Chapter 255: Fight to the Death
Chapter 255: Fight to the Death
Most people looking at the evidence were starting to believe, but a small portion of paid trolls Jennifer had bought and a few extremists were still frantically spewing insults in the comments.
"How do we know those sketches weren't drawn just now? The marriage certificate is definitely fake. To clear her name, what kind of fake document couldn't she make?"
"Exactly! She thinks a few scraps of paper will clear her? Does she think we're idiots?"
"If you've got the guts, show us stronger evidence. Anyone can fake a few pieces of paper."
Charlotte watched those comments without anger or irritation. Instead, she smiled faintly, set down the fabric flowers she was holding onto the velvet mat, picked up the tablet beside her, and pulled up the photo of the original sketch Jennifer had posted.
Her fingertip tapped on an almost invisible tiny ink spot in the corner of the photo, zooming the camera in for a close-up.
"You say I can't produce evidence? Then look here." Her fingertip pointed at the seemingly insignificant little mark. "This isn't an ink spot—it's a stylized 'M,' my personal signature as Morgan, the Fabric Flowers designer."
"All my works, whether publicly released designs or discarded sketches, have this mark somewhere. Jennifer stole my sketches and probably never noticed this small detail."
"Morgan?"
"Morgan? As in Morgan, the Fabric Flowers master craftsman?"
"No way. Morgan's so mysterious, never shown her face. How could it be her?"
The comments exploded again.
Everyone in the craft world knew Morgan's status. Her fabric flowers had been collected by museums, and a single custom piece could sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But after all these years, she'd never publicly shown her face. No one knew what she looked like.
Charlotte didn't bother explaining. She simply logged into Morgan's official website on her computer and displayed the backend management page to the camera.
Inside were upload records of all her works with creation timestamps, plus six years of work chat logs with her studio assistant, Azalea.
"I am Morgan." Charlotte's tone was matter-of-fact. "The registration information for this website, the backend login IP, and years of creation records—all of it can be verified. It can't be faked."
The moment she finished speaking, the livestream froze for three seconds. Then the comments went absolutely wild.
"Oh my God! It really is Morgan! I commissioned Morgan last year for fabric flower headpieces for my wedding!"
"The person I worked with was Azalea! I just checked my chat history—Azalea said her boss's profile picture was a rabbit! Charlotte's profile picture is that same rabbit!"
"I'm from the traditional crafts exhibition organizing committee! When we invited Morgan to exhibit, we worked with Ms. Blake! Ms. Blake just didn't want to publicly reveal herself, so we signed a confidentiality agreement and never said anything!"
"I'm Azalea!"
"I've worked with Charlotte for six years! She IS Morgan! I've seen those sketches Jennifer stole! Jennifer is lying!"
As soon as Azalea's comment appeared, the previously wavering netizens completely switched sides. Many who'd cursed Charlotte earlier rushed to apologize.
"I was one of the people cursing her earlier—I'm so sorry! So Jennifer was the one crying thief while being the actual thief!"
"Stole someone's sketches and then turned around to accuse them—going to prison isn't even harsh enough. People like this are disgusting!"
"How could Morgan possibly plagiarize?"
Public opinion reversed instantly.
Charlotte smiled softly and spoke. "Now that things are clear, I have a few more things to say."
A gentle smile on her face, she looked into the camera. "I won't deny that Jennifer knew my husband before."
"And my husband, at Jennifer's mother's request, showed her some extra consideration."
"I used to find it troublesome—after all, no one wants their husband taking care of other women."
"But later, he proved something through his own experience: social relationships need boundaries."
Charlotte's smile deepened. "Jennifer, three years ago, you drugged George, but he had an allergic reaction to the drug. Nothing happened between you two."
"Yet afterward, you pinned the whole thing on him."
"There are so many people in this world—why did you fixate on him?"
"Though I should thank you. If you hadn't done that, he wouldn't have had the heart to deal with you properly."
"As for your prison sentence."
"Wasn't that because you stole trade secrets from his company?"
"The trial footage is still available."
Charlotte's face showed a trace of mockery. "Or do you think the general public are just knives in your hand, with no minds of their own?"
For a moment, the comments stopped.
Then they exploded even more frantically.
"So she stole trade secrets! Then she totally deserved it! I can't believe she fooled me earlier!"
"So she wanted to steal someone's husband and steal their work, and when she failed, she came out to accuse them instead. How vicious can you get!"
"I actually felt sorry for her earlier—now I just want to throw up!"
"Someone call the police on her! Theft and defamation—can we get her back in prison!"
Jennifer watched the completely one-sided comments in the livestream, so angry her fingers were trembling. She immediately started editing a new post to continue her smear campaign.
But before she could post it, she saw the man she'd been obsessing over all this time.
George stepped forward, looking into the camera. "Jennifer, your mother asked me to look after you all those years ago. After all this time, I've done more than enough."
"I thought after your last prison sentence, you'd learned your lesson. I didn't expect you to get worse."
"Do what you will."
Jennifer shrieked.
"George! Charlotte! You're both liars! You both stole from me! I won't let you get away with this!"
Before her scream even faded, there was a knock at the apartment door. Two police officers stood outside, presenting a summons.
"Jennifer, we received a report from George."
"You're suspected of defamation. Please come with us to the station for questioning."
Jennifer collapsed to the floor. The officers didn't force entry for the moment.
Online, the backlash continued to build. The Summers Group's legal department immediately released the court judgment from Jennifer's trade secret theft case.
Charlotte simultaneously released a handwriting analysis report for the sketches. With ironclad evidence, the media outlets that had been paid to manipulate public opinion for Jennifer quickly deleted their posts and apologized.
The previously trending hate topics were rapidly taken down.
#JenniferSuspectedOfDefamation and #MorganIsCharlotte both shot to the top of the trending charts.
Isaac watched the public opinion reverse, his eyes nearly splitting with rage.
His assistant beside him stood trembling, not daring to speak.
Just then, the assistant's phone rang.
Under Isaac's death glare, he answered the call with shaking hands.
After just a couple of sentences, the assistant's face went pale with shock.
"What is it! Speak!"
Isaac snapped impatiently.
"The paid troll accounts we bought earlier—they're saying their accounts have been destroyed. They want us to pay compensation, or else they'll take us down with them."