Chapter 74 Accusation
My hand holding the pen froze. I turned toward Sabrina with feigned shock.
Seeing my supposedly bewildered expression, Sabrina's confidence surged. "Catherine, I never imagined you'd stoop this low."
In the gap before the proctor reached us, Sabrina preemptively launched into accusations about my conduct. What she wanted was to throw dirt on me before anyone understood the situation. Get them to form a terrible first impression of me right off the bat.
This was Sabrina's signature move.
She kept going. "I know there's bad blood between us, but in such a serious setting, how could you plagiarize my design? I know you resent me, but how can you disrespect the competition and the organizers like this? If I hadn't happened to notice, were you planning to frame me after submissions?"
Her voice fell.
The head proctor had already arrived between us. Sabrina's eyes reddened, her tone indignant. "Sir, I'm begging you to judge this fairly and crack down hard on this kind of misconduct."
She played the victim to perfection. Judging purely on acting ability, I'd say Hollywood owed Sabrina an Oscar.
Our commotion naturally attracted everyone's attention. I scanned the room briefly. Plenty of people appeared to be finishing their work, heads down, but their ears were definitely perked. The few who looked up stared at me with complicated expressions.
I calmly stood and submitted my work. "Sabrina, this is an exam venue. If you're saying I cheated under so many proctors' noses, aren't you questioning their integrity? It's not about who reports first. Everything requires solid evidence."
My tone stayed level, free of personal emotion.
The proctor's stern, tense expression relaxed slightly after hearing my words. Sabrina's little speech had seemed to roast me over the fire. She'd accused me of disrespecting DI, but she'd also indirectly blamed DI for lax supervision.
She thought she was so wronged, but she'd actually put pressure on DI without realizing it. Of course, Sabrina, who'd been spoiled by four doting brothers since childhood, couldn't think that far ahead.
For a moment I felt grateful that I'd been both victim and observer in the past, which let me see through things so clearly.
The proctor collected both mine and Sabrina's designs. He told us to wait on the side and not disturb others.
Time ran out. Only after everyone submitted did they begin handling this matter.
Our designs were publicly displayed above the whiteboard. After everyone saw the content clearly, they collectively gasped.
Too similar! Aside from close inspection revealing slightly different brush strokes, they were nearly identical. Armed with previous experience, Sabrina had even imitated my signature C pretty convincingly this time.
The proctor's voice turned cold. "Would both contestants please explain what's going on here?"
My attitude remained neither servile nor overbearing. "The burden of proof lies with the accuser. Sabrina says I plagiarized, so she needs to provide evidence first."
Seeing I wouldn't budge, Sabrina grew anxious. I guessed her original plan was to expose me, make me panic, then use public opinion to force my hand.
Didn't expect me to completely ignore her playbook.
Michael had accompanied Sabrina today. He pushed forward from the crowd. "I can testify that Catherine plagiarized Sabrina's design."
Michael identified himself. He claimed that from the audience seats, he'd clearly seen me glancing around copying Sabrina. He didn't forget to throw shade while he was at it.
"Catherine, we grew up together. Don't I know your artistic ability? If you weren't copying Sabby's work, you probably couldn't come up with this kind of creativity in your entire life, right?"
Sabrina chimed in, "Catherine, you already stole my internship opportunity at DI. Why... why do you have to take this chance away from me too?"
The siblings sang in perfect harmony. I was pushed into the spotlight once again.
From the back, Nicholas and Blake moved to come forward. I silently shook my head at them, signaling them not to intervene.
The more critical the moment, the more I needed to fight my own battle and win it beautifully.
Just then, the onlookers' discussions reached my ears.
"No way, there's actually drama behind this? What kind of people is DI hiring!"
"Gotta say, these two pieces are remarkably similar. Just don't know who's the original creator."
"I think it's Sabrina. Didn't you hear her say the other one has a record?"
"Look how calm she is, not even blushing. Definitely a repeat offender. Normal people would be nervous, right?"
"I don't know, neither of them has provided any real evidence after all this talk."
Everyone talked over each other. The proctor looked at me, indicating I should prove my innocence.
I walked unhurriedly to Michael's side. "Michael, have you ever seen me draw?"
Michael's brow furrowed. "Why are you asking that?"
I let out a mocking laugh. "Never once. So what gives you the right to question my abilities?"
Michael's face reddened, showing some embarrassment. But he stubbornly insisted, "You just don't have the talent. Why pretend?"
I smiled slightly and stopped arguing. In childhood, I'd once brought my artwork to share with Michael. At the time, he was teaching the completely talentless Sabrina how to draw, holding her hands.
Seeing me, Sabrina snatched it away and tore it up. She pretended it was an accident and apologized. In my anger, I'd hit Sabrina once. Michael furiously threw his paintbrush at my face, saying my work wasn't one-thousandth as good as Sabrina's.
I was devastated. But later, with Melissa's encouragement, I kept secretly learning to draw. Through a series of coincidences, I studied jewelry design. I received praise from many teachers and classmates, gradually gaining confidence.
And now, these two thought they could slander me with just their words. Dream on!
My gaze sharpened as I pointed to several clever details in the design. "Sabrina, since you say I plagiarized you, I'd like to ask—what was your design thinking behind these parts? And what about this mark that looks like the letter C? You sat right next to me. If you can accuse me of plagiarizing you, can't I say you plagiarized me?"
The venue fell deathly silent.
Michael stepped up to bail her out. "Catherine, stop being so aggressive. Sabby doesn't need to explain her design process to you, does she? You copied, plain and simple. Why won't you just admit it?"
His face was full of disgust. Despite having no direct evidence whatsoever, he unconditionally stood by Sabrina's side.
I was about to speak when Liam suddenly stepped forward from the crowd.
"I believe Catherine is the original creator of this work."
Sabrina's expression darkened. She glared at Liam unhappily. "What evidence do you have to prove her innocence?"