Chapter 112
Sarah rushed back to her desk and immediately pulled out the design draft she'd hidden away. She was glad she hadn't thrown it out—when she'd secretly taken it, she never imagined today's drama would unfold.
With the design draft in hand, she didn't believe anyone could still accuse her of plagiarism. What plagiarist would have the original design draft? She was completely confident about this, waiting to slap the faces of all those ready to watch the show.
Sarah took a photo of the design draft, tried several angles, and finally posted it on X with the caption: [Here's the draft, 100% original, thank you, will pursue legal action against false accusations.]
She even tagged the Morgan Group and Swan's official accounts. After completing the operation, she logged out of X with satisfaction and got on with her day's work.
She didn't take this little misunderstanding seriously at all.
Her X post quickly drew attention from people across society.
Originally, this matter hadn't spread that fast domestically, but with her grand clarification announcement, the topic of "Morgan Group designer suspected of plagiarism" immediately shot to the top of trending searches.
She got angry just seeing that headline. What a punch-worthy title—she came to clear her name, but they still slapped the plagiarism label on her. She'd ended up slapping her own face.
Did internet users have no judgment at all? They didn't even look at the design draft images she posted, blindly supporting a designer who didn't even dare publish their photo online, insisting she was the plagiarist.
The speed at which public opinion fermented exceeded everyone's imagination.
In the CEO's office, James was running around like crazy. He'd spent big money trying to suppress this trending topic, but couldn't get it down.
Public opinion was completely one-sided, not listening to Sarah's explanation at all. People even went to her X post to hurl insults, forcing her to close the comments.
The Morgan Group's official account wasn't doing any better—the comments below were full of criticism.
The millions spent on paid commenters didn't even get a chance to show their faces before being pushed down by Lolly's fans. Even celebrities boldly reposted, demanding justice for Lolly.
Far away in Shadow City, Ava also saw today's big event. She knew this would cause a huge stir, but didn't expect Swan to move so fast, holding a press conference that very day.
It seemed the fashion industry had zero tolerance for plagiarism.
She laughed when she saw Sarah's explanation.
That hand draft had Lolly's unique mark—a little trick she'd used to prevent plagiarism. In all her years in the industry, she'd never mentioned it to anyone. She never thought this little mark would actually come in handy one day.
She sent the secret about the draft's mark to the Swan's leadership. This time, she had to nail Sarah for plagiarism and kick this scum out of the design world.
As for that woman, she'd been soft-hearted for too long. Her bottom line ended here.
The Swan company took this matter very seriously. Lolly was their most valued designer, and the top leadership said they would defend Lolly to the end and would never tolerate plagiarists.
After sending the email, Ava went for her usual stroll on the beach with Howard, picking up shells, cooking some seafood soup, and sunbathing in her villa's yard after waking up.
Life without a man was incredibly pleasant. She was even starting to think she didn't want to leave—just stay here with Howard and let that jerk live alone.
William's side was in chaos all day. Money was spent, but the heat didn't die down. Instead, things got worse. By the end of the workday in the afternoon, people were actually waiting at the company building's main entrance with eggs and rotten vegetable leaves to throw inside.
It created panic. Everyone was afraid to leave work alone and had to go in groups.
Sarah remained calm as water. When internet users cursed at her, she just closed the comments. She didn't believe this situation could possibly backfire. She firmly believed that as long as she insisted the design draft came from her own hand, even if Lolly herself showed up, there was nothing they could do to her.
Besides, she'd just accidentally found this draft in William's files, thought the design was stunning, and used it. She absolutely didn't believe this draft came from Lolly's hand.
Everyone knew William wanted to recruit Lolly to the Morgan Group. With his methods, he'd failed every time and never even met Lolly, which meant he had no connection with Lolly at all.
So the design hand draft appearing in his folder couldn't possibly be Lolly's. Swan holding a press conference and releasing that kind of news was just jealousy over the quality of the work she'd produced this time, taking the opportunity to suppress her.
Sarah was fearless.
She clocked out as usual, even more confident than before. Now she was just waiting for the matter to be cleared up, to slap the faces of internet users nationwide, to show them that this excellent design came from her own hand. It wasn't only Lolly who could design such beautiful work—she could too.
She walked out confidently, carrying the new LV bag she'd bought last month, her high heels clicking crisply, completely ignoring the gossip behind her.
But as soon as she stepped outside, she got hit with an egg.
Egg liquid ran down her newly styled hair and onto her face.
She touched it with her hand—sticky, covered in egg yolk, and giving off a weird smell. Only then did she realize she'd been hit with a rotten egg.
She shouted, "Security, security..."
The security guards were already overwhelmed. Too many troublemakers had come that afternoon—they'd chase away a few, and new ones would arrive.
Sarah retreated back into the building with rotten eggs and vegetable leaves on her head. By now, more and more people had gathered outside the building, surrounding the exit completely.
Everyone refused to accept the Morgan Group's explanation, firmly believing that the Morgan Group's designer had stolen Lolly's hand draft. They stood outside with megaphones, declaring that if they didn't give Lolly justice, they would fight the Morgan Group to the end.
Sarah went into the CEO's office feeling wronged. How could William not know about what was happening downstairs? He didn't dare go out now either. Those people were acting crazy—even as CEO, he'd get pelted if he went out.
William glanced coldly at the disheveled Sarah. Less than a minute after she entered, the air in the CEO's office had become unbearable.
William didn't have the heart to discourage her, worried that if she got too frightened and had a heart attack, he really couldn't take care of a sick person right now.
"Go wash up first."
William held his breath and handed over a pack of tissues.
Sarah was almost crying from feeling wronged. "William, you have to stand up for me. Make sure whoever hit me goes to jail."
"Alright, go wash up quickly."
He was reaching his limit—it really stank.
Sarah ran crying to the restroom. As soon as she left, William immediately opened the doors and windows to air out the room and had James throw out the trash can and replace it with a new one. The tissues she'd used to wipe her hair were also a source of air pollution.
What a day William was having. He'd just gotten rid of Sarah when those old guys from the morning meeting cornered him in his office.
"Mr. Morgan, I don't think this is baseless. The internet users' opinions can't be ignored. The masses have sharp eyes. Shouldn't we investigate thoroughly?"
"Mr. Morgan, Sarah has a history of plagiarism. Have you forgotten how the company's internal forum was thrown into chaos by her plagiarism just a few days ago? I think we need to be careful about who we hire."
"Mr. Morgan, we can't keep such a troublemaker around. You're the most impartial person. We believe this matter needs to be handled fairly, setting aside personal feelings."