In Love: Against All Odds

The Great Theo Catastrophe

Love on Top – Beyoncé 🎤💖
"Baby, it's you, you're the one I love, you're the one I need!"

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The morning after my not-so-secret date with Patrick, I walked into Arymeline with a smile I couldn't seem to wipe off my face. Everything felt brighter—the coffee smelled better, the fabric samples looked softer, and even Lydia's usual scowl felt less aggressive.

Love really does make you delusional.

I found Adri already at her desk, hunched over her sketches. She was wearing her favorite oversized hoodie, the one with "I Can't Adult Today" written across the front.

"Morning, bestie," I greeted, plopping into my chair.

She looked up, narrowing her eyes at me like a detective about to crack a case. "Why are you smiling like that?"

I blinked. "Like what?"

"Like someone just wrote a song about you and it's already trending on the Billboard charts."

I laughed, waving her off. "You're being dramatic."

"Am I?" She leaned forward. "So... how was your night?"

I opened my mouth to brush it off, but before I could respond—

"Adriana, can I talk to you for a second?"

Adri's entire expression changed.

Lydia.

Her personal nemesis.

I turned to see Lydia standing by the door, fake smile plastered on her face like she hadn't spent the last six months making Adri's life harder than a triple-layered corset.

"Of course," Adri replied sweetly, but I knew that tone. It was the voice she used when she was mentally fighting the urge to commit crimes.

As Adri followed Lydia out of the room, the moment she disappeared, Theo leaned in, eyebrows raised. "Lydia and Adri don't get along at all."

Flynn snorted. "Understatement of the year."

Natalie—who never gossiped—was the next to speak. "Lydia thinks she owns the world," she muttered, flipping through her notes. "And it got so much worse after the rumor."

Patrick, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. "What rumor?"

I hesitated.

I wasn't sure if I should say it, but then again... it was Patrick.

"The one about Lydia and Jade Kason," I said carefully.

Patrick frowned. "Wait. What  happened with Jade?"

Natalie leaned back in her chair, adjusting her glasses. "She was working on designs for his last album Illusion. It was her big break. But apparently, Lydia wasn't just interested in making him a custom suit—she was also trying to make him  hers."

Theo snickered. "And she failed."

I nodded. "I saw it too. At the album's success party, she was basically glued to his side, acting like they were already dating. Paparazzi caught them together, and before Jade could even breathe, the media ran with the rumor that they were a couple."

Flynn whistled. "Yikes."

Theo smirked. "And then it got worse when Jade was caught with some mystery girl on the night of his concert in California."