Chapter 86
"When are you coming back?"
Ava changed the subject.
"Do you want me to come back?"
Ava hummed in response. She wanted to clear things up soon. Keeping such a big secret to herself, living in constant fear every day, was really hard.
"Call me Honey, and I'll come back sooner."
Ava felt helpless. He'd steered the conversation back again. Was this one little term of endearment really worth obsessing over?
"Ava, I want to pin you down, make you cry, and then..."
"Honey! Stop, don't say anymore..."
Ava only hesitated for a moment before he started teasing her again. Who knew what embarrassing things he'd say next? She quickly called out "Honey" in a crisp voice to appease him.
William was pleased. A few soft laughs came through the phone, the sound making Ava's ears tingle.
"Scared?"
He asked.
Ava's scalp tightened. "Who's scared? I'm trying to talk to you about something serious. Be proper."
"What can a married couple do when they're being proper? Just chat under the covers? I'm not interested in chatting. I only want to see you cry beneath me, begging me to slow down even though you don't mean it."
Ava rubbed her temples, which were throbbing. She couldn't understand how someone could be like him—looking so well-dressed and composed outside, with that whole calm and restrained vibe, like he had 'self-control' written all over his face.
But behind closed doors, he was a complete beast, full of dirty talk.
No one would believe it if she told them.
"I need to clean up. I'm hanging up if there's nothing else."
She really couldn't listen anymore. This damn man didn't have a single proper sentence coming out of his mouth. After saying that, she hung up directly.
Ava patted her burning cheeks, repeating "calm down, calm down" in her mind.
Sarah didn't come to work the day after she fainted. On the third day, she came in.
When she walked in, she noticed everyone seemed less friendly toward her today. Everyone kept their heads down and didn't really want to talk to her. She was still puzzled when Ella came in from outside and pulled her over to her workstation to chat.
"Sarah, why are you just getting here?"
"Did something happen in the design department today?"
Ella coughed. "Someone on the company intranet is accusing you of plagiarism."
Sarah immediately got fired up. "Who dares to accuse me?"
Plagiarism wasn't something to be proud of. This would have a huge impact on her career. Everyone in design hoped people would respect original work. After all, inspiration wasn't easy to come by. No one wanted to be plagiarized or have their work credited to someone else's name.
Ella pointed at Sarah's computer. "See for yourself. The post is still pinned at the top."
Sarah quickly turned on her computer and opened the company intranet.
That post accusing her of plagiarism was pinned at the very top, with over a thousand likes and still trending. She felt guilty for no reason.
But it only lasted a few seconds before she gave herself a pep talk. She had only borrowed from a work from ten years ago and made innovations on top of it. The similarity was high, but they couldn't really call it plagiarism, right?
Besides, that piece was old enough that probably few people in the design department had seen it.
She opened the post and found it was posted anonymously.
The title was very sharp.
[The Morgan Group's Chief Designer Suspected of Plagiarism, Evidence Below.]
Without naming names, it was as good as naming her. Everyone in the company knew she was the designer William had hired from abroad at a high salary, and the entire design department at The Morgan Group had to listen to her. The chief designer was naturally none other than her.
The post included a video. When clicked, it showed an award ceremony from years ago, with that ring enlarged on the big screen behind the award winner, eye-catching.
At a glance, you could see it was almost identical to her current work.
Below the video were all anonymous replies, and someone had even boldly tagged William.
[@Mr. Morgan, this chief designer seems pretty fake. Suggest a thorough investigation.]
[What kind of chief is this? She's totally ruining The Morgan Group's reputation. Taking someone else's award-winning work and passing it off as her own—does she think everyone's blind?]
[Help! I've heard this chief designer has close ties with the boss and got in through connections. But can Mr. Morgan please think carefully? I've been an employee at The Morgan Group for over ten years, and I really can't stand to see someone like this tarnish the company. Thankfully, her work hasn't been posted on the official website yet, or how would we explain it to the outside world? One bad apple spoils the whole bunch.]
[Can someone in the know check all the works she's produced since joining the company? Who knows, maybe the others are plagiarized too.]
...
Sarah was already shaking with anger after reading just a few comments.
Ella handed her a glass of water to comfort her.
"Ms. Brown, don't worry. I believe you. Calm down and think—have you offended anyone in the company recently?"
That one sentence woke Sarah up. She looked up at Ava, her eyes full of hatred.
It must have been her!
But she didn't have time now to figure out how to settle the score with Ava. An email from the CEO's office had already arrived, asking her to explain to everyone.
She never expected that William wouldn't stand behind her and speak up for her. Instead, he sent her an email in a business-like manner, copying all the colleagues in the design department and the company's senior management, asking her to explain the matter.
She looked around at the dozens of people in the design department. They were usually respectful to her, but it was all superficial, just because they were wary of her relationship with William.
Now that William had taken a stance, everyone was avoiding her like the plague. At this moment, only Ella stood by her side. Her heart felt ice-cold.
Sarah picked up her phone and dialed William's number. She felt that since he had recruited her, he wouldn't just leave her hanging. In the past, no matter what mistakes she made, he would cover for her. This time would be no exception. Besides, she had already thought of a backup plan when she published that design.
She wanted to seek reassurance from him.
Recently, with Ava pregnant and William's attitude toward her growing colder and colder, she couldn't remember how long it had been since he'd set foot in JadeDragon Bay Residences.
If this continued, she would only become more anxious. This wasn't the life she wanted.
The dial tone rang for nearly a minute before she heard a cold, busy signal.
Sarah didn't give up and called again. Finally, on the third call, William picked up.
"William."
She pressed the phone to her ear and hurried outside.
Ava happened to hear her call out "William" in that aggrieved tone, and her heart sank.
She wanted to see how William would handle this. He'd always been serious and strict about work, and this kind of plagiarism crossed his red line. She dared to bet that William wouldn't risk the company's reputation to indulge Sarah's nonsense.
The email William had just sent further confirmed her guess.
Ava believed he would keep personal and professional matters separate.
The Morgan Group's design department wasn't as lively as usual that day. No one discussed work or gossip anymore. The atmosphere was frozen to the breaking point. Even during lunch, it was quiet and oppressive, as if everyone was holding their breath before a storm.
Everyone was waiting for a result, waiting for justice.
If you could just copy something and become The Morgan Group's chief designer with a million-dollar annual salary, where did that leave everyone else's hard work?
A position that many people struggled their whole lives to achieve was obtained by a girl in her early twenties through plagiarism. For those who had been working hard in the industry for years, it was heartbreaking.
Sarah's plagiarism could be said to have trampled on designers' dignity and caused public outrage.