Chapter 4:
Amid the guestsâ praises, Adelina raised her head, looking gentle and virtuous.
âAfter all, Harlee was once part of the Gill family. If I can help her, I will.â
The guests continued voicing their thoughts, their opinions of Harlee sinking while their admiration for Adelina grew. They noted that while Adelina might not have been as stunning, her heart was far kinder than Harleeâs.
Plagiarism
Harleeâs eyes swept over the guests surrounding her. Most of them appeared to watch the situation unfold with interest, more eager to voice their opinions than to uncover the truth.
Eventually, her gaze landed on Adelina, who donned a smug face.
Harlee had actually gone through this particular sketchbook. On Adelinaâs very first day back home, she had taken it out during dinner, sketching dramatically in front of everyone, eager to show off her talent for fashion design. Not satisfied yet, Adelina aimed to boost her own reputation as a design genius by misleading the guests into believing Harlee had stolen her sketchbook.
Harlee scoffed.
Did Adelina really not see who she was imitating, or was she just that foolish? Adelinaâs sketchbook held over two hundred designs, but the funniest thing was that the fifty best ones were outright copies of the latest collections from top brands.
Adelina had taken beautiful, high-end designs and twisted them into complicated, tasteless mixtures, robbing them of their original grace and simplicity.
Instead of couture, it resembled homework hastily put together by some design students. Worse, Harlee even spotted some of her own designs that she had previously shared online.
Clearly, Adelina had been living in a fantasy for so long that she might have started to believe herself to be a design genius.
Harleeâs lips curled into a sarcastic smile, and her intense gaze locked onto Adelina, seeing through her antics.
At Harleeâs charming smile, an unshakeable feeling of unease washed over Adelina.
âThe design on the third page? Thatâs a knock-off of Nora Burkeâs Moonlit Dream collection. The frilly dress on page ten? That came from CLâs spring 2024 line. The sixteenth pageâ¦â Harlee named ten different outfits in the sketchbook, pinpointing which designers had been plagiarized.
Harleeâs calm demeanor caused many of the previously entertained guests to instinctively flip through the sketchbook to check her claims. Indeed, the first design was a copy. The second design? Also a copy. The third? Same situation. One by one, all ten designs mentioned by Harlee were revealed to have been plagiarized.
The guests found the situation utterly ridiculous. Wasnât Adelina a design prodigy like the rumors had painted her? Why were those ten designs in her sketchbook not her own work?
Most of the guests were Liamâs business associates and seasoned professionals in the fashion world. They knew each seasonâs new releases well, and as they flipped through the pages, it became obvious Harlee was right. In a flash, everyone started murmuring to share their disbelief.
âNo way! Is this the collection the Gill Group is about to release? While we all know the Gill Group mainly collaborates with Moonlight, the genius designer fromâ¦â
âOverseas, instead of running its own design department, Adelinaâs outright copying is too much! And the Gill family intends to make Adelina a director for her design capabilities? Gee!â
âTotally ridiculous, I agree! I canât believe the Gill family has stooped to this low! And the nerve of them singing praises of their so-called genius designer daughter Adelina over and over again! Turns out, she is nothing but a shameless copycat!â
Liam and Averie clearly heard the whispers and turned to gaze at Adelina, their faces a mix of confusion and disbelief, their words stuck in their throats.
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