Valeria had her head so buried in the designs that she barely noticed Oli gawking at the drawings.

“Val, these are amazing,” she murmured, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Valeria raised her eyes and smiled.

“Do you like them?”

“I've never seen designs like these before! They're cute but... sexy... Is it even possible? I mean... one would feel virginal and naughty in these!”

“Yes, that's the idea,” Valeria explained.

“You know the CEO is going to collapse when he sees this, don’t you?” Oli warned her.

“Well... if he drops dead in the middle of the meeting we'll save ourselves a lot of headaches,” Valeria said derisively. “Maybe I should have made them more provocative...”

They both laughed, and Oli told her that the meeting was about to start.

Valeria had spent the week locked in her cubicle, and Nick Bennet had spent the week in a fury because he couldn't get the legal grounds to fire her. They had avoided each other as much as possible, but the time had come to present the designs at the meeting and there was no choice but to attend.

She sat in the boardroom in the farthest away seat possible, and as usual, they started with the men's line. The overall style of that studio was sober and elegant, although the women's line was highlighted by some very casual summer designs that everyone liked very much.

Finally, it was the lingerie department’s turn and Valeria hugged her designs file with excitement. She had worked so hard on that little collection that she had barely slept. She was exhausted, but it had been worth it. It was a collection of bras, thongs, garter belts, and stockings sets for newlyweds, tender and sensual, and in colors ranging from white to fuchsia.

She could see many designers smiled with interest as she presented the fabrics, patterns and sketches.

“What is this supposed to be?” Nick suddenly interrupted her and the silence in the room was overwhelming.

“It's a collection for “Wedding Nights”—” Valeria tried to explain, but Nick didn't let her continue.

“And do you think there's any bride who would want to wear something as vulgar as that?” he chided her in front of everyone and Valeria swallowed dryly because she had more than thirty pairs of eyes on her.

“These designs are not vulgar, they are beautiful” she said, defending herself. “They are delicate enough to be worn by a bride, and they are sensual enough to make her husband want to sleep with her, because in case you don't know, that is the purpose of a wedding night.”

Very low murmurs spread throughout the room and there were those who looked at her with pity and those who looked at her with admiration for daring to speak to the CEO like that.

“You seem to have misunderstood the concept of this design studio, Miss Williams,” said Nick with a sneer, getting up from his chair and approaching her. “We are a serious company. Our collections are made with elegant, sophisticated women in mind, not strippers!”

He threw the designs on the table as if they were nothing, and her heart shrank at the thought of all the effort she had put into those sketches.

“Well, even sophisticated women like to feel sexy, I assure you,” Valeria replied. “People are not just black or white, Mr. Bennet. There are many elegant women who would feel great wearing these designs...”

“And when did you have so much time to live with elegant women, Miss Williams?” Nick mocked, humiliating her in front of everyone. “Because if I remember your work record correctly, you come from a public university...”

Valeria felt a lump in her throat and blushed. She didn't keep her education a secret, but lately it felt like a stigma, and having the CEO use it to embarrass her in front of her peers made her feel small, unworthy of the work she did. She gritted her teeth to hold back her tears, and Nick, seeing that he had found her weak spot, didn't stop.

“These designs are mediocre, and the thinking that went into them must be too. The choice of fabrics is poor, the necklines are old-fashioned, and... there's nothing elegant about them, nothing refined. Tell me something: what do you think a man will think when he sees his wife wearing a bra as vulgar as this one?” he asked scornfully.

“I don't know, you tell me! You spent ten minutes looking at mine a week ago!” said Valeria, unable to contain herself, pointing to her blouse. One day she was going to die for her big mouth, but she couldn't let herself be abused like that, and she enjoyed Nick's paper-like lividness. “Or were you looking at my breasts instead of the bra design, Mr. Bennet?”

Nick didn't even have to order it. The designers stood up like a frightened flock of sheep and ran out of the boardroom. That's where the next atomic bomb was going to go off and they could all feel it! The murmurs ranged from laughter to outrage, but Valeria didn't care, Nick had humiliated her enough anyway. What the rest of the designers thought at that point didn't matter to her. He, on the other hand, seemed on the verge of a fit of rage.

“To my office! Now!” he roared through his teeth, storming out of there.

“You don’t say,” replied Valeria, unable to keep quiet.

She picked up her designs and followed him into the office, stamping her heels loudly.

“How dare you?” Nick shook her as soon as he closed the door, grabbing her by the arm.

“If you value your genitals, I suggest you let go of me,” Valeria replied, tensing her body and looking him in the eye. “I don't know what kind of women you're used to, but I'm not one to be abused.”

Nick let her go with a growl.

“What you just did is grossly disrespectful! And clear grounds for dismissal—”

“And what did you expect? That I would let myself be insulted by you in front of everyone?” asked Valeria. “If you didn't like the designs, that's what your office is for, you could have called over me and told me. I don't mind being corrected, but leaders don't humiliate their employees publicly.”

“Now you're going to tell me how to do my job, too?!”

“It doesn't even look like you’re doing one.”

Nick moved dangerously close to her, but Valeria didn't take a single step back. They were within four inches of each other, both breathing angrily. It was more than obvious that they couldn't tolerate each other and yet Valeria's lips trembled over clenched teeth and Nick couldn't help but avert his gaze to her mouth.

“That collection is garbage...” he grunted, lowering his head and challenging her with his eyes.

“Your opinion is irrelevant to me,” Valeria replied.

“I'm your boss...”

“But you are not a man.” Nick's expression turned into an angry mask. “I have yet to meet a man who wouldn't like to see a woman in sexy lingerie.”

“Not every man needs a whore in his bed,” Nick replied with a sneer, “but I'm not arguing you know a lot of men.”

He took a couple of steps back, laughing with derision, and looked her up and down as if she were a small insect.

“Excuse me?” Valeria slurred her letters in indignation.

“Well... I can tell you're a flirt, you don't have much shame since you don't mind undressing in a bathroom in front of a stranger, and your daughter…”

Valeria's face filled with consternation.

“What does Alice have to do with this?!”

“Well... for a young girl like you, to have a child of that age without being married... I imagine you must have been a troublemaker when you were a child,” he attacked. “At least you should have married later... I mean, to keep up appearances, because the rest of your character is impossible to hide.”

Valeria cared little that he thought Alice was his daughter, but to hear him talk like that was as if he were talking about her own mother, who had had her, all alone, when she was a young girl.

“No one has the right to judge the situation in which a woman has her children, least of all a man... And least of all a man like you!” she replied fiercely. “I won't let you to offend me anymore!”

“And I will not accept threats from easy women!”

The sound felt sharp. Sharp, hard, and it echoed throughout the office. Nick's face was turned by the force of that slap, and when he turned around angrily he met angry, tear-filled eyes.

“You don't know how difficult I can be, Nick,” she said angrily, addressing him by name for the first time.