Chapter 79

Chapter 79

I handed my design journal to Alan and said, "Mr. Fields, please take a look. My design has a complete timeline, and I worked out every single detail bit by bit."

Alan took the design journal and flipped through it page by page, his expression growing more and more serious.

Sophia's face, however, grew paler and paler. She hadn't expected me to have a design journal.

Sophia was still struggling, saying, "Even if you have a design journal, it doesn't prove you didn't plagiarize! Maybe you saw my design draft and deliberately faked the design journal afterward."

"Enough!" I interrupted her, pulling out one sheet from my design draft and pointing to an inconspicuous corner, saying, "Sophia, look here."

Everyone leaned in closer. On the inner side of the bracelet's pattern, there was an extremely tiny letter "L" that they couldn't notice unless they looked carefully.

I said, "This is my signature mark. Since I started doing design work, I've always had the habit of leaving my initials in hidden spots on my pieces. This 'L' is my signature. Does your design draft have one?"

Sophia froze. She looked at the "L" on my design draft, her face instantly turning deathly pale.

Her design draft had no signature at all, because she'd never had this habit.

Sophia became angry from embarrassment, pointing at me and saying, "You... you're cheating! Who knows if you added it later!"

I said calmly, "Mr. Fields can verify that this signature is embedded in the pattern of the design draft, integrated with the lines—it wasn't added later. Plus, my design journal also mentions adding a signature mark in a hidden location."

Alan nodded and said, "Indeed, this signature is integrated with the design draft, not added afterward. Sophia, your accusation has no evidence. On the contrary, Layla has a complete design timeline and a signature mark, which is enough to prove her design is original."

Sophia's body swayed. She hadn't expected her carefully planned accusation to be so easily resolved by me. 

Looking at the questioning eyes of her colleagues around her, she was both angry and anxious, but couldn't say a word.

"Sophia, you've falsely accused a colleague of plagiarism and damaged someone's reputation. According to company policy, you should apologize to Layla," Alan said.

Sophia shrieked, "I won't apologize! I did nothing wrong! She used tricks to beat me! Why should I apologize?"

I looked at her and said, "Because you wrongly accused me. Sophia, you must apologize to me. This isn't just for me, it's also to maintain fairness in the company."

Sophia stiffened her neck and continued to be unreasonable, saying, "I just won't apologize! What can you do about it? Layla, don't think winning the competition makes you so great. Let me tell you, in this company, it's not your turn to speak!"

She stepped forward and reached out to push me. I instinctively stepped back and dodged her hand.

"Sophia, what do you think you're doing?" Selina quickly stood in front of me, glaring at her.

Sophia said excitedly, "What am I doing? I want to let her know that not just any trash can survive in this company! She's a newcomer with no background and no credentials, and she dares to compete with me—I think she has a death wish!"

I looked at her coldly. "Whether I'm qualified to stay here isn't for you to decide. I won the competition with my own skills. You maliciously accused me of plagiarism, and now you want to get physical—do you think the company belongs to your family?"

Sophia was left speechless by what I said. She was furious but didn't dare to actually hit me.

Alan was still watching from the side. If she really got physical, the consequences would be even worse.

Just then, my phone rang.

I took out my phone and saw "Matthew" displayed on the screen. Why would he suddenly call me?

I walked to the side and answered the call.

"Layla, it's me. I heard you ran into some trouble at the company?" Matthew's gentle voice came through.

I asked, somewhat surprised, "How did you know?"

Matthew said, "I have a friend near your company who noticed the atmosphere seemed off and asked around. Alan is my college classmate, and we also have business cooperation. I already called him and told him to handle things fairly and not let you be wronged."

I hadn't expected Matthew to care so much about me, even specially calling Alan. "Yes, just ran into a small issue. It's nothing. I need to get back to work."

After hanging up, I returned to the conference room.

Alan glanced at me, then said to Sophia, "Sophia, given that you falsely accused a colleague of plagiarism and also attempted to physically assault someone, the company has decided to penalize you: deduction of this month's bonus and one formal warning. If there's a next time, you'll be fired immediately."

Sophia looked at Alan in disbelief and said, "Mr. Fields, how can you treat me like this? I'm a senior designer at the company!"

Alan said coldly, "No matter what your position is, you have to follow the rules at the company. This penalty decision won't change. If you're not satisfied, you can appeal to HR."

Sophia was furious. Appealing now would be useless—Alan always meant what he said. She glared at me fiercely, then turned and ran out of the conference room.

I thought this matter would end there, but unexpectedly, not long after, the HR manager came rushing over with a grave expression and said to Alan, "Mr. Fields, we have a problem. Sophia's brother is here, downstairs, and says he wants to see you."

Alan frowned and said, "Sophia's brother? What's he here for?"

"He says if the company doesn't fire Layla, he'll terminate his company's partnership with us," the HR manager said.

I hadn't expected Sophia's brother to actually be one of our company's partners. This was trouble.

Sophia's brother, Samuel Larson, was the owner of a large jewelry processing factory. Many of our company's products were processed at his factory, and the partnership had always been close.

I'd also heard that Sophia got into the company because of Samuel's relationship with Alan.

Alan's expression also turned ugly. He and Samuel weren't just business partners—they had a good personal relationship too.

Now, Samuel was threatening to terminate their partnership and demanding that he fire me. He was truly in a difficult position.

"Let him come up," Alan said after a moment of silence.

Before long, a middle-aged man in a suit, looking aggressive, walked in, followed by a tearful Sophia.

"Alan, long time no see." Samuel walked up to Alan with a dark expression.

"Samuel, what brings you here?" Alan forced a smile.

"If I didn't come, my sister would be bullied extremely by you!"

Samuel pointed at me and said furiously, "It's her, Layla? A newcomer with no background and no credentials dares to bully my sister and even got the company to penalize her? I'm telling you, Alan, today you must fire her, or our partnership ends right here!"