Chapter 118 Pay the Price!
“Wendy, go back first. I’ll take care of this matter,” Colton said. Somehow, he felt that there was something fishy about the matter.
Seeing that Colton was obviously taking Nicole’s side, Wendy felt her anger surge. She gritted her teeth, and there was a hint of a sob in her voice.
“Colton, it’s already come to this point, yet you’re still siding with her! Just because of her plagiarism, I’ve become a joke. I… I actually wore a plagiarized dress!”
Growing up, Wendy was spoiled by the Gardner Family, so she had never suffered such a huge grievance. Now, many classmates took her as a joke and made snide remarks about her.
Feeling a headache coming, Colton rubbed his temples and summoned his patience as he comforted her. “Wendy, I’ll get to the bottom of this and give you an explanation.”
“What else is there to investigate? She must just want to impress you, but she doesn’t have the capabilities, so she copied a design!” Now, Wendy only had negative feelings about Nicole!
“Wendy!” When Colton noted how Wendy was gradually becoming unreasonable, his tone got heavy as he stood up and walked to Wendy’s side. Seeing how aggrieved she was, he couldn’t bring himself to be stern as his heart softened instead.
He let out a soft sigh, then reached out and patted her head to comfort her. “Wendy, Nicole is from F&M Apparel after all, so I can’t make a decision on my own. We must wait until this matter is thoroughly investigated.”
As soon as Colton finished speaking, a majestic voice rang out.
“The two designs are right in front of you. It’s obviously plagiarism! What else is there to investigate?!”
Colton looked up and saw that it was Anna, followed by Joanna.
“Mom, why are you here?” Colton asked.
Anna didn’t seem to be in a good mood. As Joanna helped her in, she snorted coldly. “Even if she is not an employee of the Gardner Corporation, this plagiarism report alone is enough for her to undergo investigation!”
Upon seeing that her mother had shown up, Wendy threw herself into Anna’s arms and sobbed without holding back.
Anna was distressed to see her daughter cry, so she quickly softened her tone and comforted her. “There, there. Wendy, don’t cry.”
“M-Mom, I’m a total joke now…” Wendy couldn’t endure this kind of shame and humiliation. As the daughter of the Gardner Family, she had a certain status in the upper class social circle.
When she wore the dress designed by Nicole, the ladies showered her with praises, so she didn’t expect that they would look down on her now that news about the plagiarism was exposed.
Anna’s heart ached, and her hatred toward Nicole grew. “No matter what the reason is, plagiarism is a shameful deed! Colton, even if the Gardner Corporation isn’t the tycoon of the fashion industry, we mustn’t let such a person go unpunished!”
Colton’s head throbbed. Now that Nicole wasn’t there, he couldn’t confront her directly, so he softened his voice as he said, “Mom, after I get to the bottom of this, I’ll definitely give you and Wendy an explanation.”
As soon as he made the assurance, Joanna spoke up. “President Gardner, it’s not that we don’t want to give Miss Lisa time, but she copied the design of the champion of the national design competition four years ago.” Joanna paused. “Now, even the judges of that competition have stood out and said… that she indeed plagiarized the design.”
Only then did Colton realize the severity of the matter. As judges of the competition, they must have a certain status in the world of design.
It seemed that Nicole was truly in huge trouble this time.
At this moment, he could only look for Nicole to clarify the matter. Otherwise, he couldn’t explain this away no matter what he said.
Colton nodded, then said in his deep voice, “Alright. I’ll give you all a satisfactory answer.”
