My Best Friend Stole My Fiancé and My Beauty Empire

"The accounts are frozen, Iris. All of them." Maya slammed a stack of red-stamped bank notices onto my glass desk.

"Carter's legal team moved fast," I said, flipping through the top file. "What's our current operating balance?"

"Zero. They pulled the credit lines an hour ago." Maya crossed her arms, her jaw tight. "The factory in Jersey just halted the winter palette production. They want cash upfront."

"I'll liquidate my personal portfolio," I said, reaching for my laptop. "It should cover the factory deposit. We just need the initial run to hit the shelves."

"You don't understand," Maya interrupted, her voice dropping. "There is no product to manufacture."

I stopped typing. "David confirmed the final mix yesterday."

"David is gone, Iris. He cleared out his lab at dawn."

I stared at her. My chest tightened, a sharp squeeze against my ribs. "David? He's been with me since day one."

"He's with Serena now," Maya said. "She offered the entire R&D department triple their salaries. They all walked. Even the junior techs."

A harsh laugh escaped my throat. Serena hadn't just taken my fiancé; she had gutted my life's work from the inside out.

I picked up my phone and dialed David’s private number.

He answered on the second ring. "Iris. I figured you'd call."

"You cleared out your desk?" I asked, keeping my tone perfectly flat.

"Serena offered me equity in *Aura Beauty*," David replied, sounding immediately defensive. "I have a mortgage, Iris. I need security."

"You signed a non-compete clause, David."

"Carter's legal team voided it this morning. They cited a breach of contract on your end due to insolvency." A heavy sigh filtered through the speaker. "I'm sorry. It's just business."

"Did you take the winter formula with you?"

Silence stretched over the line.

"David. Did you take my formula?"

"Serena said it was her intellectual property," he muttered. "She said she developed the concept."

"You know she didn't."

"Don't call me again, Iris."

The line clicked dead.

I tossed the phone onto the desk. The metallic thud echoed in the quiet office.

"What about the marketing influencers?" I asked Maya.

"Four breach-of-contract notices came through while you were in the elevator," she replied, rubbing her temples. "They're jumping ship to *Aura Beauty*. The PR agency dropped us too. LUMERIA is completely paralyzed."

I stood up, pushing the bank notices aside. Panic wanted to claw its way up my throat, but I forced it down.

"Who is still here?" I asked.

"Me. Two interns. And Julian from graphic design."

"Get them in the conference room."

"Iris, it's over. We have no money and no team."

"We have the brand," I shot back, grabbing my tablet. "I memorized the winter palette specs. We own the patent rights. If we can get a prototype made at a boutique lab, I can pitch it to independent investors by Friday."

Maya didn't move. "You really want to fight Carter Voss?"

"I'm not fighting Carter. I'm saving my company. Now get Julian."

Ten minutes later, the four of us stood around the mahogany conference table. Julian looked pale, clutching a paper coffee cup like a lifeline.

"We pivot to a smaller launch," I told them, projecting the brand deck onto the wall monitor. "Direct to consumer. Cut out the middleman. We leverage the existing email list."

Julian cleared his throat. "Iris... have you checked the industry feeds this morning?"

"I've been a little busy getting evicted from my own bank accounts, Julian. Why?"

He didn't answer. He just tapped his phone screen and mirrored it to the wall monitor.

A live broadcast filled the room.

Serena stood on a brightly lit stage, wearing a tailored white suit. The *Aura Beauty* logo gleamed behind her in gold lettering. Flashbulbs illuminated her flawless makeup.

"Our debut collection is inspired by the raw chill of winter," Serena spoke into a sleek microphone. "We're calling it the Frost & Fire line."

My stomach dropped. Frost & Fire. That was my working title.

"We formulated a unique binding agent," Serena continued, flashing a brilliant smile at the crowd. "It keeps the pigment rich even in freezing temperatures."

"That's our binding agent," Julian whispered, his eyes wide. "That's David's exact formula."

"She stole it," Maya said, her voice rising in disbelief. "She actually stole the entire launch."

On screen, the crowd erupted into applause. Serena held up a hand, her massive diamond ring catching the stage lights.

"For too long, I was held back by small-minded partners who lacked vision," Serena purred into the mic. "But I finally have the support to bring true innovation to the market. I couldn't have built this without my rock. Carter, come up here."

Carter walked into the frame. He wore the navy suit I bought him for his birthday last year. He wrapped an arm around Serena’s waist, pulling her close.

"Serena is a visionary," Carter told the crowd, his tone smooth, commanding. "Voss Industries is proud to fully back *Aura Beauty*. We believe in her talent, and I believe in her."

He kissed her cheek. The cameras flashed in a blinding frenzy.

"LUMERIA was just a stepping stone," Carter added, looking directly into the main camera lens. "The real future of cosmetics is standing right here."

I reached forward and hit the power button on the monitor. The screen went black.

Silence hung heavy in the conference room.

The double betrayal sliced deep. Watching Carter parade his new life, funding the very woman who robbed me blind, burned worse than the breakup. He knew exactly what Serena had done. He funded the theft. He stood on that stage and erased my seven years of hard work with a single sentence.

"They took everything," one of the interns muttered, sounding close to tears.

I placed my hands flat on the table. The cold wood grounded me.

"They took the formula," I said, my voice steady. "They took the staff. But they didn't take me."

Maya looked up. "Iris, they have Voss Industries backing them. They have millions in capital. We have nothing."

"We have a clean slate," I corrected her. "David’s formula was good, but it was expensive to produce. We'll make something better. Something faster."

Julian set his coffee down. "With what money? Carter froze the accounts."

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out.

An unknown number flashed on the screen. Not Carter. Not Serena.

It was the contact I had dialed from the elevator earlier that morning. The man Carter despised more than anyone else in the city. The man who nearly bought out Voss Industries two years ago.

"With his money," I said, answering the call.

"Iris Hale," a deep, gravelly voice echoed through the speaker. "You have exactly one minute to tell me why you're calling my private line."

"I need five million dollars, Mr. Thorne," I said, staring at my reflection in the dark monitor. "And I know exactly how you can use it to humiliate Carter Voss."

A low chuckle vibrated through the receiver.

"You have my attention, Miss Hale," Thorne said. "Meet me at the Continental Club in twenty minutes. Don't be late."