Backstage.
Niamh ran her eyes over the jewelry one last time, making sure everything was in order. The stylist understood exactly how each piece should be worn.
“Niamh, let’s go check the timing for the blackout and the UV lights with the stage crew one more time!”
Quentin’s urgent voice broke in, pulling Niamh away from the chaos of the dressing
area.
Moments after Niamh left, Marina slipped silently out from behind the curtain.
It was all part of the plan she and Quentin had worked out in advance.
Luminous Divas Fashion Week provided every model with a professional styling team, but usually, the designer would still stop by backstage before the show–there to inspect, to give a few last reminders, to make sure everything was perfect.
For Niamh, this appearance was hard–won, and she was nothing if not careful. There was no way she wouldn’t show up in person to inspect her pieces.
But if Niamh lingered in the dressing room for too long, Marina would never get her chance to ruin things.
So, Marina made Quentin promise to stick close to Niamh and, at the right moment, find an excuse to pull her out of backstage–no matter what.
Everything went exactly as they’d planned. Marina felt perfectly at ease, not a hint of guilt or panic in her chest.
“Marina, what are you doing here?” Shirley called over, busy adjusting a model’s hair accessory.
“I thought you could use a hand! Looked like you were swamped.”
Marina replied sweetly.
Shirley was the head stylist in charge of the team tonight.
After plotting with Quentin, Marina had made sure–through Jonathan’s introduction–to befriend Shirley before the official opening of Fashion Week.
Two girls obsessed with fashion, they hit it off immediately.
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So now, even though Marina was backstage during another designer’s show, Shirley didn’t think twice about it–she certainly wasn’t going to send Marina away.
That was exactly what Marina was counting on.
Out front, the show was wrapping up, but backstage was still a flurry of frantic activity as the models got ready.
Marina pretended to help Shirley and the others, but all the while, she kept her back to the security cameras. As soon as she saw her chance, she pulled a perfume bottle from her bag and sprayed hydrochloric acid onto Niamh’s jewelry.
Niamh’s pieces were set in platinum with fluorite and rubies.
Platinum was acid–resistant; no matter how much she sprayed, it would stay unharmed.
So Marina targeted the gemstones, misting the acid precisely onto the fluorite and rubies–somewhere the models wouldn’t notice as they got ready.
There weren’t many pieces in Niamh’s collection, only four–bracelet, earrings, necklace, hair ornament. Just enough to meet the minimum requirement for
Fashion Week.
Marina guessed Niamh must have changed her theme at the last minute and run
out of time to make more.
But that just made things easier for her.
Once she’d finished, Marina helped the models fasten the now–tainted jewelry. As if on cue, the show out front ended.
The first model stepped onto the runway–and the entire venue was plunged into
darkness.
The stage, the runway, the rows of guests–everything disappeared into pitch black. Only the show director and the lighting crew knew this blackout was part of Niamh’s presentation.
Well, and Marina.
No one could see the vicious smile twisting Marina’s lips in the dark.
Niamh, you’re finished. You’ll be ruined after tonight.
An unexpected power outage during a runway show was a disaster. And after Marina’s sabotage, when the UV emergency lights switched on, the gems would
Chapter 262
look dull and lifeless instead of sparkling.
There was no way Niamh could come back from this.
Marina waited, practically giddy with anticipation, for Niamh’s humiliation. But the UV lights she was counting on didn’t come on right away.
Out in the audience-
Jonathan, who had only just become interested in Niamh’s designs, frowned in disappointment the moment the lights went out.
Everything was swallowed by darkness.
But as Jonathan’s gaze lifted, he caught a flicker of something in the void.
He saw ghostly fire.
