Chapter 120 Get to the Root of the Problem
Her head ached as she tried to log into the account she used to submit the design that year, but because it was too long ago, she had forgotten her password.
Nicole thought of the passwords she commonly used in the past and entered them over and over again, but the final display was, ‘The password you entered is incorrect’.
As she became the Chief Designer of F&M Apparel that year, she never logged into that account again. Now, she wanted to access it after being accused of plagiarism, but she
Colton was quick and arrived at her house in less than ten minutes.
As soon as he arrived, he walked right in.
Today, Nicole was wearing loose light-colored pajamas because she was at home. Her hair was tied into a messy bun, and she had slight dark circles under her eyes, so it seemed like she didn’t sleep well.
Nicole didn’t beat around the bush either and said bluntly, “President Gardner, please sit. I took a look at the posts on the Internet. The gist of what they’re saying is that I copied the design of a national design competition’s champion from a few years ago.”
Upon seeing how frank Nicole was being, Colton didn’t know how to reply.
Nicole smiled and didn’t continue talking about the plagiarism, but turned the conversation around and talked about what had been happening lately instead.
“President Gardner, don’t you think the incidents of the past few days are all aimed at me?” Nicole asked calmly.
Colton nodded and responded, “Yeah.”
Nicole continued, “First of all, that person arranged for Henry to approach me. I only let my guard down because I felt guilty about him. After that, the design draft was leaked—that’s also aimed at me. Now, it’s plagiarism. I don’t think all these are coincidences. Someone had carefully planned it.”
Colton was silent as he listened to Nicole’s analysis, and he also suspected that someone was targeting Nicole, but the matter of plagiarism had already been spread on the Internet. If strong evidence wasn’t provided, this incident would become a stain on Nicole’s life.
“Then, what are you going to do?” Colton cast Nicole a sideways glance. Although her bare face made her look a little tired, she was still full of dazzling confidence.
“We’ll beat them at their own game and find out who the true mastermind is!”
Colton thought it strange that he trusted Nicole wholeheartedly, but he nodded in response. “Okay.”
Suddenly, Nicole remembered something, so she turned to look at Colton. “President Gardner, don’t you suspect that I actually plagiarized the design?”
With a small smile on his face, Colton said slowly, “As the Chief Designer of F&M Apparel, you have no reason to do such a thing that could ruin your reputation. I don’t believe that you’re so dumb.”
Nicole stared at Colton’s handsome face as his thin lips opened and closed, his voice low and slightly magnetic.
Lowering her head, she said seriously, “I took a look at the comments on the Internet. They’re saying that I copied the design of the champion of the design competition a few years ago.”
Nicole peered at Colton. There was no expression on his face, and he still looked indifferent as usual.
Nicole continued, “I anonymously participated in that competition, and I created that design on my own. That is also one of the very few youth-themed outfits I’ve designed. I figured that since that dress wasn’t manufactured, I could just add some modern elements and alter it to become Miss Gardner’s dress.”
Realization dawned on Colton, then he raised his eyebrows and turned to Nicole before asking, “Then, what are you planning to do next, Miss Anderson?”
Nicole touched her nose in embarrassment. “Back then, I participated anonymously, and I submitted it using an email address. Now, I have to access the account to prove it, but I’ve forgotten the password.”
Colton pursed his lips and gave Nicole a heads-up. “If you can’t prove it, I’m afraid you’ll be subjected to cyberbullying for the next few days.”
Chuckling faintly, Nicole stood up. “I can still endure this. I can use this opportunity to get to the root of the problem and stop the mastermind from pulling any more of these tricks!”
