After Divorce I Married a Tycoon-Chapter 177: Scarlett Jewel Plagiarized

Joel Jennings sat in his seat, his expression dark and sinister.

Although Claire Mercer and Stella Thorne appeared calm, they were actually quite nervous.

Their performance had been steady, and both the design and Stella Thorne’s stage presence had been outstanding.

However, until the scores were announced, they couldn’t help but feel anxious.

Stella Thorne couldn’t resist leaning close to Claire Mercer’s ear to complain softly.

"Seriously, these organizers... They’re being so secretive about announcing the scores. It’s driving me crazy and just building the suspense."

Claire Mercer saw her fidgeting and heard her complaint, knowing she was a nervous wreck.

"It’s being broadcast live on TV, after all. If they don’t create some suspense, how are they supposed to pique the audience’s curiosity? And how would they boost and stabilize the ratings?"

"Ugh," Stella Thorne sighed miserably. "Torturing us contestants just to create suspense and keep the audience on the edge of their seats."

She didn’t actually care about her own ranking.

After all, she didn’t plan on signing with a modeling agency to become a professional model.

The reason she was so nervous was that she worried she might perform poorly and drag Claire Mercer down with her.

Claire Mercer, on the other hand, was handling it better. She smiled and said,

"It’s not just us, you know. The audience is on the edge of their seats, too."

"And as for the other contestants, it doesn’t matter if their own scores have been announced or not. As long as a single person’s score is still unrevealed, no one can relax."

"Let’s just wait for the scores. I think we’ll at least make it to the next round."

"But what I’m a bit puzzled about right now is that the outfit Scarlett Jewel designed today was surprisingly better than anything she designed in the previous rounds."

"How did she manage that in such a short amount of time?"

And what’s more, in the dress Scarlett Jewel submitted today...

...she saw traces of her own design sketchbook.

A bold suspicion began to form in Claire Mercer’s mind.

Stella Thorne didn’t notice the serious look on her face and chimed in, agreeing with Claire Mercer’s point.

"I was just about to say the same thing. The dress Scarlett Jewel designed today is on a completely different level compared to her previous entries."

"Do you think she could have plagiarized someone else’s work?"

"You think she might have plagiarized, too?" Claire Mercer asked.

Stella Thorne nodded. "It’s mainly because the dress she designed today is truly eye-catching."

"But we’ve been in this competition for so many rounds. We’ve all seen what her previous skill level was like."

"If she was capable of designing something at the level of today’s entry, why were her previous designs so mediocre?"

"With her personality, if she had that kind of talent, how could she possibly hide it? She would have been proudly showing it off everywhere long ago."

Claire Mercer nodded and fell into a brief moment of thought.

Recalling the dress Scarlett Jewel had just designed, she instantly understood what was going on.

Her bright, clear eyes drifted toward Scarlett Jewel as she murmured,

"Her previous skill level wasn’t terrible, but it definitely wasn’t at today’s level."

"If she wasn’t deliberately hiding her skill in the previous rounds, then she either plagiarized or hired a ghost designer."

"But I’m more inclined to believe she plagiarized. If she hired a ghost designer with this level of skill, why wouldn’t that person just enter the competition themselves?"

"Based on today’s entry, they might even win an award. Isn’t that better than being someone else’s ghost designer?"

"So, it’s highly likely she plagiarized. And what she plagiarized was..."

Stella Thorne quickly asked her, "Do you know whose work she plagiarized?"

Claire Mercer nodded. "I’m pretty sure."

"Who?" Stella Thorne pressed on, full of curiosity.

"When I moved out of the Mercer Family’s house, I couldn’t find my design sketchbook."

Claire Mercer didn’t say it outright, but the moment she said this, Stella Thorne instantly understood what was going on.

"You mean, your design sketchbook was stolen by Scarlett Jewel."

"And the dress she submitted today is a plagiarized version of a design from your sketchbook."

Claire Mercer stated with certainty, "That’s most likely the case."

’Hah!’

’Back then, she’d searched the Mercer Family’s house for ages and never found that sketchbook of hers.’

’She’d actually thought the Mercer Family had thrown it out with the trash, and she’d been angry about it for a long time.’

’Who would have thought...’

’Turns out her sketchbook hadn’t been thrown away like garbage.’

’It had been secretly stashed away by Scarlett Jewel.’

’She knew Scarlett Jewel had majored in design back in college.’

’She must have stumbled upon the sketchbook and secretly claimed it as her own.’

The moment Stella Thorne heard that her best friend’s designs had been stolen by Scarlett Jewel, she was so angry she almost lost her temper.

’She didn’t just steal Claire’s sketchbook, she plagiarized her work!’

Recalling all the despicable things Scarlett Jewel, the homewrecker, had done recently...

Stella Thorne glared at Scarlett Jewel, her eyes blazing with fury, and ground her teeth.

"That Scarlett Jewel is truly despicable. Utterly shameless."

"Before, she shamelessly stole a man, and now we find out she’s also stealing your designs."

"Claire, let’s go report her to the organizers right now."

Claire Mercer quickly stopped her. "Hold on. It’s just a guess for now, though I’m fairly certain I’m not wrong."

"But the dress she just showed is not enough to nail her for plagiarism."

"Because as fellow designers, it’s actually normal to sometimes have similar inspirations."

"To confirm if she really plagiarized my sketchbook, we need to see the next few outfits she submits."

"If she really is copying the designs from my sketchbook, I’ll be able to recognize her upcoming design style at a glance."

"But now, it all depends on how cleverly she copied it."

’Ever since she started designing, she had cleverly left her own unique logo on every single outfit.’

’She planned to use that unique logo, which would represent her, to establish her own brand and studio.’

’If Scarlett Jewel wasn’t a complete idiot, she would have noticed it and avoided copying it.’

’In that case, proving the plagiarism wouldn’t be so easy.’

’But if she was careless enough to copy the logo cleverly hidden within the design... ’

’Then proving she plagiarized would be a piece of cake.’

"With that simple brain of hers, if she were clever about her copying, you wouldn’t have noticed it in the first place."

"But there’s something I don’t get. If she had your design sketchbook, why didn’t she use it to plagiarize in the earlier rounds?"

"That way, given the quality of your designs, even if she couldn’t capture the essence, she would have been able to advance easily."

"The fact that her previous designs managed to get her this far was pure dumb luck."

Claire Mercer thought for a moment and said, "She was probably just wary."

"After all, she knows that design sketchbook is mine."

"If she started plagiarizing my work right in front of me, the original owner, from the very beginning, I would have definitely noticed."

"Then I could report her for plagiarism to the organizers, and she’d be kicked out of the competition immediately."

"Besides, her own design skills aren’t that bad. There was no need for her to risk getting kicked out of the competition right from the start."

"But today is the finals. She must be plagiarizing now because she wants to get a good ranking."

What Claire Mercer didn’t know, however, was that the reason Scarlett Jewel dared to plagiarize her design in the finals was because she and Joel Jennings had already conspired to take her down.