Chapter 237

Chapter 237

Victoria held her phone and sat up, leaning against the headboard.

Her mind quickly started replaying the events.

Right, about a month ago, in her temporary room at the Gonzalez Villa, she had indeed sketched a few jewelry designs, including a first draft of a ruby bracelet.

At the time, Victoria wasn't satisfied with it, so she crumpled it up and tossed it into a trash can by the roadside.

Later she went to school, and then came the preparations for the competition in Avalonia. Could it be that the discarded sketch was somehow picked up by Veda?

Given Veda's intrusive nature and constant desire to cause trouble for her, sneaking into her room to rummage through the trash wasn't beyond her.

Besides, Veda definitely didn't know she was the internationally emerging anonymous jewelry designer "Vico," and had no idea she was one of the behind-the-scenes owners of Victrix Luxury Goods Company.

Veda probably just thought the design sketch looked good, assumed it was a discarded draft Victoria didn't want, and got some crooked ideas. She made slight modifications and entered it in the competition, hoping to make a name for herself as a "genius designer"?

Having figured out the connection, Victoria's lips curved into a cold smile.

Veda really was relentless in her scheming, and incredibly stupid too.

"Thalia," Victoria's voice returned to its usual cool tone, "send me the image of Veda's competition entry."

"Okay, hold on, I'll WhatsApp it to you right away!"

Thalia said immediately.

Soon, Victoria's WhatsApp notification sounded.

She opened the image Thalia sent, enlarged it, and examined it carefully.

Sure enough, just as Thalia had said, this ruby bracelet design named "Scarlet Dream" - whether it was the arrangement of the gemstones, the structure of the metal wrapping, or those signature asymmetrical geometric elements - bore striking similarities to the sketch she had discarded.

Although Veda had made some self-important "optimizations" and "simplifications" to edge details, trying to cover her tracks, the core design language and framework were completely copied!

"Did you see it clearly?"

Thalia's call was still connected, her tone carrying suppressed anger. "This is blatant plagiarism! No, this is outright theft!"

"Who does Veda think she is, daring to use your discarded draft to show off? And she even made it to the top five? If she wins an award, what about your reputation?"

Victoria looked at the design image on her phone screen, her eyes growing colder.

She hadn't wanted to pay much attention to those clowns from the Gonzalez family, but this time, Veda had truly crossed her line.

Stealing her creative work and trying to gain both fame and fortune from it? There's no such easy deal in this world.

"That's right," Victoria said calmly, though her tone carried absolute certainty, "this is my design, that discarded draft I threw away."

"I knew it!"

Thalia nearly jumped up on the other end of the phone in anger. "That Veda is so shameless! She definitely doesn't know this sketch is your 'masterpiece,' thinking she found a treasure! Victoria, we absolutely cannot let this slide! We must defend our rights!"

"I'll contact a lawyer right now and prepare materials. We not only need to file a complaint with the competition committee to revoke her qualification and ranking, but we also need to sue her for infringement! Sue the Gonzalez Jewelry Company! This design is currently being promoted under the Gonzalez Jewelry Company's name!"

The Gonzalez Jewelry Company was currently mainly managed by Liam.

Hearing Thalia furiously wanting to sue the Gonzalez Jewelry Company as well, Victoria actually laughed lightly and asked with a hint of teasing, "Thalia, are you sure? You really want to sue the Gonzalez Jewelry Company? After all, you and Liam once had something good going. You're not going to show any mercy?"

On the other end of the phone, Thalia fell silent for a moment.

Victoria could almost imagine her biting her lip right now, her eyes struggling yet defiant.

A few seconds later, Thalia's voice rang out again, carrying a deliberately forced calmness and determination, "Business is business, personal is personal! I, Thalia, have always kept things separate! Besides, Liam and I broke up long ago. He's now the head of the Gonzalez Jewelry Company, and if a designer under him is involved in plagiarism and theft, he bears unavoidable management responsibility!"

"If this matter isn't handled seriously, won't everyone dare to step on Victrix Luxury Goods Company in the future? Won't everyone be able to trample on your 'Vico' reputation at will? I absolutely won't allow it!"

Thalia became more agitated as she spoke, with determination, "Victoria, don't worry, leave this matter to me. Tomorrow... no, I'll book a flight back home tonight! I'll go talk to Liam first! See what his attitude is!"

"If he can put righteousness before family and voluntarily withdraw the entry and apologize with compensation, there might be room for negotiation. But if he dares to cover for Veda, then don't blame me, Thalia, for turning my back on him - we'll see each other in court!"

Feeling Thalia's unreserved protection and support, Victoria felt warmth in her heart.

She knew that while Thalia appeared charming and shrewd on the outside, she actually had strong principles inside, especially when it came to matters involving her and the company's interests - she wouldn't yield an inch.

"Alright."

Victoria didn't object and said decisively, "I still have some things to handle here in Avalonia. The Murray family trouble hasn't completely settled yet. I'll probably need to stay another two days before returning home. You handle this matter with full authority. If you need any evidence, I can provide the original design process records and electronic backups of the discarded draft."

"Got it!"

Thalia was full of energy. "You just focus on handling things on your end. I'll take care of things back home! I guarantee Veda will get what she deserves!"

After briefly discussing the details of subsequent actions and possible situations they might encounter, the two ended the call.

After hanging up with Thalia, Victoria leaned against the headboard, her sleepiness long since driven away by this sudden annoying matter.

Outside the window, Avalonia's afternoon sun blazed bright. Through the gaps in the heavy curtains, several long, bright strips of light fell on the carpet, with tiny dust particles floating in the air.

She sat quietly for a while, her mind organizing the details about Veda's theft of the design sketch and the situations Thalia might face after returning home.

She wasn't exactly irritated, but rather felt a cold disgust.

The people from the Gonzalez family always seemed able to create trouble for her in various ways, like maggots clinging to bone.

Since she couldn't sleep, Victoria simply got up, tidied her slightly messy hair and clothes, pushed open the bedroom door and walked out.

The living room of the presidential suite was spacious and quiet, with the evening sun's afterglow dyeing most of the room a warm orange-red.

Alexander was sitting at a small round table near the huge floor-to-ceiling window, with his thin but high-performance laptop on the table.

The screen's light reflected on his sharply defined profile, his expression focused and stern, his fingers typing rapidly on the keyboard - clearly handling important company emails.

Hearing the subtle sound of the bedroom door opening, Alexander immediately looked up. His sharp gaze, the moment it touched Victoria's figure, melted like ice and snow into gentle concern.