Chapter 111
William tossed and turned in bed for a long time before finally accepting one thing - he had insomnia.
He found the sleeping pills Lily had given him last time, took one, and went to sleep in his study for the night.
The next day, he was woken up by a phone call.
"Mr. Morgan, we have a problem."
James sounded nervous on the other end.
"What is it? Tell me."
"Last night, Swan Company contacted me. The Eternity Pendant that we're featuring this quarter on our website is almost identical to a piece that Lolly is about to release. Luckily, Swan hasn't produced the final product yet, but they have the original sketches. I've compared them, and it's really hard to prove ours is original."
Lolly was like a god in the design world. If someone's work looked like hers, no one would be stupid enough to suspect Lolly of copying - they'd only think others copied her.
James didn't even dare use the word "plagiarism."
William was so shocked by this bombshell that all his sleepiness vanished. When Sarah had joined the Morgan Group with the Eternity Pendant design sketches, the executives had praised it highly. The company had high expectations for her and this quarter's featured product. He had never suspected Sarah would plagiarize.
In his memory, she was still the girl who would cry when she couldn't solve a problem. How could she treat her career this way, passing off someone else's work as her own? Wouldn't that ruin her future?
He didn't believe she would do that.
"Tell the senior executives to come to the conference room for a morning meeting right away."
He put his phone on speaker and quickly got dressed.
"Mr. Morgan, should we also notify Sarah?"
William paused. "We'll talk about it when I get to the office."
James could hear his trust in Sarah from his tone.
"Mr. Morgan, this is serious. Swan made a formal statement at last night's press conference, demanding we take down the product or they'll take legal action."
Once plagiarism was confirmed, paying money would be the least of their problems - the Morgan Group's century-old reputation could be destroyed. They'd never be able to survive in the luxury goods circle after that.
What wealthy socialite would want a necklace she paid a fortune for to be a plagiarized design?
James was freaking out. He'd received the notice in the middle of the night and tried calling William, but couldn't get through until dawn.
He was already waiting outside SilkGrove Estates.
William quickly got ready and went downstairs. In the car, James handed him a printed copy of the original design sketch with Lolly's signature on it.
He sat in the car, thinking over and over about what kind of person Sarah really was. He just couldn't believe that the girl who had jumped into the water without a second thought to save his life would do something like plagiarize.
After hesitating for a long time, he still called Sarah and told her to come to the conference room for a meeting.
The top-floor conference room at the Morgan Group building was already full of senior executives. Everyone had heard some news. While plagiarism was pretty common in the design world, it mostly happened with small brands.
An international brand like the Morgan Group wouldn't be stupid enough to copy someone else's design and sell it. Everyone was waiting for the CEO to make a decision.
William walked into the conference room with James, and the space that had just been full of noisy arguments immediately went quiet.
He raised his hand to check his watch - it wasn't even the usual clock-in time yet. Sarah hadn't arrived.
"Everyone, share your thoughts first. You all saw Swan's press conference last night. How similar do you think Lolly's original design sketch is to our product?"
As soon as he said this, everyone started speaking up. Everyone present was a shareholder, worried about stock price fluctuations and smaller dividends. Of course, they all hoped the Morgan Group would be okay.
"Mr. Morgan, forget similarity - I think they're the exact same piece. Ours is identical to theirs."
"Mr. Morgan, a designer at Lolly's level wouldn't stoop to copying others. There's only one explanation - we copied theirs. We need to call our designer in and get to the bottom of this."
"Mr. Morgan, we can't tolerate this kind of plagiarism. The Morgan Group has reached its current position through excellent products, thanks to our designers' hard work. All these years, we've never had a scandal like this."
William got angrier and angrier listening to this. Of course, he couldn't tolerate plagiarism either - it crossed everyone's line.
But these people had already decided their own product was copied without even hearing the designer's explanation. That made him feel cold inside. These people had zero trust in the person he'd recruited at a high salary.
Everyone was talking over each other until they heard a voice, and the whole room went quiet.
"Mr. Morgan, the Morgan Group's stock is plummeting at the opening."
The old guys' hearts were bleeding.
Based on their shareholdings, they were losing anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions, disappearing silently without even a splash.
The key thing was, if this wasn't handled properly, the stock would keep falling until they couldn't even sell if they wanted to.
"Mr. Morgan, you need to make a decision."
The largest shareholder's face looked like he was about to cry. He was planning to retire in a year and had already decided to cash out all his shares - half for his children, the other half to travel the world with his wife.
Now he felt like he probably wouldn't get to travel the world after all. Maybe just walk around the park near home.
Just as everyone was getting anxious, Sarah walked in wearing high heels.
"Good morning, Mr. Morgan."
She greeted William but didn't even glance at the other executives.
"Find a seat."
Sarah sat down in the seat closest to William's left - a spot that was usually empty because those old guys didn't want to sit that close to the CEO, where they might get called on.
Sarah just sat down there boldly, wearing a hot red dress with lipstick as red as her dress. You could tell she'd dressed up specially before coming.
"Sarah, take a look at this sketch."
William handed her the design printout James had made. No matter what, he wanted to hear her explain in person.
Sarah looked at it and seemed stunned for a moment. Her mind worked fast, though, and her expression became serious. She got emotional as she assured everyone,
"Gentlemen, I've studied design for over ten years. I wouldn't stoop to copying others. I have the ability to make my own work stand out. I have evidence to prove this Eternity Pendant came from my own hand. Please wait and see. I will pursue legal action against anyone spreading false accusations, no exceptions."
She spoke passionately, and half the shareholders in the conference room believed her. A girl this young probably didn't have the guts to mess with so many Morgan Group shareholders.
The major shareholder couldn't help speaking up. "Then please, Miss Brown, clear this up immediately. Don't let the Morgan Group suffer this injustice any longer."
He could take it, but the stock couldn't.
Sarah promised confidently, "No problem, I'll clear it up right now."
The meeting ended there. Everyone was waiting for Sarah to produce the so-called evidence to prove she was the original creator. Of course, everyone hoped she really was the original creator - this affected everyone's interests now.
Although some people didn't believe it, they still had a glimmer of hope.