Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

In the waiting room, Max, furious, sighed heavily. He adjusted his tie and glared angrily at Pearl, who sat motionless before him.

"What's going on, Pearl?" Max shouted loudly. Just moments ago, numerous guests and important company partners had witnessed the events unfolding on the large screen. He couldn't comprehend what was happening.

Pearl was the organizer, meaning she had arranged and coordinated the launch of the new product. She hastily shook her head, genuinely not understanding the situation. It made no sense for her, the one responsible for organizing the event, to sabotage it.

"I don't know, Max. Someone must be trying to sabotage me. I can't harm myself. Think about it; I came up with the idea and organized this event. There's no way I would intentionally ruin the company's reputation. I don't know who did this, but you have to believe that I would never want to tarnish the company's honor," Pearl explained hurriedly, looking at Max. Her entire body trembled to the point where she couldn't move normally.

Max, massaging his temples, felt extremely frustrated. The crucial issue now was to handle this situation gracefully with the guests and partners present. They had all seen what was on the big screen. Max sighed deeply and glanced at Pearl, feeling uncomfortable that her design seemed to be a copy.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Do you also think I copied someone else's work?" Pearl felt judged by Max's gaze, and anxiety filled her.

"Alright, stop talking. You better find a reasonable explanation, and from now until the event concludes, don't leave this room," Max exhaled heavily. He couldn't understand why Pearl would copy the work of a renowned artist like VB. It was not only audacious but could seriously damage the company's reputation.

Upon hearing this, Pearl panicked. "You can't be left me alone. I... I don't know how to handle this. You have to help me, Max."

The tension in the room escalated, making Pearl even more anxious. She didn't know how to explain to Max and couldn't bring herself to admit what was right in front of them.

"I didn't copy VB's work, Max. I just... referenced it a bit. During the design process, I found a point in VB's work that suited the new product, so I..." Pearl became more shaky as she spoke, looking at Max, unsure of what else to say.

As the scene remained chaotic, they had to stay inside until it was resolved. Max paced around the room, realizing he had never encountered a situation like this in all his years as the director. To make matters worse, the person responsible was not just an employee but also his lover and secretary.

If a suitable explanation couldn't be provided, not only would Pearl face disciplinary action, but Max himself would lose credibility in the eyes of the leadership and partners.

Knowing Max wouldn't abandon her, Pearl tried to appear pitiful and vulnerable, making Max hesitant to inquire further.

"If you can't come up with a new packaging ideal design, you shouldn't have participated. And now that everything has turned out like this, you want me to solve it for you? Pearl, what exactly are you thinking?" Max couldn't contain his frustration. If he had known things would turn out like this, he wouldn't have helped Pearl make the choice.

Confused and tearful, Pearl pleaded, "Don't yell at me like this, Max. I never wanted this to happen."

"Alright, stop crying. This is not the time to cry. I'll help you resolve this, but you can't evade your responsibility," Max comforted her, despite his annoyance.

Pearl, thinking that Max would handle everything, was disappointed when he said she still had to take responsibility. "What should I do?"

Bella returned, cheerful and content. She never expected this turn of events to be so favorable. She was curious about how Max would handle the situation, ensuring his lover wouldn't face disciplinary action.

Bella knew Max was comforting Pearl beside her, and since they had secretly been together for a long time, planning to take over her father's company, Max wouldn't abandon Pearl because of today's incident. Bella poured herself a glass of expensive red wine and happily swirled around.

Just as she received a call from Levi, this time Bella felt not only irritated but also pleasantly answered the phone. As she pressed the accept button, Levi spoke first.

["How about that? You seem very cheerful today. Do you like this solution?"]

Bella relaxed into her chair, gently swirled her glass of wine, and nodded, "You did well, even better than I thought."

Everything that happened today was arranged by Levi. Of course, it wasn't just a matter of bribing people on the organizing committee to project those images; he also planted a few fake guests to create chaos in the hall.

Not every guest knew about Pearl's design or the works of the artist VB, so he strategically placed a few impostors as guests intentionally saying unfavorable things, making all the guests quickly believe that Pearl was copying someone else's work.

Everything was neatly and cleanly arranged by Levi to the point where no one could detect it, whether at the beginning or when it was all over. Because of this meticulousness, Bella's trust in Levi increased significantly.

Bella was contemplating how Max and Pearl's faces would look when Max deliberately helped Pearl be chosen instead of her. Meanwhile, Levi on the other end spoke, ["So, what's the reward for my diligence?"]

His warm and slightly hoarse voice, as if suppressing something, made Bella blush. She hadn't even fully grasped the joy when she got angry at this man's blatant flirtation.

"I... I'm hanging up now. I won't talk to you anymore." Bella immediately finished the sentence and hung up. She sat in a daze, looking at the phone screen, then turned away in embarrassment. But Bella still looked back at the phone and mumbled, "Shameless."

Throughout that night, Max didn't come home, nor did he text or call Bella as usual. Bella didn't care and paid no attention to her husband because she was sure he was with his best friend.

The next day, as soon as Bella arrived at the Lauriel company, she received some interesting news.

"Bella, do you know what? The company's website has explained yesterday's incident."

Bella wasn't surprised because this was a significant issue, but she didn't expect the superiors to provide an explanation so quickly. Without waiting for Bella to check the information on the Lauriel website, it was said, "As we all saw yesterday, there was evidence proving that Pearl copied the work of artist VB, with almost 90% similarity in design between her and VB's work. But the updated information this morning suggests that there was no copying at all; it was a collaboration between an employee in the company and the artist VB."

Hearing this, Bella pondered and asked, "So the conclusion is that this is not a copy but a collaboration between Pearl and VB? But if Pearl's design is chosen from the competition, then..."

Lauriel nodded firmly, saying, "Exactly, if that packaging is the result of collaboration between Pearl and VB, then isn't she cheating in the competition?"

What Lauriel said was not entirely wrong, but it wasn't entirely correct either, as the competition rules didn't explicitly prohibit collaboration with artists or anyone with expertise in this field.

However, what Bella was concerned about was whether the artist VB truly agreed to collaborate with Pearl. She had never heard before that Pearl's design was a collaboration with VB. It was easily understandable; this was just a temporary solution.

There was no collaboration here, perhaps Max had deliberately arranged it before negotiating with the artist VB. If the artist VB agreed, everything would go in a positive direction, and Pearl could unexpectedly regain her honor. But if the artist VB saw this news and refused to collaborate, then... as everyone in the company could predict.

"Bella... What do you think?" Lauriel leaned on Bella's desk and asked for her opinion. After all, Bella had been eliminated from the competition because of Pearl's 'copied' design, so Lauriel thought Bella would be interested in this issue.

But Bella seemed uninterested and only said, "I don't know, sooner or later the director will handle this. I don't think the company will let the reputation and dignity be affected just for a secretary."

Bella's words were decisive, but the true meaning in her statement was unclear, making Lauriel and nearby colleagues not sure what she really thought.

"Aren't you angry at all? I see you still look calm as if nothing happened, not a bit of anger?" A male colleague spoke up.

Bella just laughed and said nothing. Of course, she was angry, but after learning that Pearl was merely copying someone else's work, she felt that if she got angry, she would be as petty as Pearl.

Although the leadership, especially Director Cooper, had issued a clarification that there was no copying in Pearl's design, the employees in the company still had suspicions because of the excessively close relationship between Pearl and Director Cooper. It was easy to understand why Director Cooper would cover for her.