198 Lost Phone
+15 BONUS
Chapter 198 Lost Phone
Daniel showed up at the studio looking like he’d crawled out of a drain.
Dark circles under his eyes, collar wrinkled, hair stiff from not being washed.
He threw a brittle grin at Priya as he walked past her.
“Morning, Mirabelle.” His face brightened the second he saw me.
“Morning.” I was halfway to my desk when Priya came pounding up the stairs.
“Mirabelle! Got an invite this morning. Some forum thing. You want to go?”
She shoved her phone between me and Daniel.
The screen showed a blocky logo with tiny stars and that over–familiar glassy–blue background everyone used for corporate invites.
“Constellation Gem & Jade Forum,” I read. “Heard of it. They’re holding it in Sunset City this year. Not far.”
Despite the name, it wasn’t exactly the Met Gala of gemstones.
But the guest list caught my eye.
Right under the name of an industry heavyweight was my uni advisor, the only professor I’d ever liked.
“They’re offering you five minutes on stage,” Priya said. “You’d talk about your design approach, plug the studio, maybe tease some new pieces. But they said it’s not mandatory. You can just sit in the crowd and still get full travel and hotel covered, same perks as the other speakers. And they’ll pay for two.”
I didn’t have to think long.
“If they’re footing the bill, I’m not saying no. You’re coming with me.”
Priya pressed a fist to her mouth and coughed twice. Her voice came out scratchy. “I’ve got a cold. Might have to skip it…”
She did sound rougher than yesterday.
Besides, I doubted she wanted to sit in a crowd and risk being dragged into small talk.
Daniel piped up, “Take me instead. I wanna see what this stuff’s like.”
I shrugged. “Fine. It’s not coming out of my pocket.”
“Yes!” He grinned.
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Chapter 198 Lost Phone
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Three days later, we caught the morning flight to Sunset City.
Someone from the forum met us at the airport and drove us straight to the hotel.
I’d already decided I’d use the five–minute speaking slot.
The forum wasn’t open to the public, but the seats would be filled with people who actually mattered–buyers, curators, gallery heads, other designers.
I wrote my remarks on the plane, rehearsed in the room that night.
Before the event began, I arranged to visit Professor Veldman.
He still carried the same chipped coffee mug with him, even when traveling, and had the same habit of looking up when speaking, as if he were talking to the sky.
I stayed for forty–three minutes and left with three new notes and a reminder to speak slower.
The forum itself was held inside the hotel.
There was a table by the doors where everyone had to surrender phones and laptops to prevent leaks of new, unreleased designs.
My time slot didn’t come until late.
By then, the lights had made the room stuffy and most of the audience looked like they’d rather be horizontal.
I stepped up anyway, gripped the edge of the podium, and spoke loud and clear.
After I stepped down, I’d barely walked five meters before the name cards started coming.
By the end of the night, I’d tucked nearly a hundred into my bag.
Forewarned by Professor Veldman, I’d prepared a stack of my own cards and handed them out to those I wanted to have further conversations with.
All in all, the first night was a success.
But Daniel’s face didn’t seem to agree.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He looked pissed off and guilty at the same time. Your phone’s gone. Someone stole it.”
I blinked. “Come again?”
“Gone. Vanished. The organizers just pulled me aside. They think a cleaner took it.”
“You’re telling me someone managed to steal a one from a table guarded by three staff? In a five–star hotel?”
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Chapter 198 Lost Phono
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“Yes.” Daniel shoved a hand through his hair. “Three phones were nicked. Yours included. Some guy dressed like housekeeping slipped them right under their noses. Staff only realized when someone else went to get theirs and couldnt find it. They checked the footage. Bloke in uniform, fake badge, walked straight out.”
“And no one stopped him?”
“They were half–asleep, Mira. Sitting there for hours doing nothing. He could’ve danced out singing show tunes and no one would’ve noticed. Hotel’s claiming he wasn’t one of theirs. They’ve got no idea who he is.”
I bit down on my tongue so I wouldn’t say anything that would get me escorted out. When we reached the front, a man in a blazer and cufflinks was shouting at the poor girl behind the table.
He gestured wildly at the empty space where his phone should’ve been.
“Unbelievable,” he roared. “You think an apology is going to fix this?”
I would have yelled, too, if it would accomplish anything.
The security footage showed the exact thing Daniel had described.
A man in a cleaner’s uniform glided past the hotel staff with a mop in one hand and three stolen phones in the other.
He didn’t even slow his step as he swept them off the table.
I exhaled sharply and pressed my palm to my forehead. “There were unreleased sketches on that phone. What am I supposed to do now?”
The girl behind the table looked like she was seconds from collapsing.
Her name tag read Madison.
“I’m so sorry, Miss Vance. We’ve reported it. The police are involved. We’ll do everything we can to recover it. We’ll compensate you, of course A new phone, but there’s a delay in procurement. We don’t have a spare device at the moment… but we promise you’ll get the newest model before the end of the expo. Three days, tops.”
She looked about twenty, and already halfway through a breakdown.
Tearing into her wouldn’t get me my sketches back.
I turned to leave, but Daniel stepped in front of me and held out his phone.
“Just got a message from the organizers. They want us at the dinner tonight. Same guest list
as the panel. Speakers, sponsors, etc. Your mentor’s going to be there too.”
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Chapter 198 Lost Phone
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“Prof Veldman?”
He nodded. “It’s next door, upstairs. Private room.”
We’d agreed to the dinner when signing up.
I couldn’t back out now.
I told Madison to send updates if they tracked the phone, promised not to press charges as long as they handled it.
Walking into that banquet without a phone was worse than I’d expected.
Everyone else had theirs out, scanning QR codes, swapping contacts.
I had nothing in my hands.
My pockets were empty.
The weight of it hit me like I’d forgotten a vital limb.
No device meant no messages, no calls, no camera, no access to my cloud folders.
I couldn’t reach anyone; I couldn’t be reached.
But the room buzzed with talk, and I kept pace.
Professor Veldman spotted me halfway through the appetizers and pulled me over.
Within minutes, he’d introduced me to three gallery owners, two tech founders, and a hedge fund heiress with sapphire nails and a limited edition Birkin.
I borrowed Daniel’s phone to log their numbers.
