Chapter 39: The Plagiarism Claim

Neither of us spoke on the drive back.

Damien kept both hands on the steering wheel.

I kept Nathaniel's photograph inside my handbag.

The silence between us no longer felt like hatred.

It felt like uncertainty.

When the estate gates came into view, Damien finally spoke.

"You don't trust me."

"No."

"Do you want to?"

I looked out the window.

"I don't know anymore."

He didn't answer.

The car rolled through the gates.

Three news vans were parked outside Verline.

Reporters crowded the pavement.

Cameras pointed toward the entrance.

"What happened?" I whispered.

Rose came running down the front steps the moment I stepped out.

"Madam!"

"Thank God you're here."

"What's going on?"

"Someone filed a lawsuit this morning."

"Against Verline."

My stomach tightened.

"Who?"

"A company called Loraine Atelier."

"They claim your newest bridal collection was stolen from them."

"Impossible."

"Those sketches were mine years before I married Damien."

"They've already released images online," Rose continued.

"Everyone believes they designed them first."

Victor Hayes appeared from inside the building.

His expression was darker than I'd ever seen.

"This wasn't random."

"It's coordinated."

"How bad?" I asked.

"Bad enough that two major investors suspended negotiations this morning."

"And the media?"

"They're calling you a fraud."

Rose handed me her tablet.

Every headline looked the same.

"VERLINE OWNER ACCUSED OF STEALING DESIGNS."

"RISING JEWELLER BUILT BRAND ON PLAGIARISM."

"ASHFORD WIFE FACES LEGAL ACTION."

My chest tightened.

"Where are the comparison images?"

Victor opened the article.

Side by side.

My cradle pendant.

My ivy wedding set.

My emerald halo ring.

Every design matched.

Almost perfectly.

"These aren't copies," I whispered.

"They're my originals."

"Exactly," Victor said.

"Someone stole your archive before the studio reopened."

Damien stepped closer.

"When were these supposedly created?"

Victor enlarged the filing date.

"Three months ago."

"Interesting," Damien murmured.

"Vivian's studio was still locked then."

"Only three people had access."

"You."

"My lawyer."

"And Colette."

The last name settled over everyone.

"Where is she?" I asked.

Rose hesitated.

"She resigned this morning."

"What?"

"She emptied her room before sunrise."

"Security assumed Mr. Ashford approved it."

Damien's face hardened.

"I approved nothing."

"Find her," he ordered his head of security.

"Immediately."

"Already trying, sir."

"Her phone has been switched off."

"Her apartment is empty."

Victor folded his arms.

"She didn't disappear alone."

"Someone extracted her."

Inside Verline the conference room was already full.

Lawyers.

Accountants.

Design consultants.

Every television displayed the same breaking story.

I remained standing.

"I want the evidence they submitted."

"Already requested," one lawyer answered.

"The court released digital copies."

He projected them onto the screen.

Sketch after sketch appeared.

Every line belonged to me.

Every signature belonged to someone else.

Then the final page appeared.

My breathing stopped.

The bottom corner carried a designer's signature.

"C. Moretti."

"Who is that?" I asked.

"Current Creative Director of Loraine Atelier," Victor answered.

"Never heard of him."

"You have."

Damien spoke quietly.

"He worked inside Verline four years ago."

I stared at him.

"No."

"He interviewed."

"I rejected him."

"He couldn't even draw a proper claw setting."

"Exactly," Damien replied.

"Which means someone supplied him with your work later."

The room fell silent.

Victor suddenly looked at Damien.

"There's something else."

"The company funding Loraine Atelier changed ownership last month."

"Who owns it now?"

Victor slid a document across the table.

I read the first line.

Raven Capital.

The same name Nathaniel had circled.

"They're connected," I whispered.

"Everything is connected."

"The shell companies."

"The missing pages."

"The stolen designs."

"Nathaniel."

"All of it."

Damien leaned over the table.

"They're trying to destroy your credibility before the board meeting."

"If everyone believes you're a thief..."

"Then nobody believes your evidence."

I looked around the room.

For the first time since reopening Verline, fear disappeared.

In its place came certainty.

This lawsuit wasn't about jewellery.

It wasn't even about me.

It was about making sure no one listened when I exposed the truth.

"File a counterclaim," I said.

"Immediately."

"On what grounds?" the lawyer asked.

"Copyright ownership."

"Forgery."

"Corporate conspiracy."

"Can you prove it?"

I slowly reached into my handbag.

From the inner pocket I removed a small blue notebook.

Not Nathaniel's.

Mine.

The original Verline sketch journal.

Every page was dated.

Every drawing signed.

Every revision witnessed by my former assistant.

I had hidden it years ago because Damien forced me to close the studio.

Nobody knew it still existed.

I placed it on the conference table.

"This," I said quietly.

"Is where every one of those designs was born."

Victor smiled for the first time all day.

"Now we fight back."

Before anyone could speak again, Rose rushed into the room.

She was breathless.

"Madam..."

"The court just issued another notice."

"Loraine Atelier isn't asking for damages anymore."

"Then what do they want?"

Rose swallowed.

"They're demanding the court shut Verline down before the trial even begins."