Bring Your A Game, Mr

Chapter 214 I Didn't Plagiarize It

"Alright. I'll hold you to it, then."

The smile Elise gave Alexander was so sincere that it was practically infectious, and he voluntarily reached out to grasp her hand. "Come on, let's go home."

Shoulder to shoulder, they walked off into the moonlit night.

The next day, Elise went to work as usual, only for a grim Brendan to follow her into her office immediately upon her entry. With a complicated look in his eyes, he stared at her and pursed his lips for a moment before stating, "I have something to ask you, my darling sister-in-law."

Startled by both the appellation and the stern look on his face, she urged, "Go on."

After a moment of contemplation, he continued, "Have you finished the draft for your design? May I see it?"

Even though Elise found it to be a strange request, she carelessly flipped through her papers to locate her design draft and hand it over to him. "It's mostly done. If you need it urgently, I can finish it by today." Yet, Brendan's expression turned ugly the moment he saw her design draft.

"What's going on?" she queried. In the next second, he lifted his gaze and stared right into her eyes.

"Did you show this draft to anyone else before this moment?"

After thinking about it earnestly, she answered, “No one has seen it apart from you. Why? Did something happen?"

Without answering her directly, he pulled out his cell phone and handed it over to her. "Look at this."

Elise took the phone and glanced down at it, and all of the blood drained out of her face. "How is this possible?! This design is my own. How can this person's design resemble mine so much?"

"This is the work of a local first-rate designer, Coner. She announced it to the public last evening as part of her new series-the design I showed you being the main diagram. The whole series is in a style identical to yours."

"It's my design. I didn't plagiarize it," Elise muttered darkly.

The fact of the matter was that Brendan believed her, but his trust would do no good in a situation where Coner had already published her designs. This meant they could no longer use Elise's design. "We can't use these diagrams anymore, Elise. You'll have to redesign them."

The more Elise thought about it, the more she realized that something was wrong. After all, she had noticed that someone had touched her drawing papers when she came back from lunch the previous afternoon, and now her design was on the Internet a scant few hours after that incident. There was no way this could be a coincidence.

"I designed this myself-" she uttered slowly, "-and now I suspect that someone has stolen it."

The moment she said that, Brendan stared at her gravely. For some reason, he felt like she was telling the truth, but evidence was needed for everything nowadays. "Do you have any proof?"

It made Elise smile without any warmth in her eyes. "No, but the truth can't be hidden or falsified. I will find the proof I need to claim my innocence. Until then, I hope you'll believe me."

Upon hearing that, he nodded obligingly. "If that's the case, I have a solution."

Once again, their eyes met and he leaned forward to whisper into her ear.

After Brendan left, Elise looked down at the design diagram in her hands and clenched her fists silently. After putting the diagram away, she took up a blank piece of paper and began to redo her design in a brand new style.

Not long after that, Molly walked in with a fresh cup of coffee. "Your coffee, Miss Sinclair."

Keeping her eyes on the drawing, Elise answered carelessly, "Put it down. I'll drink it after I finish my drawing."

"Of course, Miss Sinclair." Molly was quick to respond. After putting the coffee aside, she turned to leave, only to have Elise stop her.

"Just a moment."

Molly turned back at that. "Did you need something else, Miss Sinclair?"

It was only then that Elise paused in her motions and slowly lifted her head to stare at Molly. Her gaze was as clear as always and free of any stray thoughts, but Molly got the vague impression that she was behaving differently than normal.

"I have a question for you, Molly."

Molly nodded and added, "Go ahead, Miss Sinclair."

Humming her acknowledgment, Elise continued, "Thing is, something has gone missing from my office yesterday. Did you see anyone come in here around lunchtime?"

Immediately, Molly looked shocked. "Have you lost something, Miss Sinclair? What is it? Is it valuable? Nothing like this has ever happened in our studio. Perhaps you should search for it again."

Staring at the woman placidly, Elise continued, "The object itself isn't very valuable, but I did lose it, after all. Perhaps I should file a police report."

Of course, the mention of a police report terrified Molly out of her wits, but she willed herself to keep a straight face. "Maybe that's blowing things out of proportion, Miss Sinclair. I don't think there's a need to file a police report if it's nothing valuable, since that will have a negative impact on the studio's image."

The response more or less confirmed Elise's suspicions, but she only sneered internally without giving anything away. Nodding her head, she agreed, "You're right-it's not valuable enough to warrant such an action. Even so, I won't rest until I find the thief. You may leave now."

Just like that, Molly felt a chill run down her spine. Even though she felt like Elise was hinting at something, she dared not dwell on it and only strode out of the room without a second thought.

It wasn't until she had left that Elise's gaze darkened.

Meanwhile, as Molly was standing outside the office patting her chest and blowing out a sigh of relief, she saw Ashlyn walk in with a strange woman. At once, she went up to welcome them. "Miss Lawson, what a pleasant surprise! What are you doing here?"

Looking at Molly with an indifferent expression, Ashlyn asked carelessly, "Is Brendan in?"

"He's in the office," Molly answered truthfully. "Allow me to escort you."

With that, she led Ashlyn to Brendan's office, whereupon Ashlyn threw open the door and walked in. "Brendan!" she called out with a broad smile.

After all, the pair had grown up together and were very familiar with each other. It was only after the previous incident that Brendan was no longer as gentle with her and only treated her with the cordiality of a casual friend.

"Ah-Miss Lawson. We have yet to complete the formal gown that you requested of us, but surely you don't need us to run ourselves into the ground for it. I will notify you once we've finished the design." "What are you saying?" Ashlyn chuckled and continued, "I'm not here to rush you. I'm actually here for another reason." With that, she ushered the woman behind her forward. "I imagine you must be quite familiar with this person."

It was none other than the designer, Coner.