After Divorce I Married a Tycoon-Chapter 191: Shedding No Tears Until Seeing the Coffin
Scarlett Jewel had been desperately trying to argue her way out of it, refusing to admit she had stolen the designs.
But now, hearing that Claire Mercer had evidence,
she froze. Even her excuses became muddled.
Then a thought struck her. ’Could that little bitch Claire Mercer be bluffing?’
’After all, the design sketchbook has been in my hands the whole time.’
’I refuse to believe she has another identical sketchbook.’
With that thought, Scarlett Jewel quickly regained her composure.
"Fine. Then show me the evidence."
"You really won’t give up until you’re faced with the undeniable truth, will you?" Claire Mercer chuckled and pulled out her phone.
"Did you really think that just because you have my sketchbook, I have no other proof?"
"Unfortunately for you, I have a habit."
"Every time I create a design, even if it’s just a preliminary hand-drawn sketch that isn’t finalized, I take a picture of it and save it."
"After all, with design work, if you don’t keep a backup, someone can easily take advantage of a moment’s carelessness."
"And what do you know? Someone has now stolen my designs and is denying it to the death."
"Since you insist you didn’t steal my designs, I’ll make you see the truth."
As she spoke, Claire Mercer had already opened the cloud drive on her phone.
The cloud drive was filled with almost all of her design work.
From casual sketches she drew in high school to the assignments she turned in as a design major in college.
It even included the pieces she had entered into international design awards under the name CC. She had photographed and saved all of them.
Naturally, she had also photographed and saved every single piece from the sketchbook.
"Honorable judges, this cloud drive contains all of my original designs."
"Every design, from high school until after my college graduation, is in here."
"I’ll have to trouble you, honorable judges, to carefully compare and see if Scarlett Jewel’s entry today was stolen from my designs."
Claire Mercer navigated to the folder for the sketchbook in her cloud drive.
Then, she handed her phone to the professional judges at the panel.
One judge took the phone, and the other judges quickly gathered around to compare the designs carefully.
Seeing Benny also trying to lean in for a look, Claire Mercer spoke to him.
"Of course, we won’t need to trouble you with this, Instructor Benny."
"After all, you have such high standing in the industry, such a big name. How could we trouble you with such a small matter?"
"Besides, I think your eyesight might be... strained from overuse."
"Weren’t you just insisting that I had plagiarized Instructor CC’s work?"
"But it was obvious someone had altered Instructor CC’s design in that so-called evidence, and you couldn’t even see that."
"If your vision gets blurry again during this comparison, I won’t be able to clear my name."
Hearing Claire Mercer’s passive-aggressive words, Benny’s face turned the color of liver.
"You think I want to see your designs?" Benny snorted coldly.
"Your designs are just like you—all flash and no substance."
Instead of getting angry, Claire Mercer laughed and shot back with more passive-aggression.
"Yes, you’re right. I have no substance, but that’s still better than having no professional ethics."
"Some people appear talented and capable, but unfortunately, they lack any professional integrity whatsoever."
Although she didn’t name anyone specific,
was there anyone present who couldn’t tell that the person she was referring to—the one with no professional integrity—was Benny?
Benny, of course, also knew she was alluding to him. He was furious.
"Claire Mercer, you... you’re disrespectful to your seniors, utterly arrogant."
Her words were met with a cold laugh from Claire Mercer.
"Joel Jennings slandered me for plagiarism, and you worked with him to solidify the accusation. Everyone saw it."
"He came out to slander me, and you came out to back him up."
"You only gave a cursory glance at the so-called evidence Joel Jennings provided before declaring that I had plagiarized."
"You wanted to use your status and position in the design world to nail me to the pillar of shame for plagiarism."
"Does someone who slandered me, someone with no professional integrity or ethics, deserve my respect?"
Benny flushed, speechless from her retort.
He shot a venomous glare at Joel Jennings.
’It’s all this useless idiot’s fault.’
’After Claire Mercer threatened him by calling the police, he couldn’t take the pressure and publicly admitted to slandering her.’
’How could he have the nerve to admit something so humiliating in public?’
’At least he didn’t rat me out.’
But even if he hadn’t sold him out,
what just happened was so obvious. Everyone could see the role he had played in the affair.
Now, Claire Mercer was bringing it up again in public,
drawing everyone’s attention back to him.
Naturally, he was fuming with shame and anger.
"Even if you were framed, you won’t get far in the design world."
Claire Mercer chuckled. "What? Is Instructor Benny planning to use his connections and status to suppress me in the future?"
Benny’s breath hitched at her comeback.
The only time people had dared to talk back to him like this was when he was just starting out.
Ever since he established himself in the design world, no one had dared to challenge him so openly.
Claire Mercer was just a rookie contestant with no background or connections in the industry.
Yet she dared to be passive-aggressive, confront, and mock him in public, time and time again...
She showed absolutely no respect for him, a veteran of the industry.
Rage burned in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to storm the stage, rip her mouth apart, and tear out that sharp tongue of hers.
"I wouldn’t stoop to using my connections and status to suppress you. It would be beneath me."
"You think anyone would dare to work with you, with that arrogant personality and attitude of yours, even if I don’t suppress you?"
Claire Mercer scoffed. "As long as you don’t interfere, who can say what the future holds?"
Benny snorted contemptuously, his face a mask of disdain.
Claire Mercer couldn’t be bothered with him anymore and waited for the judges’ verdict.
Meanwhile, Scarlett Jewel bit her lower lip, her hands tightly gripping her sleeves, her heart pounding like a drum.
Her palms and back were slick with sweat from extreme nervousness.
’I really didn’t think that bitch Claire would have photographed all her design work and saved it to a cloud drive.’ 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
’I thought I was foolproof with her sketchbook in my hands.’
’Even if she wanted to accuse me of plagiarism, she wouldn’t have any proof.’
’But who could have guessed she had another trick up her sleeve?’
’Now, not only has she accused me of plagiarism, but she’s also calling me a thief.’
’I worked so hard to get into the finals and finally make the Sinclair family see me in a new light.’
’Now that this plagiarism scandal has erupted in public, there’s no way I can hide it from the Sinclairs.’
’If the judges compare the designs and confirm that I really did plagiarize...’
’How will I ever establish myself in the Sinclair Family?’
’I won’t have any standing at all in the circle of wealthy wives in Rhonia.’
’I’ll be mocked, despised, and the Sinclair Family will become a laughingstock because of me.’
’If that happens, will the Sinclairs still treat me well?’
’Will I still have a good life in the Sinclair Family?’
The more Scarlett Jewel thought about it, the more terrified she became.
All she could do was pray that the modifications she made when copying Claire Mercer’s designs would be enough.
For Scarlett Jewel, the wait for the judges’ final decision felt agonizingly long.
Every second was torture.
But even though it was torture, she also found herself secretly praying for time to slow down.
She was afraid to hear the verdict, even more afraid that it would be the one she couldn’t face, one she couldn’t bear.
A short while later, one of the judges on the panel spoke.
