Chapter 108
That evening, Ava was sent back to SilkGrove Estates by Olivia. After resting for a few hours, she was mostly fine and could have gone home on her own, but Olivia insisted on taking her because she was worried.
She came back expecting to face William, already thinking about how to explain things to him. But William didn't come home that night.
On Monday, as soon as she arrived at the company, she received an internal call from James.
"Mrs... I mean, Ava, could you please come to the CEO's office? It's about work."
Ava put down her bag and went upstairs without even turning on her computer.
William was leaning back in his leather chair, twirling a pen in his hand, looking like he was in a bad mood.
"Mr. Morgan, what did you need?"
James closed the door and left.
William handed over several A4 sheets of paper. The dark circles under his eyes were obvious, like he'd pulled an all-nighter.
"Ava, take a look at this."
Ava took the papers from him and looked through them page by page. It was an appraisal report.
The conclusion was that Ava's draft for the company design competition was extremely similar in technique to a design draft that famous designer Lolly had once published online. Therefore, it was determined that her submission showed clear signs of imitating Lolly's design style.
Ava felt like laughing helplessly. What imitation? They were both done by her own hand!
"You had someone do this appraisal?"
William said frankly, "No, you made such a big splash this time that it attracted jealousy from peers."
Ava knew the answer. Who else could this peer be? Most likely Sarah. She felt speechless and helpless—she seemed to have no way to prove that the design draft wasn't her own work.
This was an unsolvable problem.
William took the appraisal document back and placed it on the desk.
"Ava, as a designer, if you don't have your own innovation and insights, and just keep imitating others, you can't design works with soul. Of course, your work this time was excellent. But I still hope you can develop your own design style. The Morgan Group doesn't need to get famous by copying others."
Ava felt sick to her stomach.
What made her heart even colder was that a few days ago, when Sarah's plagiarism was proven, he turned a blind eye, but when it came to her, she got different treatment.
In his mind, she was never a real designer, just someone who doodled by copying others' work. The lack of trust hurt the most.
"Mr. Morgan, can I resign?"
William suddenly looked up at her. "That's all the patience you have?"
The subtext was: the novelty wore off, and you don't want to play anymore, is that it?
Ava laughed lightly. "I'm not interested in the Morgan Group's design department, or in your company. Don't worry, what Grandpa said won't come true. I won't fight you for the company."
William frowned and gave her a look, as if to say, "Do you hear what you're saying?"
Ava obediently shut her mouth. She was tired of the scheming design department.
Back in the design department, she sat in her chair in a daze for a long time before turning on her computer.
The atmosphere in the design department was a bit strange today. Her sixth sense told her some new gossip had emerged, and that news was about her.
Because of her relationship with William, these people didn't dare to provoke her directly now.
Evelyn looked at her with sympathy.
"Ava, don't mind what others say. So what if it's imitation? It's still a hundred times better than plagiarism. At least your work this time was chosen by over a billion internet users. Who dares say it's not excellent?"
Ava smiled bitterly and opened the company email to find an email from Sarah, copied to everyone in the design department. The attachment was that appraisal report.
After leaving the hospital, Sarah had been quiet for a day—turns out she was waiting for this moment.
She opened the company website and casually scrolled through it, seeing the announcement taking up the largest section of the homepage about the upcoming hit product for this quarter's launch—the Eternity Pendant that she had designed down to just the finishing touches. It was Sarah's trump card for showing off at the Morgan Group.
Ava snapped back to reality. First, she drafted a resignation email and sent it to William. Then she contacted the SWAN company, sent over the design draft for the Eternity Pendant, shut down her computer, and left the company directly.
After being suppressed for so long, she needed to relax.
Ava went to a yoga class at the studio, then returned to SilkGrove Estates to pack her clothes and went straight to the Morgan Mansion.
At noon, Jeremy, who came to deliver food, mentioned that Howard wanted to stay at the villa in neighboring Shadow City for a few days. Ava didn't want to face William's questioning and was tired of fighting with Sarah. The only good place to escape to was to go with Howard.
She wanted to spend more time with Howard while he was still alive. The old man had such high hopes for her, wanting to train her and William to run the company together, but her performance had been terrible. She felt deeply guilty.
Besides, William's domineering possessiveness wouldn't allow her to leave his sight, but if she went with Howard, he probably wouldn't stop her.
When Ava arrived at the Morgan Mansion, Jeremy had already packed Howard's luggage, and the kitchen was busy making Howard's favorite sugar-free pastries, afraid he wouldn't be comfortable there.
Howard was a bit surprised to see Ava come back on a workday, and even more puzzled to see her carrying a suitcase.
"Ava, why are you here at this time?"
"Grandpa... I want to go with you. Can you take me?"
The moment Ava saw Howard, she felt wronged, but, afraid he'd worry, she forced back her tears.
"Of course, I can take you, but can you first tell me what upset you?"
"Grandpa, I'm fine. I just missed you."
Howard's lips curved up slightly as he sat down on the sofa, seeing right through her. This girl suddenly showed up with a suitcase without any notice—she must have been wronged somehow.
He cursed William in his mind, then instructed Jeremy,
"Put Ava's luggage in the car."
Ava's mood lifted as she squeezed next to Howard.
"Grandpa, how long are we staying?"
Howard chuckled softly.
"If I stay for a year, will you stay with me for a year?"
Ava nodded eagerly, as if she was going to stick with Howard for life.
Howard gently tapped her head.
"Silly child, what's the point of keeping an old man like me company? Go fight for what you deserve. How can you be so indifferent? Are you even giving up on your husband?"
Ava's face flushed slightly as he hit on her real thoughts.
"Grandpa..."
"Tell me the truth. Did that woman cause trouble again? Let me tell you this—as long as I'm alive, she'll never enter the Morgan Family. What kind of person is she to deserve marrying into the Morgan Family? William must be blind. If you don't want him, let him live alone. He'll regret it someday."
Howard got furious at the mention of Sarah, his cane tapping loudly on the floor.
"Grandpa, don't make yourself angry. I have a way to deal with her."
Howard raised his eyebrows, looking pleased. "Oh?"