Read My Mind, Pay the Price

I stand before the judges at the jewelry design competition and admit to plagiarism. Then, I announce my withdrawal from the contest, along with my resignation as Design Director of Fairchild Group.

My fiance, Caleb Fairchild, shoots daggers at me. "If you walk away from this competition, our engagement is off!"

My father follows up by slapping me across the face. "First, you plagiarize your own sister, and now you're breaking off your engagement with the Fairchilds? Are you trying to ruin our family?"

"Oh, I'm not just calling off my engagement. I'm also cutting off my ties with you," I respond apathetically.

I make this decision because I have been given a second life.

In my previous life, my stepsister and I competed in this contest. First place earns the title of the nation's top jewelry designer and 50 million dollars from Fairchild Group.

However, round after round, her designs are exactly the same as mine, and she submits them before I do. The judging panel gives me a pass because of Caleb and lets me advance to the finals, but not without a warning to never plagiarize again.

I refuse to believe it. I switch to a brand-new computer, lock myself in my room, and pour everything into a new design. Yet, when the final designs appear on the big screen, history repeats itself.

In the end, my sister takes first place and walks away with everything that should have been mine. The reputation I painstakingly built is ruined, and my name is dragged through the mud online.

My parents are ashamed of me. They knock me out and sell me off to the countryside to marry an old man. Ultimately, I die after endless abuse.

When I open my eyes again, I'm back at the semifinals. Everyone is pointing at me as they stare at the two identical designs.

"Could you explain what's going on here, Clara?" The judge's stern voice rang in my ears.

I, Clara Gardner, snapped back to reality and scanned the entire venue. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms tightly around my chest because just a second ago, that wretched old man had tortured me to death.

My fiance, Caleb Fairchild, demanded, "Well, what are you waiting for? Say something! What's with that posture? Are you afraid? You're representing my company as the chief designer, and this is how you embarrass me?"

That was when it hit me. I had been reborn.

The very next second, my half-sister, Sophie Gardner, smiled sweetly and linked her arm through mine. "I know you don't want to admit that your younger sister is better than you, Clara. It's honestly my fault as well. I shouldn't have stolen your spotlight.

"Why don't we do this instead? Let's both explain our design concepts. If yours sounds better than mine, I'll admit I plagiarized your work. Deal?"

Before I could respond, she picked up the microphone and explained, "This necklace is inspired by a celestial legend. It's said that the shimmering stars in the Milky Way are fragments of longing scattered by the god of love…"

Her explanation matched exactly what I had in mind.

Applause erupted from the audience. Caleb gently took her hand and pecked it, while my father and stepmother looked at her with unmistakable pride. I was the only one left standing there like a clown, frozen on stage, unable to say a single word.

Whispers spread through the crowd. "She must have plagiarized her sister's work. All those stunning designs she released before were probably drawn by her sister, and she just slapped her own name on them. How shameless!"

But their words didn't register in my head. In my past life and in this one, I was utterly shaken.

If she had only copied my drawings, there would have been countless ways to do it. Yet, the design concept existed only in my head. How could she describe it exactly as I had imagined it?

Thus, I picked up the microphone and faced the audience. "Fine, let's say I plagiarized her work. But how can any of you be sure she didn't steal someone else's work or hire a ghost designer?"