Chapter 33. We Are In

Camila’s phone buzzed insistently against the glass surface of her desk, the sound sharp and demanding in the quiet of her studio. The room was bathed in the soft glow of her overhead lights, casting long shadows across the carefully organized chaos of sketches, fabric swatches, and half-finished prototypes. Without a moment’s hesitation, she snatched the device up, her heart hammering with anticipation. The screen lit up with an email notification, cutting straight through the tension: her entry had advanced to the finals.

“Unbelievable,” she whispered to herself, a slow grin spreading across her face. The words felt almost too small to contain the surge of triumph that coursed through her. This was the culmination of months of painstaking work, sleepless nights, and relentless revisions—the sweet taste of victory now teasing the edges of her reality. She pressed the email open again, savoring the official language of succ