My Girlfriend and Her First Love Accused Me of Plagiarism

Under the stunned gazes of my employees, I tore the jewelry design blueprint into pieces and deleted all the electronic versions of the design.

There was a dead silence around me.

The employees looked as if they were about to cry, but one of them bravely asked me, "Mr. Thomas, the deadline is almost here. What are we going to tell the client now that you've torn up the design?"

"We've put so much effort into this design. Why did you delete it in such a rush?"

I calmly shook my head and said, "Everyone, leave. I know what I'm doing."

Even though they were still worried, they could only leave, glancing back nervously as they walked out.

I closed the door to my office and thoroughly checked every corner to make sure there were no hidden cameras.

I double-checked my computer to ensure no one had installed any viruses.

Once I was sure everything was secure, I blocked Olivia Wilson on WhatsApp and focused entirely on recreating the jewelry design.

With my experience from the past, I easily came up with a completely new design.

It was even better and more refined than the previous one.

By the time I finished, it was already early morning.

I stretched and felt a mixture of exhaustion and excitement.

This time, I was sure no one could steal my jewelry design. I was going to wipe away the shame of my previous life!

When I got home, I found that Olivia was still waiting for me on the couch.

When she saw me return, she frowned and said, "Why are you so late? Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?"

I didn't say much and explained casually, "Oh, I had an issue with the design, so I had to redo it."

I watched her face carefully, but I didn't see the panic I was hoping for.

On the contrary, she seemed very calm, with a faint, almost mocking smile on her lips.

"You must be tired. Go rest," she said.

Everything was going in the opposite direction of what I expected, and a sudden unease crept into my heart.

I grabbed Olivia's hand and asked, "Are you still in contact with Jack?"

"No."

Her eyes flickered slightly when I mentioned Jack's name.

This made my unease begin to fade.

I wasn't wrong. Something was going on.

"The only person I love now is you. I don't even remember Jack anymore," she said.

"Alright, enough talking. Let's go to bed."

She turned and walked back to her bedroom, her steps a little hurried.

I watched her retreating figure, lost in thought.

The next morning, I received complaints from the client.

"Why does your design look exactly like one from another company?

"If you have to copy someone else's designs, I think we should end this collaboration. We don't want to work with a company that lacks integrity."

I was stunned and quickly denied the accusation of plagiarism.

To my surprise, the client sent over a document, and the title was exactly the same as mine.

Other than the PowerPoint template, the jewelry designs were 99% identical.

If I hadn't compared them carefully, I might have believed it was my own design.

But how could that be possible?

I had been keeping Olivia away from my phone.

There were no cameras in the office, and my computer wasn't infected by a virus.

The moment I finished the design, I sent it to the client. Even if the other company was fast, there's no way they could be faster than me, the original designer! This was too strange.

After my repeated pleas, the client reluctantly agreed to let it slide this time.

But they warned me that if there were any more plagiarism issues with future designs, they would make everything public.

I knew that this was the best possible outcome for me.

But I didn't feel relieved at all.

I felt like my fate was being controlled by an invisible hand, pushing me forward. My heart pounded, and cold sweat dripped down my back.

Who on earth had the power to bypass all the security and steal my designs?

Just then, Jack started a livestream.

Thanks to his handsome looks and the image of a young CEO, Jack quickly attracted a large audience as soon as he went live.

He smiled and calmly answered questions from the chat, charming thousands of fans.

"We're well-prepared for this collaboration. I have complete confidence, but..."

He pretended to sigh helplessly and said, "There's always this one company jealous of us, constantly copying our jewelry designs. It's like having a fly buzzing around that just won't leave.

"The client said they'd let it go this time. If it happens again, they'll make everything public.

"Which company? Well, I won't say. The guy's pretty young, went to the same school as me. Out of respect for him being my senior, I'll let this go. You know, gotta leave some room for people."

While he didn't give any specific details or mention my name, it was clear that he was talking about me.

Anyone who did a little digging would realize the "plagiarist" he was referring to was me.

My heart grew colder and colder.

Sure enough, not long after, his little fangirls got my official account trending for all the wrong reasons.

"So young and already a plagiarist? Must think Jack's easy to bully!"

"Ugh, he went to the same school as Jack? He doesn't deserve to be his senior!"

Comments like that flooded my comment section again.

Just like in my past life, my company was being attacked with insults.

But this time, the client and Jack hadn't named me directly, so there was still a glimmer of hope.

I gritted my teeth, set my computer aside, and started imagining new jewelry designs in my head.

Unlike the last design, this time, I used a completely different concept. It's something futuristic and groundbreaking.

I refused to believe he could steal what I hadn't even put on paper yet.

By the time I finished conceptualizing the design, Jack was still streaming.

Using a burner account, I typed in the chat like one of his fans, "Mr. Garcia, how's this jewelry design coming along? Does it need any adjustments?

"You must be frustrated to have your work plagiarized. I'd be so annoyed if I were you."

On screen, he squinted and laughed at my comment.

Casually, he said, "Yeah, I'll have to make some changes.

"I've already figured out the changes I'll make."

As he said that, he went ahead and revealed the design!

With a smirk, he added, "I'm showing it off. So what?

"Let that plagiarist know I'm not someone to mess with."

His bold words sent his fans into a frenzy of cheers in the comments.

But unlike the lively atmosphere of the stream, my heart clenched, and a cold chill washed over me as soon as I saw the design.

Because the design Jack revealed wasn't the one I created yesterday.

What he had just shown was the design I had only imagined in my head moments ago.