It was some dirty trick played by an insider

"Bro, where is Alice? She didn't show up."

Daniel read the message over and over again. He, himself, had seen her leaving this morning and even saw her enter the hall in the live stream. He stood up and was deciding to leave or not to leave. Just then, he heard a bang on the door and a voice was raised, "Daniel? Are you there? Can I come in?"

Recognizing the voice as Amy's, Daniel immediately let her in, "Yeah, come in."

"Daniel, I think Alice is in trouble", Amy hurriedly explained, "She entered the venue but didn't appear onstage. I find it very strange."

"Yeah, I saw her too", he nodded at her words, "But Eddie doesn't even know that she was there."

"What?" Amy shot him a quizzical expression.

"Yeah, see this", He showed Amy the message from Eddie that came earlier.

"This is quite bad", Amy spoke up, "We must hurry before word gets out."

Daniel nodded and both of them rushed outside.

---

Hotel River Flint

Conference hall

Eddie's palms were quite sweaty with the addition that Alice hadn't shown up yet. Soon, it would be her time to speak.

"So, you are now free to ask any questions. Right, Miss Eddie?" Riley gestured towards Eddie. She took a deep breath and nodded. Then, she faced the media with a confident smile, "Hello, my dear friends of media. Before I present you with the final pieces of evidence. You are welcome to ask any questions and clarify your doubts."

A female reporter stood up and spoke, "Miss Eddie, why do you put the logo as your base? To show loyalty?"

"No", Eddie shook her head and smiled, "It has nothing to do with loyalty. It is just to maintain the originality of our designs."

The female reporter nodded satisfactorily and took her seat.

This time, a male reporter stood up, "Where is Miss Alice? She didn't show up on stage while we saw her enter a few moments back."

Eddie furrowed her brows at his question before she glanced at Riley. He as well as Eddie was confused. They were not aware of Alice's arrival!

Just then, a girl arrived panting on stage and whispered something to Eddie while the crowd erupted with whispers. She whispered something to Eddie and hurriedly disappeared from the stage. After that, Eddie turned towards the crowd and bowed slightly, "Sorry for the inconvenience. We were not informed of her arrival because she had accidentally sprained her ankle and thus the attendant got busy with her."

"So, shall we begin the next part of our conference?" Eddie asked carefully.

The crowd erupted with a positive response.

...

"First things first", Eddie spoke in a firm voice, "To be precise, my designs were stolen the night before. And, it was obvious that it was some dirty trick played by an insider."

The staff present there had their backs straightened and jaw tightened, especially Millie. She had taken leave for a few days so that there are no suspicions about her. She had a bad feeling listening to Eddie speak so confidently.