Chapter 4 - Seven Dresses That Should Not Exist
Lucas canceled all press interviews.
Bianca ignored him and gave one anyway.
By noon the following day, fashion websites carried her version.
MORETTI CREATIVE DIRECTOR DENIES “BIZARRE” CLAIM BY FORMER EMPLOYEE
Bianca described Elena as “a longtime technical worker who appears confused about archival materials.”
Elena saw the quote on her phone.
She did not cry.
That surprised her.
Thirty years earlier, being called only a technical worker would have reduced her to silence.
Now it made her angry.
Lucas called.
“Do not speak to reporters.”
Elena replied, “Your sister already did.”
“I know.”
“She called me confused.”
“I know.”
“I am fifty-eight, Lucas. Not dead.”
A pause.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He had no answer.
Lucas hired independent counsel.
The law firm recommended a forensic accounting team, a fashion archivist, and a document examiner.
Bianca objected to all three.
The board approved them anyway.
Moretti’s flagship archive occupied two climate-controlled floors beneath its headquarters.
More than nine thousand garments.
Sketches.
Textiles.
Editorial samples.
Celebrity loans.
Lucas entered with Elena, archivist Grace Monroe, and two lawyers.
Bianca arrived five minutes later.
“I’m creative director. You don’t inspect the archive without me.”
Lucas did not argue.
“Fine.”
They located the remaining pieces from Isabella’s first public collection.
Official records said twelve survived.
Elena examined the first.
A black silk coat.
She opened the inside hem.
Nothing.
The second.
A red bias-cut dress.
Nothing.
Bianca smiled.
Then Elena asked for a seam ripper.
Grace hesitated.
“You want to open an archive garment?”
“A one-inch section.”
Bianca stepped forward.
“Absolutely not.”
Lucas looked at Grace.
“Can it be restored?”
“Yes.”
“Open it.”
Grace carefully separated the lining.
A tiny cream label appeared.
Stylized M.
Underneath:
E.R.
Bianca stopped smiling.
They opened another.
Same label.
Another.
Same.
Seven garments contained Elena’s initials hidden beneath later Moretti labels.
Grace looked stunned.
“These weren’t visible in catalogue photographs.”
“No,” Elena said.
“Why?”
“Carlo ordered new labels sewn over them after the department-store contract.”
Grace examined the stitching.
“The upper labels are clearly later additions.”
Bianca crossed her arms.
“So Elena constructed early samples. Nobody disputed that.”
Elena walked to the ivory gown.
“What does your archive record say I did?”
Grace opened the database.
“Sample sewer.”
“Designer?”
“No.”
“Patternmaker?”
“No.”
“Partner?”
“No.”
Elena nodded.
“That is the problem.”
Lucas asked Grace, “How were these garments attributed in the Vallon diligence materials?”
“Designed solely by Isabella Moretti.”
Evelyn Shaw’s attorneys would care.
The investment agreement included representations about ownership of archive assets and provenance.
Historical credit alone might not destroy a deal.
Falsified ownership could.
Grace continued examining inventory.
Then she frowned.
“Something else is wrong.”
“What?”
“The ivory gown shouldn’t be here.”
Bianca’s expression changed.
Grace turned the database around.
According to the archive, garment number seven had been sold at a private charity auction twelve years earlier for $380,000.
Lucas stared at the gown.
“Then what was Sophie wearing?”
Elena examined it closely.
“This is the original.”
“How do you know?”
Elena pointed inside the corset.
“I broke that boning channel during the first fitting and repaired it with green thread because it was all I had.”
Grace found the thread.
Original.
Lucas looked at Bianca.
“If the gown was sold, why is it in our archive?”
Bianca shrugged.
“Records get corrected.”
“Who bought it?”
Grace searched.
Private buyer.
Identity confidential.
Lucas asked, “Sale proceeds?”
Grace continued typing.
Her face changed.
“There’s no incoming auction payment.”
Bianca looked irritated.
“Then it was probably withdrawn.”
“The record says completed.”
Lucas turned.
“Who authorized it?”
Grace read.
“Bianca Moretti.”
Silence.
Bianca laughed.
“This is twelve years old.”
Lucas stepped closer.
“Did you sell the dress?”
“I manage archive loans.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No.”
“Then why does the system say you did?”
“I don’t know.”
Grace searched other early garments.
Three were recorded as sold.
All remained physically inside the archive.
Two others were recorded as present.
Their boxes were empty.
Lucas’s expression darkened.
“Lock the archive.”
Bianca stared.
“Excuse me?”
“No garments leave. No records change. IT preserves every audit log.”
“You’re treating me like a criminal.”
“I’m treating this like a company that apparently doesn’t know what it owns.”
Bianca looked toward Elena.
“This is what you wanted?”
Elena shook her head.
“I wanted my name back.”
“Don’t pretend this isn’t revenge.”
Elena stepped closer.
“You ripped a dress apart in front of thirty people because you thought humiliating me would make you feel powerful.”
Bianca’s jaw tightened.
Elena held up the old label.
“This happened because you couldn’t stand watching me repair something you wanted everyone to believe only you understood.”
Bianca walked out.
Grace waited until the door closed.
Then she turned to Lucas.
“There’s another issue.”
She had accessed the archive’s insurance schedule.
Several gowns were listed as collateral under a secured credit agreement with Bellweather Private Bank.
Lucas frowned.
“We don’t have a credit line with Bellweather.”
Grace looked at him.
“Someone does.”
The borrower was an LLC.
BMQ Creative Holdings.
Lucas recognized the initials immediately.
Bianca Moretti.
May you like
His sister had pledged Moretti archive garments to secure a private $18 million loan.
And according to the schedule, she had represented that she personally owned them.
