Chapter 73
Chapter 73
Samuel staggered, causing him to take a few swift steps forward. It wasn't until both his hands landed on the table that he stabilized himself and prevented himself from falling to the ground.
“No, it's not my time to retire yet. You can't force me to retire! First, it was Laurence. Now, it's me. Are you really trying to get rid of all your elders in the company, Artemis?” he questioned.
Artemis smiled with a raised eyebrow and helped stop his uncle's sliding body from falling. “I was just joking with you, Uncle Samuel. Why are you panicking? Relax. If you don't do anything wrong, no one will dare to force you out.”
“R-Really?”
With a smile, Artemis nodded. “Of course. However, I suggest you recognize who's the real person in charge of Luther Group and who you should listen to. Otherwise...”
“Yes, yes, of course.” Samuel stood with the help of his nephew before rubbing the sweat on his forehead away. “I must have been out of my mind earlier. Don't worry; I won't make the same mistake again.”
The young man walked around the office table and guided his uncle to sit on the nearby couch. Smiling, he said, “Please tell me what my mother told you, Uncle Samuel.”
Sitting on the couch with a straightened back, Samuel spoke carefully. “She asked me to judge Ms. Bailey's work as plagiarism because then the legal department will be able to transfer the case to the court. She also told me to find a way to contact the original designer, Snowflake, and invite her to visit Hallsbay personally. Then, we are to encourage her to sue Ms. Bailey on the grounds of copyright
violation and hopefully sentence Ms. Bailey to a few years in prison.”
Artemis' eyes narrowed. That old bat! She really wants Bailey dead. If she finds out Bailey had given birth to a descendant of the Luther family, I wonder if her attitude toward Bailey would change.
“Fine, I understand. After your people bring Bailey to the company, don't take her to the legal department. I want her to meet me right away.”
Obviously, Samuel wasn't going to say no and quickly agreed, “Of course. I'll give them a call this instant to relay your order.”
“You can leave now.”
The middle-aged man leaped from the couch and power-walked out of the room, even forgetting to bid goodbye.
The pressure inside the room was too much for him to handle. He didn't want to stay there for another second longer.
“Wait.”
After he took two steps away, Artemis called out to him.
Without turning back, he asked in a trembling voice, “Do you have other orders, Mr. Artemis?”
Artemis raised his eyebrows. “You saw the two designs. Do you think it's a case of plagiarism?”
“N-No.” At that point, only an idiot would say yes, which Samuel was not. Anyone with a pair of eyes can see he has fallen for that woman and wants to protect her. Whoever wants to mess with that woman will have to deal with him, which won't end well for them.
“I want to hear your true opinion.” Artemis stood and arrived in front of his uncle.
He stared into the older man's eyes and spoke one word at a time. “Regarding this matter, I want to hear only truths from you. Of course, you can only speak the truth in front of me. When you're in front of anyone else, you still need to pretend to be stupid. Understand?”
“Of course, I understand,” Samuel swiftly replied. “If this goes to the court, they'll no doubt say that it's a case of plagiarism because Ms. Bailey completely replicated the design structure. While there are contemporary elements added to it, it's still seventy percent similar to the work of Snowflake. This is enough for the judge to determine it as plagiarism.”
A chilling look glinted in Artemis' eyes.
He didn't doubt what his uncle said because he was certain the older man was spooked enough from earlier to not be telling any lies again.
Additionally, Samuel had worked in the industry for decades, so he was unlikely to be wrong about what the court would say.
After all, if he wasn't at least a little bit competent, there was no way he could've maintained his position as the director for so many years.
“Very well. You can leave now, Uncle Samuel. I do want to remind you to keep a tight leash on the people from the Lohan family. Don't let them use your authority in the company to do whatever they want. Otherwise, serious trouble will be knocking on your door one day.”
“Yes, yes.”
After the members of Luther Group's legal department brought Bailey to the lobby, they went straight to the elevator. They were about to send her to the CEO's office according to the orders they received.
News about Bailey copying Snowflake's design in order to win the competition had spread throughout the company. There was an endless murmuring among the company employees as they discussed the matter.
Bailey's arrival in the lobby caused a commotion.
“Look, she's the woman who copied the work of that famous designer! She really is despicable. Seven years ago, her reputation was ruined, yet she still refused to become a better person and continued to do bad things again.” Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.
“She's so shameless. How dare she compete with Ms. Tanner using plagiarized work? Does she not know the saying that an unequal contest brings no honor to the victor?”
“Speaking of which, she really has quite the nerve. Everyone knew the winner of the competition would become Ms. Caridee's dressmaker. Not only that, but the design that won would become Ms. Caridee's coming-of-age dress. Obviously, her plagiarized work disgusted Ms. Caridee. Thankfully, it was discovered in time. Otherwise, if Ms. Caridee showed up wearing that during her coming-of-age ceremony, she would've been laughed at and mocked.”
“What's even worse is that she actually copied Snowflake's work. It's unbelievable. I heard Snowflake has an apprentice called Juliana, who's the daughter of a royal family in the western world. Her status is quite impressive. Bailey has gotten into deep trouble this time. If Snowflake sues her, she'll undoubtedly spend a few years in jail.”
“She reaps what she sows. She has always used Mr. Luther's protection to do what she wants. Now that things have gone off the rails, not only will Snowflake and her apprentice not let her go, but even Ms. Caridee and Mrs. Luther will give her hell.”
“Let's just wait and watch the show. The legal department went straight to her home to bring her here. I bet there's already a case made for her plagiarism. Once the case is transferred over to the court, there's no way she's getting out of this mess.”
Bailey could hear what everyone was saying around her.
Despite that, there was no rage in her heart.
In fact, she was quite eager to see how things unfolded.
After all, there was no way anyone could control what they were all saying.
The elevator was still descending. She had been waiting for it to arrive for so long that she was tempted to climb the stairs instead.
The voices of the people talking around her were annoying her, like flies circling her ears.
“Well, well, isn't this Ms. Bailey, who was living the good life just two days ago? With Mr. Luther's support, not only did you not receive any punishment after that stunt in the design department, but you also went on to win the competition. You thought you were so awesome, but sadly, a piece of trash will always be a piece of trash who can only win by copying someone else. Unfortunately for you, before you could even enjoy the glory of your success, your cheating was discovered. Now, a prison cell awaits you. What a shame.”
Bailey narrowed her eyes. She sounds familiar. I guess it's someone I know.
When she turned around, she saw Janice approaching her with a gloating expression.
Unable to contain her chuckle, she replied, “Ah, it's you, Ms. Worthiere. It seems like you've gotten much more free time after being fired. You know, you should thank me for it. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to live so freely.”
That touched Janice's sore spot as her expression immediately turned ferocious. “I'll be sure to hire plenty of people to take care of you after you get thrown into prison, you b*tch!”