“Clara, something’s happened at your company!” Louisa shouted over the phone, jolting Clara, who still hadn’t fully regained consciousness.
The woman woke up at once. Her eyes squeezed shut for a moment as her head began to throb. “What is it?”
“Your company’s been accused of plagiarizing a design. Get to the office, quickly! Everyone needs you!” Louisa didn’t have time to explain over the phone. She was trying to stop the media from pushing public opinion further in a negative direction.
Clara didn’t have time to think, either. She immediately got up, cleaned herself up, and changed clothes as quickly as she could. As she jogged toward the basement, she called her secretary, only to discover that there were already a great many missed calls. She told her she was on her way.
So by the time she arrived at the company, Feli Sylvia was already waiting for her and explained, “Ma’am, we suddenly started getting a lot of calls from the media regarding the plagiarism you allegedly committed. It’s about the luxury mansion design we’re planning to release this month.”
“Do they have proof?” Clara asked, quickening her pace.
“A courier delivered some documents earlier. They contain printed designs dated earlier than ours. There’s also email evidence showing that you received a confidential file,” Feli answered.
Clara didn’t respond. She quickened her pace, with Feli following close behind. Everyone was in a panic. They hurried back and forth as ringing phones overlapped and people demanded explanations. It would’ve been a lie to say Clara’s heart wasn’t pounding right now. In reality, she had already broken out in a cold sweat. This was the first time in her life she had ever faced a problem like this. Still, she tried to remain calm so they could resolve everything.
“Show me the evidence!” Clara ordered as soon as they reached her office.
Feli immediately picked up the brown folder that was already lying on Clara’s desk and handed it to her. “Here, ma’am.”
Clara opened it at once. She examined it carefully, and it really did list a design creation date three months earlier than hers.
Then she hurried to turn on her computer. Her eyes instantly widened when she saw a file she had never seen before. “How did this get here?”
Clara’s heart began pounding even harder. It would be difficult to turn things around if this file were found on her computer.
“Alfred, Clara’s in serious trouble!” Cecilia shouted, thrusting her phone—which displayed the news about Clara’s plagiarism case—toward Alfred, who was busy editing.
The man promptly looked at it. He was shocked, but when he remembered what his friends had said, he neutralized his expression and looked at them.
“Why are you looking at us? Hurry up, grab your things, and go,” Jasper said.
“Exactly! Go, now! There’s no time left! Clara’s situation is getting worse!” Cecilia shouted impatiently.
Alfred suddenly came to his senses, grabbed his bag, and ran out, saying, “Please book me the earliest flight.”
However, even though he managed to get a ticket on the earliest flight, the journey would still take around seven to eight hours. Meanwhile, Clara was already in a meeting room with the board.
“I truly did not plagiarize anything in any way. This was entirely my own idea,” Clara said, trying to defend herself.
“Then what about the evidence? Not only is the creation date earlier, but your computer also contains a confidential file that was sent one month after the opposing design’s creation date,” one of them retorted, cornering Clara even further.
Clara fell silent. She also found it difficult to prove her innocence under these circumstances. Her mind suddenly went blank. This was her design, the pure product of her own thoughts, but for some reason, she was having trouble finding any supporting evidence to prove it.
“Clara!”