Category: The Double Life Of My Billionaire Husband novel (Natalie Quinn and Sebastian Klein novel)

What with Natalie’s fiasco, the media was having a field day.

In the span of just twenty-four hours, the reputation of Klein Silk Fabric was destroyed and its stock price plummeted.

“There’s nothing we can do to refute the evidence that Natalie posted online. What we can do now is to try our best to keep the news from spreading.Mr.Klein, it was your idea to bring in more reporters there…”

the secretary reminded Ritchie in a trembling voice, picking up the documents Ritchie had thrown on the ground.

Ritchie glared at him, speechless.

He picked up another stack of papers from the table and threw them at the secretary’s face.

“I’m not an idiot. You don’t need to remind me what I said.”

Things didn’t end there.

Brandon sent people from the Larson Group’s legal department to help Natalie file a lawsuit against Klein Silk Fabric.

The second they got the notice of the lawsuit, Klein Silk Fabric responded quickly and held a press conference in the afternoon.

Luna expressionlessly read a script in front of countless reporters, her face pale as a ghost under the limelight.

“I admit that I peeked at Natalie Quinn’s work before the show started.Then I bribed an employee to tamper with the upload date on the database.I falsely accused her of plagiarizing my work, and I did all this to gain fame and attention.1 am responsible for all of this. My actions have nothing to do with Klein Silk Fabric.”

In the Larson Group, Natalie stopped the video on her phone and sighed.

“No class! Klein Silk Fabric made an ordinary employee take the fall!”

Gerda clicked her tongue unhappily.

“Everyone knows they’re using Luna as a scapegoat.She’s just an ordinary employee.How on earth could she manage to do all of this? Klein Silk Fabric is really heartless.”

The other designers had also seen the video circulating the Internet.

They began to discuss in hushed voices, but the general consensus was that Klein Silk Fabric was a cold blooded company.

Natalie pulled her chair and sat down.

There was no point in dwelling on it now that things had been settled.

“I can’t say I’m surprised. Now that Luna has taken the blame, we can’t do anything to Klein Silk Fabric.”

“And what about those designs? Are they really not gonna put them back on the show?”

Gerda puffed out her chest indignantly Natalie smiled at her colleague gently.

“It doesn’t matter.Look on the bright side.I have gained considerable fame because of everything that’s happened.Now, all eyes are on my work.”

In the end, Luna was put behind bars.

And Natalie had become an online celebrity.

Many people now knew her name and saw her designs.

Some even paid for it.

When the dust settled, Natalie poured all her energy into her work.

She had been so busy with this matter the past few days, so now she could finally focus on other things.

“By the way, Quinn, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.How’d you get the evidence?”

Gerda was talking about the videos that Natalie had posted on the Internet, which had amassed more than a million views.

Natalie froze.

After a few seconds, she broke into a smile and waved her hand dismissively.

“A very capable friend helped me get them.”

Gerda nudged her arm and asked curiously, “What friend? A boyfriend perhaps?”

Natalie’s eyes twinkled.

“It’s a secret.Gerda, is it just me or do you have a lot of time on your hands? Have you finished your design for this month? Don’t come running to me again when the deadline approaches.”

“Ah! My God! I still have thirty-four drawings to finish!”

Gerda scratched her head and hurried back to her desk.

Natalie couldn’t help but chuckle.

Suddenly, she thought of the tall and straight back of Brandon.

Now that she thought about it, she realized that Klein Silk Fabric had gone through all this trouble just to set her up.

It must have cost Brandon a lot to get his hands on the evidence.

Natalie couldn’t help but feel a little strange.

Brandon had helped her countless times, but she hadn’t really ever met him in person.She owed Brandon too much and she doubted she could ever repay him.

After thinking about it for a long time, Natalie finally plucked up the courage to send a message to Brandon.

“Mr.Larson, would you be willing to let me treat you to dinner? You’ve helped me a lot and I’d like to express my gratitude somehow.”

After hitting send, Natalie put down her phone and wrung her hands nervously.

The chairman of the Larson Group had probably tasted all the splendid dishes this world had to offer.

But it was a token of her appreciation.

At the CEO’s office of the Larson Group.

The Larson Group’s stock price had fluctuated over the past few days.

Now that the situation was favorable for the Larson Group and its stock price had more than recovered, Sebastian decided to seize the opportunity to put more pressure on the Klein Silk Fabric.

Garrett hadn’t slept properly in the past three days, dealing with the bad press: He was yawning sleepily when Sebastian’s phone pinged.

“Someone texted you.”

When he saw the name on Sebastian’s phone’s screen, Garrett snickered.

“It seems your wife’s missing you.”

Sebastian smacked Garrett on the back of the head and grabbed the phone.

Instantly, his expression darkened when he read the text.

“What is it? Why’s your face like that?”

Garrett asked seriously, the smile wiped from his face.

“Natalie’s asking Brandon out for dinner.” Sebastian put his phone down and sighed.

“If I refuse, she’ll be very disappointed.”

Garrett leaned back with his hands clasped behind his head.

“Yeah. You can’t have dinner with Natalie without her seeing your face.Last time, when you and Natalie went to the company’s masquerade ball, you almost exposed yourself.lt’d be unwise to take such a risk again.It’s not good for my heart either,” he sighed.

Sebastian frowned and started typing out a brisk reply.

“Thank you, but there’s no need for you to treat me to dinner. You’re an employee of the Larson Group.I helped you to protect the reputation of the company.”

Natalie read his message and quickly replied, “But Mr.Larson, you could’ve just dismissed me.”

“If I dismiss any employee when something like this comes up, how will we keep the talented ones? Keep up the good work.That’s thanks enough, Miss Quinn,”

Sebastian replied politely, keeping things professional.

He had deliberately distanced Brandon from her ever since what happened last time.He didn’t want her to suspect him of anything Reading his reply, Natalie had no choice but to give up.

Sebastian put down his phone, kicked the sofa Garrett was lying down on, and said, “I want you to relocate the one who had tried to force Natalie to resign. Transfer her to a subsidiary company.Then, bring Charis here.”

Garrett was just about to take a nap.

Hearing Sebastian’s orders, he helplessly peeled his eyes open and stood up from the sofa.

He muttered under his breath, “This job will definitely be the death of me.”

Charis had expected that Sebastian would want to have a talk with her, but when she received the notice, her heart still skipped a beat.

“Why did you want to dismiss Natalie?” Sebastian asked in a low voice.

He shoved his hands into the pocket of his slacks, and the light from the window elongated his shadow on the floor.

“I just wanted to protect the company name,” Charis answered defensively.

At this point, Natalie had already plugged the drive to a computer, and one of the videos was playing on the widescreen Ritchie’s eyes widened like saucers as they watched an employee of Klein Silk Fabric tampering with the time stamp on the website.

The scene changed, and this time, the same man was sobbing hysterically as he divulged what he had done.

The clips ended, and a deafening silence fell in the room.

Natalie took the microphone and said, “As you can see, this is what really happened.Klein Silk Fabric managed to get hold of my designs prior to the show.After that, one of their designers, Luna Mccoy, posted my entire portfolio online and edited the details to make it look like she was the original designer. There is your truth.Once again, I thank each of you for coming to hear me out today.If you have further questions, kindly direct them to Mr.Klein.I’m sure he can give you better answers than I can.”

She gave Ritchie a meaningful look, then, and gestured in his direction with a wave of her hand.

As soon as she did, the crowd burst into an uproar.

Shocked, Ritchie cursed out loud, “Fuck that bitch!”

His secretary was also scared silly.

Glaring daggers at him, Ritchie was pissed off and kicked him in the ass.

Painting his finger at the big screen, he cursed again, “What the fuck are you doing standing here for? Turn off the projector right now!”

The secretary stumbled to the stage and proceeded to turn it off.

Ritchie snorted, smoothed over his suit and made his way onto the stage.

This happened to be his territory, not Natalie’s.He lifted his chin and approached her, holding his head up high.

“Natalie Quinn, you better be careful with what you say.As far as I can see, you were just making things up so that you can get yourself out of your predicament!”

As he said this, he turned his eyes from her and exclaimed, “Give yourself up.Apologize right this moment! Don’t waste any more of our time here!”

“Then why did you turn off the projector if I was, indeed, making things up? That’s a sign of guilt.If you’re so sure of yourself, you should allow me to show everyone the proof.I’m sure that everyone here is smart enough to tell if I actually made up the evidence or not,” Natalie smiled and said in a calm voice.

Ritchie was exasperated to hear that.He clenched his teeth tightly and pointed his finger at the door.

“I thought you came here to apologize. If you’re not going to do that, why don’t you leave this place immediately?!”

While smiling, Natalie didn’t say a word.

Instead, she turned to the audience before her and said word by word, “Everyone should know the truth by now.I’m going to sue

Klein Silk Fabric for slandering my name.”

After finishing her speech, she didn’t bother to argue with Ritchie anymore and went ahead to leave the stage.

This scene was live streamed and everyone saw for themselves what had happened.

Everyone in the room and the audience in the live stream room was shocked to say the least.

The audience began to discuss this amongst themselves.

Even though Natalie had only played the videos once, the reporters had gone out of their way to record them.

“Mr.Klein, could you please offer an explanation for what happened just now?”

“Klein Silk Fabric and the Larson Group have been rivals for years now.Was this why you decided to slander Miss Quinn in this way? In order to taint the Larson Group’s name?”

“If your statement about Natalie plagiarizing one of your designers’ pieces was true, is there any evidence to back up your statement?”

The reporters all turned to look at Ritchie and kept on asking him and Luna questions.

“Miss Mccoy, are you going to make a statement? After all, weren’t you the one who accused Miss Quinn of plagiarism in the first place? What are your thoughts on the current situation?”

“Did Mr.Klein instruct you to do this?”

“Tell us, what’s the nature of the relationship between the two of you?”

Being ambushed by the reporters, Luna’s mind went blank and she felt very embarrassed.She said frantically, “I have no idea.Don’t ask me…”

Under the dazzling flashing lights of the cameras, Ritchie couldn’t even keep his eyes open.

He kept cursing out loud while pushing the reporters in front of him away and saying, “Get the hell out of my way! Turn off your damn lights! You’re blinding me!”

His secretary hurried to stop his curses.

If Ritchie’s father found out about this, he would be very angry.

Having been spoiled by the Klein family since he was a child, Ritchie happened to be very irritable at this moment.

Before he took over the company, his parents had to repeatedly remind him to control that temper of his. His secretary cleared the way for him while speaking to the reporters.

“Please, sirs, madams, Mr.Klein can’t answer all of your questions right now.We’ll announce on our official website if we have any comments.”

Finally, Ritchie and the senior executives of Klein Silk Fabric were able to escape the madness of the room.

When she got home, Natalie kicked off her heels and collapsed into bed.

Now, she felt much better.

“It’s finally over!”

After resting for a while, she got up and turned on the computer.

She briskly posted the evidence on the forums Luna had posted to slander her before.

A few hours later, the forums came to life as users discussed this matter heatedly.

The dramatic turning-of-tables that had happened at the press briefing soon made headlines.

Related videos went viral on the Internet.

Suddenly, Natalie’s phone started to ring. It was Tiffany.

“Quinn, I’m impressed.Have you seen the comments on the post? Everyone’s calling you a warrior. You really knocked them dead!”

“Oh, my God! Seriously?”

Natalie moved her cursor to check the comments Tiffany was talking about.

She had been focused on the media’s reports until now and didn’t know what people were saying in the comments.

When Natalie read the comments, she found that the video of her talking on the stage had been spread all over the Internet.

There was a lot of positive feedback.

“Wow.Heart.Heart.She’s so elegant and generous! And a fierce warrior too!”

“She’s a lovely girl.Such a polite and beautiful goddess plagiarized someone else’s work? I doubt it!”

“She’s so pretty, I’d kiss her all day!”

“Even though I’m a girl, I want her!”

Natalie buried her face in her hands, her cheeks blushing furiously.She had never been praised by so many strangers in her life.

The next day, in the Klein Silk Fabric building…

“Nonsense! These reports are all bullshit! How dare they call me rude?”

Furious, Ritchie started trashing his office.He was in trouble, but there was nothing he could do.

In recent years, Klein Silk Fabric and the Larson Group had become two very high profile companies.

Suddenly, it dawned on Natalie what she had just said and she kept her mouth shut.

Leaning her body against the car window, Natalie’s mind was in chaos.

Even if her suspicions say it was Ritchie, what on earth could she do about it? If she was really framed, how could Luna be able to upload her design drafts-online a year ago? Everything was beyond her and she couldn’t figure it out.

While she was mulling it over in her head, her phone buzzed with a notification.

Sebastian was calling her.

Just outside the meeting room of the Larson Group.

Because of the plagiarism matter, the Larson Group’s stock price took a turn for the worse.

Sebastian was just discussing this matter with several senior leaders.

After coming back to his office, he gave Natalie a call.

“I’ve already seen the news on the Internet.I believe you have nothing to do with this. Think it over carefully, Natalie, is there anything to prove that those designs are truly yours?”

When she heard Sebastian’s voice, Natalie immediately burst into tears.

She felt wronged and sobbed for a long time before managing to say something.

“Sebastian, you have to believe me.I didn’t do it.” Hearing her wretched sobs, Sebastian’s voice became softer.

“I didn’t think you stole those designs right from the very beginning.” With a dry smile on her face, Natalie asked in a tired voice, “Will I really have another chance after this? Ms.Fisher, the organizers have decided to remove my designs from the show.Doesn’t this mean that every one of them thinks that I’m a plagiarist? Now everyone believes that I was plagiarizing.I know you used to be a designer, so you should know better than me that the label of plagiarism will follow me everywhere I go now.Every single item of clothes I design from now on will be under suspicion of plagiarism.”

Tiffany fell silent.She was fully aware of that.

After something like this, Natalie was fated to never be respected again in the industry The only mode of escape would be for her to leave the industry entirely and change her occupation.

But Tiffany could clearly see that Natalie loved designing deeply.

She happened to treasure each piece of her designs.

How could she let go of this, something she clearly loved?

“Someone must be orchestrating things behind the scenes.” Suddenly, Natalie grabbed Tiffany’s hand and said, “Ritchie Klein must be behind this! Sebastian and I have offended him once and now he wants to do everything in his power to destroy my career!”

Tiffany had no clue what Natalie was talking about.

How could the Klein family actually have anything to do with this matter?

“Be careful with what you say, Natalie.We can’t afford to offend a family like the Kleins,” Tiffany thought to remind her in a hushed voice.

She checked around her surroundings vigilantly and hailed a cab.

“There just so happens to be many designers from the Klein Silk Fabric.It’s best if you’re careful. Well, don’t overthink things. You go home and rest.I’ll head back to the company first and talk to our superiors.” Tiffany helped Natalie into the car.

Suddenly, it dawned on Natalie what she had just said and she kept her mouth shut.

Leaning her body against the car window, Natalie’s mind was in chaos.

Even if her suspicions say it was Ritchie, what on earth could she do about it? If she was really framed, how could Luna be able to upload her design drafts online a year ago? Everything was beyond her and she couldn’t figure it out.

While she was mulling it over in her head, her phone buzzed with a notification.

Sebastian was calling her.

Just outside the meeting room of the Larson Group.

Because of the plagiarism matter, the Larson Group’s stock price took a turn for the worse.

Sebastian was just discussing this matter with several senior leaders.

After coming back to his office, he gave Natalie a call.

“I’ve already seen the news on the Internet.I believe you have nothing to do with this. Think it over carefully, Natalie, is there anything to prove that those designs are truly yours?”

When she heard Sebastian’s voice, Natalie immediately burst into tears.She felt wronged and sobbed for a long time before managing to say something.

“Sebastian, you have to believe me.I didn’t do it.” Hearing her wretched sobs, Sebastian’s voice became softer.

“I didn’t think you stole those designs right from the very beginning.” He had seen it with his own eyes how hard Natalie had worked on those designs.

After hanging up the phone call, Sebastian’s eyes darkened noticeably.

As Brandon Larson, the CEO of the Larson Group, taking care of this matter would be an easy task.

However, he was now Sebastian Klein to Natalie and he couldn’t deal with this matter for her.

Otherwise, she would have doubts about him.

The plagiarism matter happened all of a sudden with no warning, so Sebastian had to investigate this on the down-low.

Seeing that the news of the plagiarism had spread in a short amount of time, Charis grabbed her chance to hold a meeting with several senior executives and employees of the HR department.

She criticized herself at that day’s meeting and said, “I chose her work but had no idea she actually plagiarized someone else’s designs.My poor decisions have affected the entire company in a negative way.After the meeting, I promise I will apologize to everyone online about this matter.”

As soon as Tiffany got back to the office, she heard that Charis had gathered some senior executives and the staff of the human resources department for a meeting.She rushed there immediately.

When she reached the door, she overheard what Charis had said just now.

“Miss Turner, I think we should investigate it further.” Tiffany pushed the door open, out of breath.

When she saw Tiffany come in, Charis smiled kindly.

“Miss Fisher, you’re back! We were just talking about Natalie Quinn.Since you’re her direct supervisor, we’d like to hear your opinion on this plagiarism thing.” Tiffany nodded and sat down at the meeting table, her eyes flashing with determination.

“Thank you for asking, Miss Turner.I firmly believe that Natalie would never plagiarize anyone else’s works.” Charis sighed helplessly.

“It doesn’t matter what we think. What matters is that the public doesn’t believe her.Now that this news has spread across the industry, the Larson Group’s reputation has been affected.”

Charis turned to the crowd and continued, ” Everyone, now’s the time to share your ideas.”

Several staff from the HR Department were present.

They immediately understood what Charis meant and exchanged hesitant glances.

Finally, one of them spoke up.

“We need to put the interests of the company first. What Natalie did has affected our image.Should we consider firing her? Plagiarizing is a big deal and it’s enough for us to dismiss her.”

Everyone nodded in agreement with him.

After all, the news had spread like wildfire online.

The whole world was discussing it.

After pondering over it for a while, Charis clicked her tongue in frustration.

“It seems you’re right.For the sake of the Larson Group’s reputation, we have no choice but to let Natalie go. What a pity! I always thought that Natalie was a very talented designer, which was why I decided to help her get her designs into the Fashion Week.” Tiffany couldn’t help but frown.She didn’t expect that the company would fire Natalie without even investigating the matter thoroughly.She refused to give up so soon.She stood up from her seat and addressed Charis sternly.

“Miss Turner, don’t you think we should investigate it first? It’s only been half a day and we don’t even know if Natalie really plagiarized someone else’s work.

We shouldn’t jump to conclusions so soon.” Charis tapped a pen on the table and looked at Tiffany sympathetically.

“Unfortunately, the company’s stock price plummeted because of this incident.If we don’t do anything about it now, things will only get worse.”

“Please, Miss Turner.Don’t fire her so soon.As her supervisor, I’m responsible for her.I want to investigate the matter before we do anything drastic.Please give her some time, maybe she can prove her innocence.”

Tiffany was usually a calm person, but what with Charis’s enthusiasm to fire Natalie, she couldn’t help but grow agitated.

“Hello, Miss Quinn.My team and I have been to Klein Silk Fabric and looked into the matter.All the designers and other chief officers confirmed that the designs in question were made by Luna Mccoy the previous year.”

“What are you trying to say?” Natalie countered, her eyes burning with anger.

She simply couldn’t hold back anymore, “Klein Silk Fabric failed to get into the first walk because of me.Don’t you see? They’re doing this for revenge.They already framed me, so of course their employees would support their false accusations.”

The man stood up and raised his hands helplessly, looking nervous.

“Please calm down, Miss Quinn.You have no evidence that you didn’t plagiarize Miss Mccoy’s work.Until you prove your innocence, I’m afraid we will have to remove your designs from the selection.I apologize for that but we have to do this.Itis a necessary measure on our part.”

Natalie pulled back and said, “You’re my most valuable friend, Laney. Thank you for always helping me in any way you can.”

Laney’s smile dimmed.

The sincerity in Natalie’s eyes made her chest tighten in guilt.

Everything she had done, everything Natalie was grateful for, it was all because of Sebastian was paying her to be Natalie’s bodyguard.

However, Natalie had no idea and even regarded her as an important person in her life.

“Please don’t mention it,” Laney said, shaking her head and casting her eyes downward.

“I like helping other people.”

These minor injuries were nothing to her, really.She had survived worse battles when she was younger.

And if she were to be perfectly honest, she liked Natalie, too.

Natalie personified beauty and kindness.

Laney didn’t want to cause any unnecessary worry.

How would Natalie react if she somehow found out that Laney had been hired to approach her?

“I know, Laney” Natalie said with a small chuckle.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re the nicest friend I’ve ever had.” Laney sighed helplessly.

She took a good look at Natalie and noticed the dark circles under the latter’s eyes.

“Did you stay here all night? I’m fine by myself, you know.The nurses will check up on me regularly. You should go home.”

“Don’t worry about it. used to work all night all the time. This is no big deal.” Laney pursed her lips.

“But today is a weekday.Don’t you have to go to work?”

“Well, —Yes…” Natalie stammered.

The matter had completely slipped her mind.

“Yes, you’re right.And I haven’t even filed for a leave of absence! Oh, I have to go.Do you need me to file yours, too?”

“Please, and thank you.”

Laney breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at Sebastian, who had been standing by the door of the ward.

Natalie was finally leaving the hospital.

A few moments later.

Natalie jumped out of the taxi and dashed through the lobby of the Larson Group building.

As she was going through the entrance, she ran into Garrett.

“Aha! I just caught you getting to work late, Quinn,” he teased, peering at Natalie through his glasses.

“Why is she in such a hurry, anyway?” Garrett asked himself.

“Her husband owns the entire company.Does she think her salary is going to get docked or something for being late? Natalie stopped in her tracks.She turned to him with a pleading expression.

“I apologize, Mr.Harding.I’ve had to deal with some personal business. Laney is in the hospital, you see, and I’ve just been to see her.” Of course, Garrett had already known about Laney’s condition.

Still, he blinked innocently and asked, “Then, how is Laney? Is she doing all right?”

Natalie naturally thought he was only making small talk, but she did recognize an opportunity to smoothen the procedure for

Laney’s leave of absence.

And so, she said, “As a matter of fact, Laney was badly injured and couldn’t even get out of bed.”

Garrett froze, his eyes wide with shock, his heart clenching.He made a decision there and then to see Laney as soon as he could.

Later, after work.

Garrett bought a basket of fruits and a bouquet of flowers.He also swung by a pastry shop and got his favorite cake before heading to the hospital.

Laney was sitting on the hospital bed at that moment, her arms and legs wrapped in gauze.

She stared woefully at the dumbbell in the far corner of the room.

There was a part of her that desperately wanted to pounce on the damn thing and do some strength exercises.

Of course, she knew she wasn’t in the right state to do that.She still needed a lot of rest.

But old habits die hard, as the saying went.

Besides, she wasn’t comfortable just lying in bed and staring at the ceiling all day.

Garrett arrived just then, but instead of going inside the ward, he hung back and leaned against the door frame.

He followed the direction of her gaze and noticed the dumbbell.

Then his eyes wandered to her toned arms, thinking how they complimented the rest of her body.

It was an odd thought, but there it was.

“I heard you were hurt so badly, you can barely get up.I see that isn’t the case at all. You must be a superhuman or something.”

Garrett strode into the room, his arms laden with his offerings.

Laney had turned at the sound of his voice.She looked startled at first, but her expression soon tumed wary.

“Why are you here?” Garrett set everything down on the table before grinning cheekily at her.

“You’re my secretary.Do I need any better reason to be here?”

Later, she discovered that Tiffany was waiting for her at the door.

Seeing her coming out, she rushed over and asked, “How did it go? Did they say anything?”

“He said that they will be removing all my works from the show.” Natalie looked worn out as if she had been dealt a heavy blow.

All her efforts were useless in the end.

Tiffany tried giving her words of comfort.

“It’ll be fine, Natalie. You’re young. You will have a lot more opportunities up ahead.”

With a dry smile on her face, Natalie asked in a tired voice, “Will I really have another chance after this? Ms.Fisher, the organizers have decided to remove my designs from the show.Doesn’t this mean that every one of them thinks that I’m a plagiarist? Now everyone believes that I was plagiarizing.I know you used to be a designer, so you should know better than me that the label of plagiarism will follow me everywhere I go now.Every single item of clothes I design from now on will be under suspicion of plagiarism.”

Tiffany fell silent.She was fully aware of that.

After something like this, Natalie was fated to never be respected again in the industry

The only mode of escape would be for her to leave the industry entirely and change her occupation.

But Tiffany could clearly see that Natalie loved designing deeply.

She happened to treasure each piece of her designs.

How could she let go of this, something she clearly loved?

“Someone must be orchestrating things behind the scenes.”

Suddenly, Natalie grabbed Tiffany’s hand and said, “Ritchie Klein must be behind this! Sebastian and I have offended him once and now he wants to do everything in his power to destroy my career!”

Tiffany had no clue what Natalie was talking about.How could the Klein family actually have anything to do with this matter? “Be careful with what you say, Natalie.We can’t afford to offend a family like the Kleins,” Tiffany thought to remind her in a hushed voice.

She checked around her surroundings vigilantly and hailed a cab.

“There just so happens to be many designers from the Klein Silk Fabric.It’s best if you’re careful. Well, don’t overthink things. You go home and rest.I’ll head back to the company first and talk to our superiors.” Tiffany helped Natalie into the car.

Luna had been dying to hear that question.

She sneered at Natalie and took out her tablet from her backpack.

After tapping the screen, she said to everyone present, “I designed a series of colorful spring styles last year, but the design department of the Klein Silk Fabric didn’t select it, so none of the designs were made into a finished product.But I was shocked to see Natalie’s works on stage just now.They are very similar to mine.I’’m a hundred percent sure that she got her hands on my designs and decided to pass them off as her own.She’s a thiefl”

The entire show was halted because of this sudden accusation.

The audience’s attention was on them.

One of the attendees who saw Luna’s designs said in a hushed tone, “Wow! Their works are indeed similar.I think she actually stole the designs.”

“Yes, the similarities are too obvious to overlook. The colors and styles are very much like,” another one concurred.

“Shush! Don’t jump to conclusions just yet.Let’s hear what Miss Quinn has to say about the accusation. It’s unwise to judge only by listening to one side!”

A guest disagreed vehemently.

Unfazed by all that Luna said, Natalie swiped and zoomed in on the drawings on the PC tablet.She observed them dosely for a while.She then said, “Yeah, they are similar, but that doesn’t make them the game.Are you calling me a plagiarist because of these similarities? Besides, no one knows when you made these design drafts!”

Luna had prepared well for this confrontation, so she had expected Natalie to say such a thing.She retorted fearlessly.

“As I said earlier, I made these designs some time back.I decided to put the entire collection on a fashion design exchange platform since it wasn’t selected by the design team.It was a way of putting my work out there and building my portfolio.From the website, you can see that it was uploaded a year ago. Have a look, everyone!”

As Luna spoke, she opened the fashion design exchange platform where she claimed to have uploaded her designs.

The date stamp indeed showed that the collection of designs was uploaded on the platform a year ago.

A slight frown appeared on the organizer’s face after Luna pointed out the date stamp.

“Miss Quinn, what do you have to say about that?”

The tempo of the uproar also increased, Natalie saw that some of the attendees were looking at her with disdainful expressions.

Many dignified designers were also coming over.

Tiffany’s mind-blowing introduction of Natalie before the show began painted her in a good light.

Most of them had good first impressions of her, so they were supportive of her.

“People often get similar inspirations.It’s possible that both women have similar interests and saw the same set of past designs that inspired them.After all, even experienced designers like us occasionally have such problems.”

“It’s true that people can take inspiration from the same things, but it is impossible for two creative minds to come up with the same designs.Similarities can happen.However, the styles and colors of Natalie’s designs are exactly the same as mine.Even a blind man could see that the resemblance is uncanny.How is it possible that she made these designs without looking at mine?”

Luna insisted confidently.

The other designers were forced to admit that she had a point.

Both designs had the slip style and silk fabric, among other similarities.

From their experience, they knew that such coincidences hardly ever happened.

This seemed to be enough evidence.

As a result, the organizers and designers couldn’t speak for Natalie anymore.

One of them eventually spoke for the rest, “Miss Quinn, you have to explain why your work is the same as hers. It’s best that you own up to it if you indeed plagiarized her work.Otherwise, you would make matters worse for yourself.”

This statement indicated that they were convinced that this was a clear case of plagiarism.

Despite being on the hot seat with little or no support, Natalie was hell-bent on sticking to her truth.She wasn’t intimidated by their lack of trust.She said calmly, “You said that even a blind man could see that I plagiarized your work.Now tell me, how is it possible that I blatantly plagiarized without changing any detail? I am a smart woman.if 1 wanted to copy someone’s work, I would make plenty of changes so that the owner won’t notice the similarities.Do you think I’m a fool that would just copy and paste without tweaking anything? Which intellectual property thief would want others to find out about his or her shady business?”

There was no trace of shame or fear on Natalie’s face.

It didn’t matter to her that no one supported her now.She was just ready to prove her innocence.

Folding her arms over her chest, Luna fired back, “Spare me that crap, Natalie.Now is not the time to flatter yourself.Only a thief would know how a thief thinks.I’m not a plagiarist, so there’s na way I would know how people like you think.I have brought out evidence that you stole my work.Everyone has seen it.As a designer, I can’t just stand by and watch someone else take credit for my hard work.With my designs, Natalie successfully entered the fashion show of Seacisco Fashion Week.I demand that all of her works be withdrawn and that she apologizes to me publicly.”

Natalie frowned deeply. She couldn’t take the insults, let alone apologize to her.

“You are making a baseless claim.I didn’t plagiarize your work.I have never logged on to the fashion design sharing platform you spoke about.More so, I have never seen any designs that are similar to mine anywhere before. You just want to tarnish my image!”

Luna held her chest and pretended to be hurt by Natalie’s words.

“How could you say that I’m making a baseless claim? You are just being a big bully.I’ve never seen anyone as shameless and wicked as you. The evidence is right here. Why are you still denying it? Anyway, let’s wait and see!”

The news eventually reached the person in charge of the Seacisco Fashion Week. It was a popular event, after all, with the entire country paying attention to its highlights.

Of course, the big shots in the fashion industry were always in attendance.

Ever since Natalie’s plagiarism issue had gone viral on the Internet, people began to discuss the matter in various online forums.

There were those who even posted video comments combing through how the incident unfolded. It didn’t take long until the names Natalie Quinn and Larson Group became a hot search topic.

Needless to say, it all blew up and became a sensation overnight.

In the end, Tiffany asked Natalie to go home and get some rest.

“But why should I go back, Ms.Fisher? I didn’t do anything wrong.I was framed and slandered—I am the victim here.”

Loath as she was to admit it, Natalie could sense that Tiffany didn’t exactly believe her at the moment.

In truth, the other woman only thought that Natalie was currently too flustered and excited to think straight.She might wind up making the situation worse.

“You should take a couple of days off and calm down, Quinn.”

“I don’t need to calm down, because none of this is my fault. Why should I be the one to run and hide?” Natalie couldn’t help raising her voice.

She wasn’t the one in the wrong, so why was she being treated as if she were?

“I need to find out who set me up.”

At that same moment, everyone back in the Larson Group were talking about the controversy as well, especially the designers.

They used to think highly of Natalie and admired her potential, but their opinions were swiftly shifting to the other side.

Gerda kept to herself and ignored her colleagues.She had faith in Natalie.

As for the senior designers who had always hated Natalie, they were naturally overjoyed at her misfortune.

They could finally talk shit about her out in the open.

“I told you, didn’t 1? That woman must be sleeping with some senior executive. You know how it works.”

“How disgusting.I never thought such a vulgar thing also happens behind the doors of the Larson Group.”

“Oh, please.I’m sure there are plenty of things going on around here that we know nothing about.”

The next day, one of the fashion week’s organizers called Natalie over to his office.He spoke to her in a curt and businesslike tone.

Laney hobbled out of the bathroom, every inch of her body sore.

Carrett saw the sweat gathered on her forehead and that she clutched onto the door frame of the bathroom with her fingers, seemingly not knowing what to do next.

She seemed to be hesitating at the bathroom door about how to walk back awkwardly.

This was indeed very inconvenient for her and she would feel even more uncomfortable if Garrett continued to stay there.

Garrett picked up his suit jacket from the chair and uttered these words, “I have a meeting to attend to later; so I’m heading out now.I’ll call the nurse over later.If you need anything, she can help you. Feel free to spend Sebastian’s money as you please. Your injury was a result of you protecting his woman after all.You can also call me if anything else comes up.”

Before leaving, Garrett placed his fingertip on the cake box and tapped on it.

“Since it’s not going in the fridge, you’d better finish it up soon.”

Watching Garrett walk out the door, Laney staggered from the bathroom in the direction of the bed.She looked at the pink bear-like cake and hesitated for some time.

After that, she slowly made her way over to the cake box and opened it.She dipped her fingers into the pink cream and placed it into her mouth.

The cream was very sweet, much sweeter than she originally thought.

But it was not very greasy.

Looking at the door that Garrett had gone out of, Laney thought that he was not that bad after all.

As soon as Natalie snuck back to the company, Tiffany asked her to meet her in her office.

“Why haven’t you shown up the whole morning? Where did you head off to?”

There was anxiety evident in Tiffany’s voice.She was dressed up very gracefully today.She had on a long pink off-the-shoulder dress, appearing very elegant. Usually, she liked to wear suits of black and white colors, which made her appearance seem very shrewd and capable.

“What’s the matter? What happened?”

Rubbing her fingers together in a nervous manner, Natalie appeared a little confused.

Tiffany wouldn’t be looking for her if there wasn’t anything important.

Tiffany shook her head with a look of disappointment on her face.

She took the coat hanging from the hanger and rapped Natalie’s forehead with her knuckles.

“You are really forgetful. This afternoon happens to be the opening of Fashion Week in Seacisco.”

All of a sudden, it dawned on Natalie that the clothes she designed would be the first one to be on display.

“What are you doing still standing here? Let’s go now!”

Tiffany uttered after she opened the door and turned around to give Natalie a look.

On the venue of the Fashion Week at Seacisco.

Natalie and Tiffany sat at the seats under the runway which happened to be set up in a maple forest.

Natalie was the youngest person among the designers of the first show and this would be her first time taking part in such an activity, so she was attracting a whole lot of attention.

Tiffany was familiar with a bunch of people in the designer circle since she was once also a designer like a dark horse with a bright future.

Tiffany led Natalie to meet with many famous designers.

After several rounds of chit-chat, Natalie got acquainted with a bunch of designers in the city.

The fashion show started at approximately four o’clock in the afternoon.

Pretty soon, Natalie’s work was on display onstage.

This time, the materials she used were soft silk fabric and silver threads to the silk cloth.

At this moment in time, a breeze blew the dress designed by Natalie, making it outshine all the other dresses.

Like the others present in the showroom, Tiffany pulled out her cell phone and began to take pictures of the models wearing the dresses.

Some exclamations sounded out from time to time.

‘Even the wind happens to support you this afternoon.”

Tiffany smiled and activated the shutter on her phone screen.

With a shy smile on her face, Natalie quietly turned her head around to look at the people who were apparently thoroughly impressed by her design.

She felt a special sense of satisfaction and accomplishment flow through her heart.Her initial intention of being a designer was not to be famous but to be appreciated and liked by the others around her.

Just as everyone was admiring her designs on the stage, a woman suddenly rushed onto the catwalk, trying to catch her breath.

She stopped all the models, angrily pointed her finger at Natalie, and shouted out loud, “Natalie Quinn, you’re such a shameless plagiarist! How could you actually plagiarize my work openly in this way?”

Natalie held her chest and looked at the woman with her mouth agape.

The security guards immediately rushed up to stop the woman.

One of them snatched the microphone from her and the others tried to drag her away from the stage.

“Miss, you need to be careful with your words. You are at the Seacisco Fashion Week and it’s a live show.”

“Ha-ha! That makes it even better.I want everyone to see who Natalie is. They must know that she’s an intellectual property thief.Good day, everyone.My name is Luna Mccoy and I’m a designer from Klein Silk Fabric.Just now, I noticed that her designs are very similar to the designs that I did some time back.The resemblance is so uncanny that I’m sure she plagiarized my work,” the woman uttered arrogantly.

“What? She stole the designs? Unbelievable!”

There was an uproar at the venue after the crowd heard Luna’s words.

Sparing her no time to continue, the security guards carried her off the stage.

But she was stubborn.She struggled with them and continued to shout at the top of her lungs.

“Plagiarism is a taboo for all designers! You aren’t supposed to steal someone else’s work.Natalie, aren’t you ashamed of yourself? You claim to be original and creative, but you stand here and pass off my work as yours. You also pretend as if you did nothing wrong.Don’t you have any conscience?”

The news soon got to the sponsor of the Seacisco Fashion Week.

A member of the staff rushed over and said assuredly, “Miss, please calm down.We frown at plagiarism and attach great importance to the originality of the designs displayed on this show.We will surely look into this matter.But you need to tender some evidence to back up your claim.”

“Humph! Of course I have evidence!”

Luna broke free from the security guards’ hold.

The uproar became even louder when the crowd heard that she had evidence.

Meanwhile, Natalie was utterly confused.

She pondered, ‘What’s going on? And why is this woman making such accusations? I didn’t plagiarize anyone’s work! I did everything myself!’ .

Tiffany was also surprised.

She wanted to get to the root of the matter immediately.

“Natalie, the Seacisco Fashion Week is a big deal around the world.Headlining the show is supposed to take our company to the peak of the clothing industry.We can’t let this ruin our chances. You need to clear up this misunderstanding as soon as possible.Let’s go there!”

Plagiarism wasn’t a joking matter.

Such an accusation could destroy Natalie’s career and the company’s reputation in the blink of an eye.

“Ms.Fisher, I put this on everything I love, I didn’t plagiarize anyone’s work.All my designs are the products of my creativity and several sleepless nights. You have to believe me.”

Natalie held up her right hand as she swore solemnly.

Not only was Natalie naturally an incorrupt person, but she also understood that plagiarism was taboo.

She had even deliberately avoided using similar elements while putting together her designs.

“Of course, I believe you.But that doesn’t mean that everyone here feels the same way.Let’s go and see what’s going on.This is not only about you now; it’s also about the reputation of the Larson Group.”

The calm and innocent look on Natalie’s face further proved to Tiffany that this accusation was just a big mistake.

“Thanks for believing me.Don’t worry.I will handle it.”

With inexplicable boldness, Natalie walked over to where Luna was and asked, “What’s going on exactly?”

A cold shiver ran down Natalie’s spine as she recalled Ritchie’s face.

The handsomeness of his face was still there at that time, but there was no denying the fact that he looked like a personification of Satan.

“Sorry that you had to go through all that.I didn’t see your message on time because I was very busy.It won’t happen again.I’ll be quick to save you next time.”

Sebastian stroked her face absentmindedly.He was staring blankly with dim eyes.His mind was filled with thoughts at this time.

“I trust you.” Natalie hugged him tighter and inhaled his scent.

This was the only way she could get solace and a sense of security now that she was afraid.

Sebastian was her rock and she felt safe with him.

“Dearie, you have been through a lot today. You look so tired. How about I take you home so you can rest?”

Sebastian didn’t like seeing her in this weary state, so he wanted to take her home.

Natalie immediately sat up and looked in the direction of the ward.

Shaking her head, she refused, “I don’t want to leave now.There’s nobody by Laney’s side, so I want to stay.At least, until she wakes up.”

“Okay, that’s fine.”

Sebastian kissed her forehead and rested his chin on her head.He decided to respect her decision.

Natalie was indebted to Laney.She thought, ‘Laney saved my life again today. The least I can do is to stay here until she regains consciousness.

After staring at the closed door of Laney’s ward for a while, Natalie buried herself in her husband’s warm embrace again.

A few seconds later, Sebastian felt wet moisture on his chest.

He then heard a very faint sobbing.

Natalie was crying.

“I was so useless today. could do nothing but watch in horror as those men beat Laney.I don’t want to be in such a situation again.Sebastian, do you think I should start taking self-defense classes? At least, I will be able to throw some punches if anyone attacks me in the future.”

In Sebastian’s eyes, Natalie was the smartest woman in the world.

But he couldn’t help but think she was silly sometimes.

“You have a busy job, so you won’t have time for defense classes.Don’t beat up yourself over what happened today.I’m sure

Laney understands why you couldn’t help her.I will pay for her medical bills and hire the best caretaker for her. You heard when the doctor said she would be fine, didn’t you? So, don’t worry.”

Sebastian comforted her affectionately.

Hiring Laney cost a great sum of money.She was the best bodyguard in Seacisco as sure and she had been in many tough fights in her line of work.

Sebastian knew that today’s beating couldn’t be compared to what she had faced in the past, so he was sure she would pull through.

Natalie looked up at him for a while.She then nodded and wiped her tears.

It wasn’t until the next morning that Laney finally woke up.

Natalie had stayed by her bedside throughout the night.

She was so happy when Laney woke up that tears welled up in her eyes.

She held Laney’s hand tightly and said excitedly, “Finally! You are awake.Oh, Laney! You saved my life again. How can I ever repay you?”

Laney forced a smile despite the immense pain she was feeling.

“Don’t be silly, Natalie.We are friends.And friends look out for each other.I’ll always have your back.So, stop talking about payment.”

Laney glanced at Garrett indifferently

“I’m very grateful for your visit, Mr.Harding,” she said, her tone dry.

“You’re always so busy, so I’m honored to receive even a moment of your time.Well, I dare not waste another second of it though.Drive safely on your way back, Mr.Harding Garrett frowned.

He hadn’t intended to stay long in the first place, but he changed his mind after noting how eager this woman was to send him away.She had piqued his interest. He slowly took off his coat and tossed it on a nearby chair before pulling another one to sit by the bed.

“You want me to leave as soon as I arrive, huh? Tell me why you dislike me so much, Miss Garcia.Do you think that I will hurt you?”

A shiver ran down Laney’s spine.

She was inexplicably unsettled by the man’s piercing gaze, She told herself that it was only because he had very attractive, deep-set eyes.

His eyelashes were thick and naturally curled.

In addition to that, there was a faint, red mole under the corner of his eye that seemed to beguile people to look more closely.

Laney found herself thinking that if Garrett had been a woman, he would undoubtedly be a gorgeous one. Realizing that she had wandered far into her own thoughts, she cleared her throat and changed the subject.

“Actually, Mr.Harding, it’s just that I need to use the bathroom.”

“Then go and take care of your business. It doesn’t matter whether I’m here or not, does it? Don’t worry. won’t peep on you.”

Nonplussed, Garrett reached for the tea set on the side table and poured himself a cup.

Laney couldn’t help but glare at him.It looked like he had no plans to leave any time soon.

After a few seconds of hesitation, she gingerly got off the bed.She gritted her teeth the entire time, frustrated that he had to see her in such an embarrassing situation.She didn’t see the way Garrett narrowed his eyes when he heard her suck her breath from exertion.

He strode over in a flash and held out his arm.

“Here, let me help you.”

“No, thanks.I can take care of myself.”

Despite her brave words, Laney struggled to get on her feet.

When she finally did, she couldn’t stiffe a gasp of pain.She might have pulled on her wound just now.

Garrett’s frown deepened.

“Laney,” he said, unaware that his voice had turned gentle.

“You don’t have to pretend to be strong, okay?” She raised her eyes then, and was stunned to see the tender expression on his face.

Laney looked away in a hurry.

When she spoke, her tone was gruff.

“You shouldn’t underestimate us female bodyguards, Mr.Harding. This kind of injury is nothing. If I’m unable to handle this much, then I should have just quit a long time ago.Don’’t forget that I can single-handedly throw you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes.”

“I wouldn’t dare.I meant no offense, Miss Garcia.I just want to help you.Do you really want to keep arguing with me on this?”

Garrett’s hands clenched into fists.

He knew this was a losing battle; the woman was just too stubborn.He had to retreat for now if he wanted another chance to advance in the future.

Laney felt her face burn, knowing that she was being unreasonable.

For some reason, she always turned into a shrew whenever Garrett was concerned.

In the end, she did allow him to help her into the bathroom.

Garrett waited outside the door and mulled over her words, The way she had spoken about her injuries… Did that mean that she had been in worse conditions in the past?

That was probably normal, given her line of work.

But she looked just like a typical young woman, small and weak.

He couldn’t even begin to imagine what horrors she had suffered before he met her.

Garrett felt a pang of regret on her behalf.

Laney was different from all the women who had surrounded him all his life.

Unlike her, they were meek and cute, and almost always spoiled.

Usually when he developed an interest in a woman, it would start with a crush.

This time, however, he only felt deeply sorry for Laney.

And it had never happened before.