For a moment, she looked into my face.
Then she whispered, "I thought you'd be older."
I laughed.
"People keep saying that."
She smiled.
Then her expression softened.
"Your clothes are beautiful."
I felt tears gather.
"Thank you."
She squeezed my hand.
"But next time, honey, make sure the people manufacturing them get treated as beautifully as the people wearing them."
I nodded.
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
Then I answered quietly.
"That's exactly what I'm trying to do."
The first evidence of a much larger problem arrived before midnight.
Our quality-control director had been comparing shipping records with the approved factory list.
Several garment codes didn't match.
A material certificate contained inconsistent supplier information.
And a delivery note referred to a production facility that had never appeared in the contract.
The director called me into a small conference room near the hotel kitchen.
Our chief operating officer was already there.
So was our outside lawyer.
They looked serious.
I sat.
"What have we found?"
The quality director placed several documents on the table.
She was a Black American woman in her forties, with short natural hair and an extraordinary ability to recognize manufacturing inconsistencies from very little information.
She pointed toward a shipment record.
"These garments were received from a facility that wasn't on the approved list."
I nodded.
"The seamstresses told me."
She continued.
"We've also found indications that an intermediate contractor may have transferred part of the work without proper disclosure."
I looked toward the lawyer.
"Does that breach the agreement?"
She answered carefully.
"It may. We need to establish the full facts and review the specific provisions. The unapproved changes and withheld documentation already provide a substantial basis for withholding the release pending verification."
I nodded.
The quality director turned another page.
"There's more."
I looked toward her.
She hesitated.
"One employee contacted us anonymously last week about unpaid overtime at a facility connected to the collection."
My stomach tightened.
"Why didn't I see that report?"
She looked uncomfortable.
"It was routed through the investor's supplier compliance office first."
I stared.
Our chief operating officer leaned forward.
"The report should have come directly to our team."
The director nodded.
"I agree."
I took a breath.
"Do we know whether the allegations are accurate?"
"Not yet."
She looked toward the documents.
"But the dates and facility information correspond with the irregular shipping records."
I stared.
For months, I had negotiated labor protections into the licensing agreement.
Now someone might have bypassed them.
Worse, the investor's team had apparently been aware of a concern and had not promptly disclosed it.
I looked toward the lawyer.
"What are our next steps?"
She outlined them.
Preserve all relevant records.
Notify the contractual counterparty formally.