As expected, Alice's designs were perfect.
Wynette was completely hooked just listening to Alice explain the inspiration behind each piece.
After going through all her designs, Alice finally turned her attention to Wynette's work.
"Can you take a look at these for me? Do you think anything still needs changing?" Wynette asked quietly.
The three collections were titled "Misty Rain, Summer Blossoms, and Twilight Roses."
Wynette had come up with the names herself on the spot.
More than anything, she wanted Alice to point out any weak spots in the designs.
Alice took the sketches and looked through them carefully, offering only a few small suggestions before smiling.
"They're already very good. The names match the concepts perfectly too. Your team's impressive."
Just by those designs alone, it was easy to see how talented Wynette's team was.
Honestly, they were just as skilled as Alice's team.
Alice's praise instantly boosted Wynette's confidence.
Now that the final designs were locked in, the next step was speeding up production and preparing the finished pieces. Everything had to look flawless at the runway show.
Wynette knew she needed to push the schedule harder from here on out.
Once work talk was over, the two chatted casually about life for a while before Alice finally left.
Adriel had already gone home after dinner.
When Wynette came downstairs, she noticed Ryker sitting by the window with the chess set Adriel had brought earlier placed neatly in front of him.
From the way he kept staring at it, he clearly couldn't put it down.
Ding! Her phone lit up with a notification.
Wynette took it out. It was a photo from Adriel.
In the picture, his shirt was half open, exposing his bandaged left arm. Blood had already seeped through the gauze.
"My arm can't reach properly. Can you come help me change the dressing?"
The second Wynette saw the bloodstain, she quickly put her phone away.
"Dad, I'm heading out for a bit," she said.
Before Ryker could even ask where she was going, she had already rushed out the door.
Watching her leave, Ryker fell into deep thought.
Wynette kept saying she and Adriel were only friends, but their interactions did not look that simple anymore.
Adriel's side was easy to understand. He had already admitted his feelings and openly said he wanted to pursue her. Naturally, he acted closer to her than usual.
But what about Wynette?
Maybe she hadn't realized it herself yet.
Their relationship had gone beyond ordinary friendship.
At the same time, it didn't feel like they were officially dating either.
It was more like something caught in the middle.
More than friends, but not quite lovers yet.
Ryker couldn't help wondering if Wynette herself understood what was happening between them.
Judging from how clueless she looked, probably not.
Should he point it out to her?
Ryker suddenly found himself conflicted.
Meanwhile, Wynette had no idea her father was stressing over her relationship.
She arrived at Adriel's place and entered the passcode at the door with practiced ease.
Adriel had sent her the password himself.
His excuse was that if he got drunk again someday, it would make it easier for her to bring him home.
And just like that, Wynette had somehow ended up memorizing the passcode to his house.

The moment the words left her mouth, her face instantly burned red. Inside, she was screaming. Seriously? What am I even saying right now?
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