Fated Marriage Spoiled by My Ice Billionaire novel Chapter 6

The design department was in an uproar the next morning.

The moment Isabelle stepped through the door, every head snapped toward her, and hushed whispers buzzed behind her back.

Her sharp gaze swept over the scene, and she knew full well this mess was about to land squarely on her.

"Isabelle, someone broke into the design department last night," Eleanor breathed beside her. "All the competition drafts locked in the supervisor's office—someone dumped them all on your desk."

Isabelle caught on at once.

The year-end design competition was high-stakes, and most of her colleagues had already submitted their final drafts to Harrison for safekeeping.

If those designs went missing or leaked, everyone's hard work would be for nothing—they'd have to start over from scratch, wasting precious time and handing their competitors a massive advantage.

Isabelle said nothing. She merely scanned the room.

Her piercing gaze caught everyone off guard. None of them had expected her to remain this composed.

The entire department fell from chaos to dead silence.

She let out a faint laugh—she hadn't even set down her bag and tablet before spotting the stack of documents on her desk.

She picked up the files using only her thumb and index finger, as if they were tainted, then lifted her gaze to sweep the crowd once more.

"Looks like your design drafts took a little detour to my desk." She dropped the papers with obvious disdain, and sure enough, all their designs lay in a neat pile on her workspace.

Everyone in the room already knew the drafts were on her desk—they just hadn't bothered to retrieve them, waiting for her arrival so they could corner her.

"Isabelle! If you wanted first place, you didn't have to resort to this lowlife garbage!"

"No wonder you were working late last night—you were stealing our work this entire time!"

"These designs are confidential! How is this fair when you've already seen all our ideas?"

The crowd swarmed around Isabelle's desk, hurling accusations at her from all sides.

Isabelle remained unshaken, not letting their hostility rattle her.

"Please—if I'd wanted to copy anyone's work, I would've just taken a photo and looked at it at home. Why would I leave the sketches out on my desk? I could've thrown them straight in the trash and you never would've known. And why would I post about working late on Instagram if I was up to something shady? Wouldn't I lie low instead? Who's stupid enough to announce their own crime like that?"

Her logic left everyone speechless for a moment.

But many still remained unconvinced, especially the senior designers, who looked ready to tear into her on the spot.

Isabelle had heard enough. She gathered all the sketches off her desk and tossed them onto the nearby printer.

She normally kept her temper in check, or at least knew better than to stir up trouble when she hadn't even made a name for herself at the new company.

But lately, she'd simply had enough of being treated this way.

"What's going on? Why is everyone making such a racket first thing in the morning?"

Harrison walked in, with Damian and Brian right behind him.

No one had seen the CEO show up unannounced like this before, so everyone fell silent at once.

Isabelle glanced at Harrison, then past his shoulder, and her eyes met Damian's. She didn't dare hold the gaze and looked away quickly.

"Oh, it's nothing. Ms. Foster just copied some of the year-end competition sketches last night, so we're sorting it out." Someone called out, though no one could tell who'd spoken.

"I didn't do it." Isabelle's voice was firm and steady.

At that moment, she realized Damian was staring right at her. His cold gaze made her truly uneasy, and her voice came out slightly tense.

"Everything requires evidence. I did stay late last night, but that doesn't make me guilty. And honestly? I don't think anyone here has work worth copying. Their designs won't keep me from winning first place in the year-end competition."

The design department erupted again.

Some called her arrogant, others accused her of being full of herself, and a few dismissed her words as complete nonsense.

At that, Damian lowered his gaze slightly and let out a soft, quiet laugh.

"Pull up the security footage, and we'll know for sure." Harrison's voice cut through the commotion.

"Security was doing maintenance last night; the cameras were offline. They only saw Ms. Foster working late, but they didn't record her taking any drafts," Eleanor replied anxiously, her voice trembling slightly.

Eleanor had rushed to check the footage the second the trouble started, desperate to clear her best friend's name.

The matter hung unresolved, with the group bickering back and forth. Isabelle stayed silent, her mind racing to figure out why the drafts had landed on her desk to begin with.

"Isabelle."

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