Chapter 55
I was still sound asleep when Nola called.
The vibration woke Levi up first. He wanted to let me sleep a bit longer, but Nola kept calling, so he had to wake me.
"Your phone."
Levi poked my arm.
I rubbed my eyes. This was the first time Nola, who loved sleeping in even more than I, had called so early.
"Hello?"
"Blair, wake up! A new company released its product last night, and it's exactly like ours."
I was instantly wide awake.
"Released last night? What time?"
"Early morning, around midnight, I think."
"How did you find out?"
"I came home late from drinking last night and couldn't sleep, so I chatted with our company's operations person. We're launching today, so I was a bit excited."
"Then we got more and more excited talking, and she discovered that the company had released an almost identical design."
My mind was in chaos. How could something like this happen out of the blue?
The company had always been very careful about confidentiality. Nothing like this had ever happened before.
"Is there a mole?"
"I don't know. We've never had a leak before."
Nola was anxious, too. This was the result of all our hard work over this period, refined again and again.
"Go back to the office first and check the surveillance footage."
"From my office?"
"Yes, go behind the curtain and check that camera. I installed it."
"When did you do that?"
"Don't ask now, I just wanted to be safe."
"You're so smart."
I hung up with Nola and quickly got out of bed.
Levi rolled over and sat up.
"What happened?"
"Nothing, just something urgent at the company. I need to go. You keep sleeping, it's still early."
This was the time when Nola would normally be catching up on sleep. If she hadn't been too excited to sleep, the consequences a few hours later would have been serious.
The product launch was today. The company had already scheduled all the departments. I had set an alarm, but now it looked like we'd definitely have to cancel.
I quickly washed up and rushed to the office. Nola had already pulled up the surveillance footage.
As soon as I arrived, she showed me the video.
In the footage, Jessa's friend Xanthe and an assistant from the design department entered Nola's office together.
They opened Nola's computer and copied the designs.
Nola was so angry that she almost crushed her phone. "Blair, they're so bold! I never thought anyone would dare touch my stuff."
"You can't be too careful. I told you before, after a while, you need to screen your people."
"How could that little assistant be so bold? She'd only been in my office once, and she dared to steal on her first visit!"
I shrugged helplessly. "When you make the pie bigger, everyone wants a piece, even just the scraps. Besides, this is so tempting—the company's big bet for next quarter. Who wouldn't be interested?"
"But it's illegal!"
I thought about it. If it were just a small assistant and that designer, they wouldn't have enough startup capital. The company was newly registered, so there must be a big boss behind it.
"Did you find out who the company's legal representative is?"
Just now, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
"Ms. Skye, we just found information on that company. It was registered a week ago, and the legal representative is Jessa Greer."
Jessa!
Even though I'd guessed it, I was still shocked when it was confirmed. She'd hurt me several times before, and now she was going after my company?
Even if she was targeting me, plagiarism is illegal, and this was blatant theft.
"Blair, this Jessa is something else. Why does she always use such dirty tricks?"
"If I'm not mistaken, she's probably celebrating right now. In just a few hours, people have probably already approached her about partnerships."
Nola was speechless. "But this is illegal. If we sue her, she's done for."
"I'll handle it. Just organize the evidence and send it to me later."
Jessa had called home before, so I got her number from Indigo. She answered right away, and when I said we should meet, she agreed.
She seemed to still be enjoying the thrill of making money, completely unaware of the huge crime she'd committed.
We agreed to meet at her place. When my car pulled up, the headlights shone in her eyes, and she instinctively shielded them.
When she saw me open the car door, she got in.
"What do you want?"
"Up all night?"
I noticed her dark circles, but she seemed to be in a good mood.
"Yeah."
"Someone approached you about signing a deal?"
Jessa was shocked. "How did you know?"
"You stole someone else's design, and you're not even embarrassed?"
"I didn't steal. I released it first, so it's mine."
"You have no shame."
Before coming, I'd printed out copies of the evidence. It was more direct that way.
I tossed it in Jessa's hands. "Black and white. Don't even think about denying it."
Jessa flipped through page by page, her face turning green.
"How is this possible? They said there wouldn't be any trace..."
I'd thought Jessa was pretty calculating, but she was nowhere near Arabella's level. Just a few pages of paper, and she was scared to death.
"Did you think you could just copy someone else's work, register a company, and make money?"
Jessa clutched her chest. "Blair, don't try to trick me. These are people from your company. They offered it to me."
"You're the legal representative. What do you think they'll say?"
"They..."
I really had to admire Jessa's stupidity. How could she think things were so simple?
"What do you want?"
I rubbed my cheek. "Our company invested so much in this collection. Now that you've copied it, it's ruined. You have to cover all the losses."
"You're just a secretary. This isn't your place to handle, is it?"
"Nola gave me full authority."
Seeing she had no intention of admitting fault, I didn't want to waste time.
"If you don't agree to compensation, I'll sue you until you're bankrupt!"
"You!"
Jessa was shocked. She grabbed the seat back, pointed at my nose, and cursed, "Blair, don't get too full of yourself. I'm not discussing this with you."
"Fine, then you can discuss it with lawyers, or with the police."
Jessa was shaking with anger.
"Get out!"
"Blair, you're just settling personal scores. You know Levi treats me well, so you target me everywhere. I don't believe Nola is as heartless as you."
"What relationship do you have with Nola?"
I sneered. "Jessa, is your brain short-circuiting? You've already committed a crime. What are you still arguing about? Get out of my car!"
Jessa jumped out of the car, glaring at me viciously. "Don't think I'm afraid of you. You came to my house to threaten me—you really have nothing better to do!"
I locked the door and watched her curse at me wildly. She wouldn't be able to act so arrogantly much longer...