Chapter 265

Chapter 265

Watching the woman before him remain so unexpectedly calm, Alexander felt a momentary flicker of disorientation.

Sabrina, standing nearby, caught the look—a flash of displeasure crossing her eyes.

The next moment, she furrowed her delicate brows. "Charlotte, things have come to this and you still won't admit it?"

Charlotte shot her a cold glance. "Admit what? Admit to plagiarism so I can play into your twisted little scheme?"

Sabrina's face flushed bright red, as if she'd suffered some terrible injustice. "Charlotte, stop being so stubborn."

"Is a championship really worth ruining your entire reputation over?"

Charlotte's tone remained icy as she turned the question back. "Yeah, is it?"

Seeing Sabrina's distress, Alexander couldn't help but feel protective. "Charlotte, Sabrina's looking out for you. Don't bite the hand that feeds you!"

Sabrina quickly chimed in. "Charlotte, if you really think you're innocent, then show us proof."

After a pause, she added, "Honestly, I really hope you can produce evidence. That way, Ms. Talbot's reputation could be saved."

Hearing her deliberately bring up her mother, Charlotte felt a tightness in her chest.

Just as she was about to speak, Landon beside her raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry. You'll get your wish soon enough."

After speaking, Landon turned to Charlotte with a warm smile.

The gesture instantly smoothed away Charlotte's agitation. She returned his smile.

Alexander caught the entire exchange, his fists clenching involuntarily.

When had Charlotte and Landon become so in sync?

Across from them, Charlotte had already raised her phone high. "Mr. Lewis, my evidence is right here."

Nicholas had been inclined to favor Charlotte from the start, so he immediately gathered the other judges around. "Evidence? Let's see it."

Charlotte smiled and opened her conversation thread with Declan.

"Mr. Lewis, look."

"These are my chat records with Declan discussing the creative process. I sent him my preliminary drafts—every single piece has a timestamp."

As Charlotte's finger scrolled through the messages, Nicholas nodded repeatedly with obvious satisfaction.

"Excellent!"

"It's October now, and you sent these sketches to Declan in June—four months ago."

The other judges looked on, nodding and murmuring among themselves.

"Looks like we don't need to investigate further."

"One was created over a month ago, the other four months ago. Isn't it obvious who plagiarized whom?"

"Now that's what I call ironclad evidence."

Listening to the chatter, Sabrina felt her head explode with a roar, her mind going completely blank.

What was happening?

The sketches she'd found in Charlotte's room weren't Lynn's work?

Could Charlotte really have that much talent?

Impossible!

It had to be fake!

Beside her, Alexander's expression had turned equally dark.

He finally couldn't hold back, lowering his voice to demand, "Sabrina, did you plagiarize Charlotte's work or not?"

Sabrina finally panicked.

But she knew that admitting it would plunge her into an irredeemable abyss.

Worse, the Forbes Group might be implicated too.

So she absolutely couldn't confess!

She bit her lip, forcing herself to stay calm. "Actually, I drew this piece half a year ago when I first returned to the country. I just didn't show it to Mr. Forbes at the time."

Before Sabrina could finish, a wave of jeers erupted.

"Just now she said it was created over a month ago, now she's changing her story to half a year ago. Do you believe her?"

"I sure don't."

"Yeah, I believe Charlotte."

Nicholas's expression turned grave. "Since you claim it was half a year ago, please provide evidence."

At those words, Alexander's eyes lit up with renewed hope, his gaze fixed intently on Sabrina.

But a flicker of panic crossed Sabrina's face. "I only drew the sketches by hand. I didn't save any records."

Disappointment clouded Alexander's eyes.

Nicholas actually laughed in disbelief. "Ms. Sabrina Spencer, I heard you're an outstanding graduate of Aurora College?"

Sabrina seemed to regain a bit of confidence, taking a deep breath before nodding. "Yes, I graduated from Aurora College five years ago."

"Perfect." Before Sabrina could continue, Nicholas cut her off sharply. "Then you haven't forgotten Aurora College's very first lesson, have you?"

Sabrina's face went deathly pale.

Those in the room who had also graduated from Aurora College immediately understood.

Because Aurora College's first lesson emphasized repeatedly how to document evidence and protect one's creative work to the fullest extent.

Yet Sabrina's excuse revealed a glaring lack of professionalism—how could an outstanding graduate of Aurora College make such a rookie mistake?

Just then, Charlotte stared unblinkingly at Sabrina, her eyes full of undisguised contempt. "Two months ago, when I moved out of the Forbes Family, I was careless while packing and left several sketches behind."

"A few days later, you moved into the Forbes Family. That's when you found them, wasn't it?"

With Charlotte hitting the nail on the head, Sabrina's guilt finally showed.

"I didn't. Don't make things up."

"Whether I am or not, we can easily find out."

Charlotte calmly responded, holding her phone up in front of Alexander. "Mr. Forbes, Sabrina showed you more than one sketch, didn't she?"

"Take a good look. Was this one included? And this one?"

Seeing Charlotte's distant coldness, then looking at the images on her phone, Alexander's heart lurched.

The last shred of doubt and wishful thinking he'd harbored completely evaporated.

Because every image on Charlotte's phone matched the sketches Sabrina had shown him a month ago.

He mechanically turned his neck, fixing his gaze on Sabrina's ashen face. "Sabrina, do you have anything else to say?"

Sabrina's mind went blank, her palms slick with sweat.

"Alexander—"

Seeing both Alexander's and Sabrina's expressions, the crowd understood the full truth. An uproar immediately followed.

"Can you believe it? Sabrina's actually that kind of person."

"Talk about an eye-opener. So much for being an outstanding Aurora College graduate and the Forbes Group's youngest director. Turns out Sabrina's nothing."

"I used to admire her so much. Really misjudged that one."

"Come to think of it, that incident during the field trip in the mountains was probably deliberate on her part too."

"Makes sense now. Alice was just the scapegoat."

Hearing the commentary, Nicholas looked at Sabrina with increasing disdain.

He never imagined Aurora College could produce a student of such poor character!

Unable to contain himself any longer, he turned to instruct the staff. "Go! Call everyone back. I'm announcing the investigation results!"