Chapter 67

The next morning, when Tom walked into the company, he could tell something was off. His coworkers were giving him all sorts of looks-some looked sorry for him, some were pissed, and others had this smug grin.

Just as he was about to hop into the elevator, Jerry showed up with a bunch of people.

"Mr. Harris, come with us," Jerry said, and his two guys grabbed Tom.

Tom, feeling his arm being yanked, snapped at Jerry, "Wait, Jerry, what the hell is going on?"

"Because of your bad calls, the company took a big hit. Mr. Williams is really disappointed in you," Jerry replied coldly.

Tom's face went pale. "No way! I'm Mr. Williams' most loyal guy! I need to see him! Let me talk to Mr. Williams now!"

Jerry just waved his hand. "Take him away!"

Tom fought back, but he couldn't break free. They shoved him into a car and drove off to the police station.

Someone caught the whole thing on video and posted it online.

At first, no one really cared. Tom wasn't exactly a household name. But then the organizers dropped a bombshell, and the internet went nuts.

The organizers: [After our investigation, we found out that a senior executive at our company took bribes and messed with the evaluation results, causing unfair treatment to contestants. Under the chairman's investigation, it turns out the top two designs were both by Isabella Taylor. We sincerely apologize to Isabella Taylor and invite her to be our Chief Design Director.]

Amelia had been glued to the updates, and when she saw the organizers' message, she immediately called Isabella.

"Isabella, check online! They cleared your name, and everyone knows Bianca plagiarized! Bianca's done for!" Amelia shouted excitedly into her phone.

Isabella was thrilled too. She had been keeping it cool, but deep down, she was super anxious.

[How could this happen? Can a senior executive really be bribed?]

[Your new company's credibility is trash!]

[Is Isabella really the victim here?]

[Is this just a power play between these two women?]

[If the organizers say Isabella was wronged, they better show some proof.]

With all the mixed messages, people online were still skeptical. But then the organizers dropped some video evidence.

The video showed Bianca and Isabella in a room, separated by a curtain, each with a whiteboard and a pen.

"Please write down your design concepts for this product," someone off-camera, probably an investigator, said.

In the video, Bianca looked super uneasy. She wrote really slowly, constantly glancing towards Isabella, even though the curtain blocked her view.

Isabella wrote quickly and confidently, showing off her whiteboard after just a few minutes.

She explained her design concept, starting with a female perspective on cosmetics packaging. But then she realized she couldn't speak for all women, so she switched gears and looked at it from a business angle, reworking her draft.

Bianca, on the other hand, was struggling big time. After some prodding from the organizers, she finally showed her whiteboard.

Her design concept was super basic; she just thought some colors looked nice.

With this video out, everyone got the picture. How could someone snag first place with such a lame take on color?

[Wow, Bianca really played us. She doesn't get design at all.]

[We were all fooled by her.]

[Bianca's the biggest fraud!]

But one piece of evidence wasn't enough. The organizers seemed to have it out for Bianca and quickly dropped other bombshells.

The second piece of evidence was a video of Isabella's trashed home, with everything scattered and her computer totally wrecked.

The third piece was a neighbor's testimony. The neighbor said Bianca did come to Isabella's place and wrecked it, and Isabella only got home after Bianca had already done the damage.

"I was so scared! Bianca was in a wheelchair, going nuts and smashing everything!" said the neighbor, a guy in a dark blue hoodie, clutching his chest as he remembered Bianca's rampage.

"Why didn't you stop her?" a reporter asked.

The neighbor rolled his eyes. "She was in a wheelchair. How was I supposed to know what was wrong with her? What if I hurt her more and she sued me?"

The organizers added a note after the neighbor's interview: [Bianca's designs were uploaded the same night she trashed the place.]

With each new piece of evidence, public opinion swung hard in Isabella's favor.

Almost everyone online was now bashing Bianca, who had become the latest target for internet hate.

Mason, fuming, called John and demanded he get Bianca under control. He warned John that if he couldn't handle it, he'd step in himself.

John hung up, glaring at Bianca. "Why did you lie to me? Damn it, I should've known. You've never studied design, never drawn anything. How could you suddenly come up with such great work?"

Bianca bit her lip, looking pale. She had played the victim online, even sharing her address, and had gained a lot of sympathy.

Now, angry fans were swarming the hospital, demanding answers. If it weren't for John's people holding them back, they would've torn her apart.

"Sorry, John. I didn't see this coming. I know Mason's always hated me, so I wanted to impress him. That's why I stole Isabella's design," Bianca cried, begging for John's forgiveness.