Chapter 69
"No, I didn't plagiarize!"
Chloe clutched her skirt tightly, her face looking rather unpleasant. "This work is my own hard design, it has nothing to do with anyone else."
Charlotte watched her lie quietly, suddenly feeling like laughing.
Chloe was getting better and better at lying.
Even in front of Alexander, she could put on such a wronged and sincere look of being falsely accused.
Seeing that neither Edward nor Alexander said whether they believed her or not, Chloe's tears began falling drop by drop.
She looked at Benjamin through her tears, "I really designed this myself, it has nothing to do with anyone else. Benjamin, you have to believe me!"
Benjamin immediately stood up and walked over to Chloe.
"Uncle Alexander, even if you're protecting Charlotte, you can't just say my fiancée plagiarized, right? This time she really did it on her own!"
Charlotte pulled at her lips but said nothing.
"Enough! If Chloe has real talent, then show it in the competition. What's the point of talking about it here?"
Edward waved his hand impatiently, "Hurry up and leave! This is Charlotte's place, not somewhere you can just come to!"
Benjamin's face darkened.
Now Edward was disgusted with him, all because of Chloe.
He grabbed Chloe's arm expressionlessly and turned to leave.
"Chloe." Behind them, Charlotte's calm voice suddenly came.
Chloe turned around suspiciously, her eyes guarded. "What else do you have to say?"
Charlotte walked up to her.
"I wish you success in this competition and hope you win first place."
Chloe looked at her expressionless face, unable to tell if she was mocking her or deliberately pretending to sincerely bless her in front of everyone, putting on a fake show of generosity.
She smiled, "Don't worry, tomorrow is the first round of the finals. I won't disappoint you."
"That's good."
Charlotte curved her lips, revealing a meaningful smile.
Chloe paused, feeling there was something strange about her smile, like something was off.
But she didn't have time to think about it before Benjamin pulled her away.
Outside, under a tree by the villa entrance.
There was no one else around, everything was quiet.
Chloe was dragged out by her wrist by Benjamin, her face changing. "It hurts... Benjamin, be gentle, it hurts!"
Benjamin dragged her directly behind the tree and questioned her coldly, "Can you actually get a good ranking in this competition or not! Since we got engaged, you've been embarrassing yourself constantly, and I've been laughed at too. It's time to pull yourself together, isn't it?"
Hearing this, Chloe's face looked unpleasant.
But she couldn't argue back.
Indeed, since she got engaged to Benjamin, nothing had gone smoothly.
Fortunately, Benjamin knew her family also had some connection with the Langley family and could attend the Langley family's daughter's recognition banquet, so he held back from bringing up breaking off the engagement.
This competition was very important - it was her chance to turn things around. She absolutely couldn't mess it up.
Thinking of this, Chloe showed a confident smile, "Don't worry, I'll definitely win first place in the competition and let Mandy get second place."
Benjamin's eyes became doubtful, "You're that sure the champion and runner-up will be you two?"
"Of course!"
"Why?"
Benjamin's question made Chloe fall silent for a moment.
She couldn't very well say that because everyone liked to appreciate Queen's work, she was going to have someone plagiarize from Charlotte's designs, which would definitely get her a good ranking.
Chloe's smile became somewhat forced, "Anyway, don't worry, I won't disappoint you. You don't understand design anyway, so stop asking."
Benjamin wasn't interested in these things anyway.
He just needed Chloe to do something that would give him face, so he wouldn't be mocked for marrying such a useless person.
After the two left, Edward also quickly went back.
Charlotte stretched her wrists and walked upstairs.
"Wait."
Alexander sat on the sofa, looking at her puzzled, "You're just leaving like that? What about me?"
The butler hurried over and bowed respectfully, "Mr. Harris, I've already arranged a guest room for you. You can go pack up and get ready to rest now."
Alexander still just stared at Charlotte, "I can't sleep. I want to talk with you for a while, is that okay?"
"I don't have time. I have important things to do."
Charlotte left these words and went straight into her room, closing the door.
The door shut tight. The butler nervously looked at Alexander.
Alexander was still leaning on the sofa, looking at the room door, seeming a bit disappointed.
The butler smiled and explained, "Ms. Johnson is just like this - cold by nature. Never mind you, even with her own family, she's always had this attitude."
"Her family."
Alexander thought of those people from the Johnson family, his eyes carrying some coldness. "Those kinds of people count as family?"
He stood up and went back to shower, leaving the butler looking surprised.
Late at night, the villa was very quiet.
Charlotte sat in front of her computer, downloading Chloe and Mandy's competition entries to her local drive.
As a judge, before the competition started, she could view each contestant's work.
Looking at them, Charlotte found it laughable and her face turned cold.
Chloe's work had again plagiarized her previous design work.
However, Chloe had gotten smarter.
The work she used this time wasn't one Charlotte had publicly released.
Therefore, even if she came out as Queen to say Chloe plagiarized, she would need to prepare the most solid evidence.
Charlotte made comparison images showing the plagiarism evidence, included the timeline of her own work, then opened Mandy's entry.
Mandy's work wasn't plagiarizing her designs.
But...
Charlotte narrowed her eyes, seeing something that felt familiar.
She thought for a long time, then sent the work to Jason and made a phone call.
"Look at Mandy's work. Who does it remind you of?"
Jason thought seriously for a while, then had a sudden realization. "The retired master Blue's work? Similar style, and Mandy's work is almost identical to his creation 'Hope'!"
Charlotte curved her lips, her tone turning cold. "The design world is so messy now precisely because of people like this, muddying the waters."
"Blue has been retired for five years. Mandy plagiarizing his work just shows she thinks no one will notice, right? These two people need to be taught a good lesson! Best to kick them out of the design world!"
Jason was furious, his tone full of disgust.
Charlotte made a sound of agreement.
She thought the same.
Letting these two into the finals was to gather more evidence and crush them completely.
"Tomorrow is the first round of the finals. Just watch the show."
Charlotte hung up the phone and got up to get some water.
She had just opened the door when she almost bumped into the man outside.
Charlotte stepped back, her eyes widening in shock, her gaze wavering.
Standing before her was Alexander, fresh from the shower, with a towel around his waist, eight-pack abs, broad shoulders and narrow waist, carrying the scent of body wash - impossibly sexy.