Chapter 44 Head-to-head
By the end, Cynthia was already choking up and couldn't speak.
Chris hugged her with concern, his anger toward Joanna growing even stronger.
"No wonder she suddenly came back to the villa today, saying you touched her stuff. She's just jealous of your talent, so she deliberately put Y's work there! Maybe she's even the one who reported the plagiarism!"
Chris's anger only grew as he spoke.
Seeing how well her story was working, Cynthia let a couple of tears slip down her cheeks. "Why... why is she doing this to me?"
Chris was furious inside. He poured Cynthia a glass of water, then got up and went out to call Joanna.
Joanna was already asleep after being busy all day. Woken by the phone, she answered impatiently.
"Joanna!" Chris roared directly. "How can you be so cruel? Why did you frame Cynthia for plagiarism? Her competition entry doesn't just represent herself—it's key to Cooper Corporation's entire transformation!"
Joanna woke right up. She checked the call screen—it was indeed Chris—and couldn't hold back her anger. "I framed her for plagiarism? I left that draft in my studio. Did I tell her to go steal it and use it? Chris, just to protect Cynthia, do you have to humiliate me like this?"
Chris didn't care about any of that. He said coldly, "You need to come to the company right now to apologize to Cynthia, then figure out a solution. Otherwise, I'll refuse to invest in Jones Corp!"
Joanna wasn't going to be threatened by a simple refusal to invest.
But she also wanted to ask Cynthia face-to-face why she stole her work!
So Joanna immediately washed her face, grabbed her things, and left.
Because it was so late when she arrived at Cooper Corporation, there were no employees around to swipe her up.
When she finally ran into a design department employee coming down to buy something, she immediately introduced herself.
The person gave her a look. "Just wait here. I'll go ask Mr. Cooper, then come back to take you up."
That "wait" made Joanna wait until the next morning!
Unable to stand it anymore, she went to ask the receptionist, "Where's Mr. Cooper? Why hasn't he come to take me up yet!"
He was so urgent on the phone, telling her to come apologize to Cynthia. Now that she was here, she couldn't even see him!
The receptionist carefully checked the appointments, then immediately contacted Matthew.
The result made her expression complicated, with a hint of sympathy. "Miss Dern didn't eat all evening, and her stomach problem flared up, so Mr. Cooper took her to the hospital. They're resting and don't want anyone to disturb them—not even Matthew."
Joanna clenched her fists in anger. She shouldn't have come!
She waited here all night while Chris went to care for Cynthia!
Too bad she couldn't personally go take pictures of the two of them sleeping together—otherwise, she'd have another piece of evidence of infidelity for the divorce!
Joanna didn't spare the company building another glance. She turned and left, taking a cab to the hospital.
For some unknown reason, she felt dizzy the whole time.
Joanna thought she just hadn't rested well. After checking on her patients, she asked for early leave and went home, straight to bed.
She didn't know that Chris had called her several times and was so angry that he threw his phone. "How dare she leave? She hasn't apologized to you yet, Cynthia. What right does she have to leave!"
Cynthia weakly drank her milk with a bitter smile. "Maybe... Joanna's been a housewife for so long that she doesn't realize how serious plagiarism is. Chris, if this affects the company, I'm afraid... I'm afraid I won't have the face to see the other colleagues."
Chris calmed his anger and tried to soften his voice. "Don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault. It's all Joanna being petty. When she came back to the villa the other day, trying to please me, I thought she'd learned her lesson. I didn't expect her to cause trouble again!"
Joanna went back to the villa the other day?
Cynthia's expression changed. No wonder Chris was so happy recently. These two almost got back together right under her nose. Good thing there was this plagiarism incident...
When Joanna woke up, she felt something cool on her forehead. Her throat was very hoarse, and she had no energy to speak.
Only then did she realize she had a fever, not just a lack of rest.
She touched the fever patch on her forehead, wondering who was taking care of her.
Just as she sat up, she saw Angelo coming in with cut fruit. "You're awake? I went to the hospital today and heard from Dr. Lawson that you weren't in good shape, so I was a bit worried. You didn't answer your phone, and when I knocked on the door, no one answered, so I took the liberty of climbing through the window. I hope you're not angry."
Joanna shook her head, pressing her aching head and said hoarsely, "How could I be angry with you? I didn't notice I was sick—I made you worry."
Angelo shook his head and handed her the phone. "Your phone kept ringing just now. I saw it was Chris, so I didn't answer for you. Do you want to ask him what happened?"
Only then did Joanna remember that the plagiarism scandal in the design competition wasn't over yet.
While telling Angelo about Cynthia plagiarizing her draft, she opened her phone to check Linda's reply.
[My assistant already contacted Cooper Cooperation. They can't even explain the design concept clearly. Joanna, Cynthia definitely didn't do that work herself! But without your draft, we can't prove they copied. How about you enter the contest and redo your design?
Joanna's fingers paused on the keyboard, not knowing how to reply.
Angelo knew Joanna had a hobby of designing in private. When she learned design from Linda back then, Angelo was the one who helped make the connection.
He didn't expect that after three years without designing, Joanna would be plagiarized by Cynthia.
"Joanna, do you remember how excited you were when you first started learning design from Linda?"
Joanna looked up and saw Angelo's eyes, which seemed to show her that time from the past.
Design was actually what Joanna's mother loved most. She had learned a bit of drawing from Sandra as a child.
Her real interest developed during exam prep. Back then, under great pressure, she vented her emotions through drawing and occasionally designed a few pieces.
At graduation, her dress for the evening party was one she designed herself.
After Angelo saw her design talent, he introduced her to Linda. She lived up to expectations—her designs satisfied Linda, who agreed to take her as a student.
She was excited then, not expecting to be able to continue her mother's dream.
But after marriage, that happiness gradually faded.
Angelo's words snapped Joanna back to reality. "I know what I need to do now! Angelo, I'm going to finish that design and go head-to-head with Cynthia in the competition!"