However, after taking a few glances, it could be seen that the two dresses were similar. Although the dress Nicole had designed was embellished with many elements that were popular in recent years, the overall design was the same.
“What is this?”
Wendy blinked, her dark eyes filling with tears as she sniffed. “This is plagiarism! Colton, Lisa let me wear a plagiarized design!”
Colton frowned, suddenly feeling a little troubled. It would probably be bad if the matter of plagiarism was looked into and made into a major issue.
“Who told you about this?” Colton asked.
“What do you mean who told me about this? It’s trending on the Internet now. It’s probably trending even more than your new product launch event!” Wendy answered.
She was in the limelight because of that dress, and she even made it into the trending topics.
Initially, it was a good thing, but she didn’t expect that the matter of plagiarism would suddenly be exposed. Since there was concrete evidence, there was no way to refute the claims.
She initially didn’t know about it either, but Queenie was to thank for coming to her house and bringing it up. Otherwise, she would’ve still been kept in the dark.
Wendy’s first reaction was to go to Anna. After all, she was a designer who could identify plagiarism at a glance. Upon confirming it, she went to Colton’s office in a menacing manner, hoping that Colton could help her seek justice.
Colton’s face hardened. His slender fingers rested on the keyboard as he searched it up. Sure enough, ‘F&M Apparel’s Chief Designer suspected of plagiarism for Miss Gardners’ dress’ was currently a trending topic.
Colton took a glance and found that there were comparison photos with details, which could almost conclude that it was indeed plagiarism.
Wendy had previously been a trending topic, added up with the popularity of the leaked designs and the new product launch, the matter became a hot topic without needing much publicity.
Frustrated, Colton massaged his temples. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that someone was specifically targeting Nicole, but if Nicole had actually plagiarized the design, then there was nothing he could do.
“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.”
After Colton spoke, he turned around and walked out.
As Joanna watched Colton’s hurried steps, there was a burst of anger inside her. At this point, Colton’s reaction showed that he was still siding with Nicole.
However, she didn’t let her emotions show on her face. What surprised her the most was that Queenie would go to such lengths.
“Wendy, it’s all right. Don’t cry. I’ll design something better than that for you. Don’t be angry. I’m sure Lisa didn’t do it on purpose.” Joanna comforted Wendy, at the same time speaking up for Nicole.
Anna sighed, then looked at Joanna and said, “Joanna, you have such a good heart. At this point, you’re still speaking up for her.”
After Wendy cried for a while, she got up from Anna’s embrace. Looking at Joanna, she gritted her teeth. “Joanna, don’t say anything good about her anymore! S-She humiliated me! She humiliated me with a plagiarized design!”
Seeing how resentful the mother and daughter were, Joanna felt secretly happy, but she still appeared kind on the surface.
“President Gardner said that he’ll investigate it, so let’s wait for his findings.”
As of now, Wendy could be said to harbor complete hatred for Nicole. She grunted coldly, her voice obviously showing that she had just cried.
“Colton must have been seduced by that woman. Until now, he’s still taking her side,” Wendy remarked.
Anna’s gaze darkened. She used to have a sense of respect for Lisa because she was a part of F&M Apparel, and she was also a famous designer. However, there was now an issue of plagiarism, and her daughter was implicated. There was absolutely no way she could allow this to happen!
“No, Wendy. Don’t speak so mindlessly. Lisa has a son, so she can’t possibly be with President Gardner,” Joanna interrupted.
When she said this, Anna’s face immediately took a change for the worse. She turned to stare at Joanna. “Did you say that she has a son?”
Joanna hurriedly pretended as if she had said the wrong thing. “Oh, you didn’t know that, Mrs. Gardner?”
Anna appeared livid. How could she not know her son? Just by looking at Colton’s behavior, she could obviously tell that he had feelings for Nicole.
If she was still single, Anna had nothing to say. But, she didn’t expect Nicole to have a son. How could such a woman be worthy of her son?
“I know that now!” Anna stated sharply, then didn’t say anything else.
As Hayden had a slight fever, Nicole was worried and didn’t go to work today.
Although there was a nanny to take care of him at home, she still wanted to be by her son’s side.
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