had mentioned.

Voren’s jaw tightened. “Let them wait. I’ll talk to Liah first.”

Once the crew had cleared out, Voren finally stepped in and interrupted Corvine and Athaliah’s emotional reunion.

“I hate cutting in like this, but Liah, why were Brad and Curt here? What exactly did they say to you?”

The second those two Alphas’ names came up, Corvine went completely still. He eased his hold on Athaliah just enough to look down at her face, waiting.

Athaliah didn’t hold anything back. These people were her own. She couldn’t explain to the humans why those men were working against her, but she could tell Corvine, Seraphine, and Voren the full truth without holding back a single detail.

By the time she finished explaining everything that had happened, guilt filled Corvine’s eyes while Voren’s expression grew darker with every word.

Seraphine looked ready to explode with fury. Jasmine had already guided Bryan and Esperanza a little farther away so the adults could talk in private.

Corvine was the first one to break the heavy silence.

“All of this happened because of me.” His face tightened with helplessness. “How the hell am I supposed to make any of this better?”

He knew absolutely nothing about fashion, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to fix the mess that had been dumped on her because of him. Later, he would find a way to deal with those three.

An idea was already forming in his mind. Athaliah managed a small smile, even though it looked forced.

“I was calling you earlier to send me the software, but I doubt you brought it with you.”

Relief washed over Corvine’s face right away. At least there was something concrete he could do.

“Of course, I brought it.”

Athaliah’s eyes brightened. “Great. Instead of the show, I can launch the software. I’ve already got the designs on my phone, but can you transfer them into the program?”

That was the technical part Corvine couldn’t handle on his own. He was just about to turn to Seraphine for help when she beat him to it.

“I’m right here, Liah. I’ll take care of everything with the software.”

Voren, though, still wasn’t happy about Athaliah calling off the fashion show. The guests were coming for a runway presentation, not a software launch.

Canceling at the last minute and swapping it out for something completely different would still leave her dealing with a wave of backlash.

“But Athaliah, you still can’t just cancel the fashion show. You need to host it if you want to keep the guests interested long enough to launch the software afterward.”

Athaliah looked up at him, feeling completely stuck. “Mr—”

“Just call me Voren.” His sharp tone cut right through her words. The formalities clearly rubbed him the wrong way.

Athaliah didn’t even think about arguing. There were far more important things on the table right now.

“Okay, Voren, but in case you’ve forgotten, I’ve only got five models on my payroll, and I need at least twenty.”

Voren frowned and leaned in close to Seraphine, whispering something against her ear. Her eyes lit up immediately. She glanced over at Corvine, then at Jasmine, and a slow smile spread across her face.

“I think we’ve got an idea.”