"Nine hours, fourteen minutes." Romain tapped the digital clock running on his laptop screen. "That is when the Paris commercial registry opens."

I slid the seventh black folio across the glass conference table. "Forget the registry. Look at the paper."

Romain adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses. He dragged a brass magnifying loupe across the heavy-weight cotton fibers of the open page.

"Sabine dated her photocopy March fourth," I told him. I pointed a steady finger at the bottom corner of my original sketch. "Check the watermark embedded in this sheet."

Romain squinted through the glass. "Arches mill. Batch code..." He typed the alphanumeric string into a supplier database on his second monitor. He hit the enter key. The screen flashed a production schedule. "July."

"Four months after Sabine supposedly drew the design," I said.

"She forged a date on paper that did not exist yet." Romain slammed his laptop shut. "This kills their theft claim instantly."

"Check the binding thread," I instructed, flipping the folio over to expose the spine. "I buy my silk spools from a private supplier in Lyon. The receipt for this exact crimson thread is in my email, dated August. Sabine could not have sewn this book together in March."

"We don't need to chase down suppliers," Romain said, grabbing a yellow legal pad. "The watermark is absolute proof. I will file the motion to dismiss Adrien's claims the second the court opens. They handed us the exact weapon we need to dismantle their entire narrative."

A sharp chime rang from the flat-screen mounted on the wall. The emergency video injunction hearing connected.

Judge Morel appeared on the screen, adjusting his reading glasses in a wood-paneled office. Adrien sat in a high-backed leather chair in the adjacent video square. He looked impeccably groomed, his midnight-blue suit unwrinkled despite the late hour.

"Madame Laurent," Judge Morel began, his voice tinny through the ceiling speakers. "Monsieur Vallois submitted an emergency affidavit regarding these sketches. It concerns your mental state."

I leaned closer to the silver microphone on the table. "My mental state has nothing to do with paper manufacturing dates, Your Honor."

"The affidavit states you frequently brought company property to your residence," the judge read from a document on his desk. "And that you have a documented history of emotionally altering creation dates to cope with the stress of the fashion calendar."

"That is a complete fabrication," I said, my voice dropping an octave.

"It is a sworn statement," Adrien interrupted. He leaned into his camera frame, resting his elbows on his mahogany desk. "Signed by our son."

"Read the signature line, Your Honor," Adrien urged.

Judge Morel flipped a page. "Signed by Theo Vallois. He certifies that he witnessed his mother backdate sketches on multiple occasions. The declaration may be referred to the prosecutor if it is knowingly false."

"Theo is twenty-two years old," I told the judge, refusing to look away from the camera lens. "He does not work in the design department. He has never been present during my drafting process."

"He lived in your house," Adrien shot back. "He saw your erratic behavior firsthand."

"He saw me build a company while you drank scotch at the members' club," I replied.

"I have evidence to present," I said, forcing my hands to uncurl. I pressed my palms flat against the glass table.

I pushed my phone across the surface to Romain. He plugged the device into the AV system. The wall monitor split into three squares, showing the video I recorded backstage.

The guard's body camera light blinked green in the footage. The receipt with the white painted number forty-two filled the frame.

"This is the security officer Adrien hired," I explained. I watched the judge's eyes track the moving footage. "He signed a legal manifest verifying I removed only my personal property. You can see the court order in his hand."

"She intimidated the backstage staff," Adrien argued. "She ambushed the guard during a live broadcast."

"The video is unbroken," Romain countered, speaking directly to the microphone. "It captures the exact moment the Vallois CEO authorized a libelous press release to cover his tracks. My client owns these forty-seven designs. The paper watermarks prove Sabine forged her copies."

Judge Morel rubbed his chin. He reached for his mouse. "I am muting my microphone to review the file."

The microphone icon flashed green again.

"The evidence of ownership is heavily disputed," Judge Morel announced. "I will not freeze the Vallois runway show retroactively. The financial damage to the brand and its innocent shareholders would be catastrophic."

"Your Honor," Romain protested, standing up from his chair. "The evidence of forgery is right there."

"However," the judge continued, raising a hand to silence Romain. "I am placing a forty-eight-hour injunction on Madame Laurent. You are barred from commercially releasing, selling, or publishing any of the forty-seven disputed designs until a full evidentiary hearing takes place."

"You are gagging the victim," I stated.

"I am preserving the status quo," Judge Morel replied.

The screen went black as the judge disconnected the feed.

"Forty-eight hours," Romain muttered. He unplugged the cables, yanking them from the port. "Adrien will use that time to secure the investor capital. Once the money clears, he can drag this lawsuit out for years."

A sharp knock rattled the frosted glass door of the conference room. A courier in a navy uniform stood in the hallway, holding a thick manila envelope.

The return address read: Legal Department, Maison Vallois.

I ripped the cardboard seal and pulled out a stack of stapled papers. The header bolded across the top: Copyright Surrender and Non-Disclosure Agreement.

Adrien's face reappeared on the wall monitor. He had dialed in directly via a private link.

"Sign it, Camille," Adrien said.

"You want me to surrender eighteen years of my life," I replied. I flipped past the dense legal jargon, scanning the clauses. "And give Sabine full credit for the comet motif."

"I am offering to drop the theft charges," Adrien countered. "I will publicly retract the press release. We can call it a misunderstanding due to exhaustion. You walk away quietly, and Theo keeps his three major endorsements."

"Theo lied to a judge for you," I said. My voice held steady despite the tremor in my hands.

"Theo protected his future," Adrien corrected. "The investors loved the show. The capital is secured. If you fight this, the press will tear our son apart. They will brand him a fraud and a liar."

"He is a liar," I fired back.

"But he is your son," Adrien said, his tone chillingly calm. "Are you really going to send him to prison for false testimony over a few sketches?"

A blue ink signature sat on the witness line. Theo's sloppy, rushed handwriting.

He had already signed the waiver. He had agreed to sell my legacy before the courier even left the building.

"Look at the bottom line," Adrien commanded through the speakers.

I stared at the blue ink, my thumb brushing over the jagged loops of my son's name.

"Sign over all copyrights," Adrien said, his voice echoing in the quiet room. "Or let your son answer for false testimony."