Chapter 394 An Amazing Mom
Thorne, trailing behind, tried to stroll into the hotel but got stopped in his tracks.
The security guard gave Thorne a once-over, frowned, and said, "Sorry, buddy, only guests can go in."
It wasn't that the guard was being a jerk, but Thorne looked like a hot mess.
He had on what used to be a white T-shirt, now stiff and dark brown from who knew how long without a wash, and anyone could smell him from a mile away.
His face was hidden behind a long, filthy beard that looked like it hadn't seen a comb in years.
His nails were caked with black grime, and there wasn't a clean spot on him; he looked like he'd been living on the streets forever.
Getting stopped, Thorne protested, "Who says I'm not a guest? I totally am."
The guard replied, "Alright, if that's the case, give me your name and invitation, and I'll check."
"My name's Thorne. My niece just went in. Let me in to find her." After Thorne had scammed the villagers out of their money, he hit up a casino the next day, and in less than 24 hours, he blew through $400,000.
That was $400,000 he had hustled hard for.
Broke as a joke, Thorne, in a fit of desperation, snatched some guy's cash that was about to be exchanged and bolted. The casino's security was no joke; they weren't letting him get away.
After getting caught, the casino owner, considering Thorne had spent $400,000 there, only chopped off three of his fingers.
Then they made him sign an IOU and work at the casino. If he didn't pull his weight, he'd get a beating.
Thorne endured nearly three years of hell at the casino until one day, the owner slipped up, and Thorne made his escape.
After getting away, he worked on a fishing boat for a year and had only been back for a year.
Thorne originally wanted to hit up Delaney for some cash, but Delaney was dead, and Harper was MIA.
He didn't dare stay in the village long, so he came to Northfield. Afraid of being recognized, he didn't bathe or wash his hair and begged to survive.
Just now, at the hotel entrance, he unexpectedly spotted the long-lost Harper.
Thorne noticed their fancy clothes, which screamed money.
He rubbed his mangled hands, secretly thrilled, thinking he could finally score some cash. But before he could make a move, he got stopped at the door. No matter how much he begged, the guard wouldn't let him in.
"Sir, please don't make this harder. Your name's not on the list, and neither is your niece's."
Thorne had given the name Harper Sackler, not knowing Harper had changed her last name.
Making a scene at the door, Thorne got escorted to the curb by the guard, who warned him that if he came back, they'd call the cops.
At that moment, the TV was broadcasting Harper's press conference.
Harper introduced herself as Harper Murphy, the head of Elodie Studios.
Thorne saw this and cursed on the sidewalk. "Harper got rich and forgot about me. She even changed her last name!"
He ranted like a madman on the street, waiting for Harper to come out.
A silver limo pulled up, and Audrey, sitting inside, was there to see Harper's downfall.
She overheard the homeless guy's rant and realized he had some connection to Harper, but he didn't look like a good dude.
Audrey smirked and told Jonathan, "Get him in there!"
At the hotel press conference.
The reporters' questions were getting tougher.
"Ms. Murphy, this was your first time styling the CelestialGlow Entertainment event, and such a big mistake happened. How do you plan to fix it?"
"We heard that Ms. Murphy was a top student from Auroria Prestige University. Can you tell us if your graduation project also involved plagiarism?"
"So, what do you think about folks online calling Elodie Studios a knock-off shop, saying you just mash up other people's work and call it your own?"
Harper took a deep breath, bowed sincerely, and said, "First off, I'm sorry for taking up your time. But let me clear this up: every piece from Elodie Studios is my own design. There's never been any plagiarism."
Her face was all open and honest, and her response was smooth and straight-up, which started to change a lot of minds.
She then pulled out her design drafts and timestamps, showing them off one by one. "The Tradition series was something I cooked up during my advanced studies. Big shoutout to Mr. Campbell from CelestialGlow Entertainment for giving me the chance to showcase the Tradition series at the event. Now, about why my design looks like VelvetVogue Studio's stuff..."
Before she could finish, a woman in a hat and sunglasses barged to the front row.
She yelled, "Stop lying! You plagiarized, and I got the proof!"
Jessica was about to step in, but Harper stopped her.
Harper eyed the woman, her gaze narrowing a bit. She calmly asked, "What proof?"
The woman smirked and said, "I work for VelvetVogue Studio. Your people came to us, offering any price to buy that piece of clothing, just to destroy it, right?"
She whipped out a video of Jessica negotiating with VelvetVogue's staff and a big ol' printed transaction record for the reporters to snap pics of.
The reporters went nuts, firing off questions.
"Ms. Murphy, is this true?"
"Ms. Murphy, why'd you pay five times the price for an old piece of clothing? Was it to destroy evidence?"
"Ms. Murphy..."
Question after question, everyone thought there was a twist coming.
Facing the crowd's intense stares, Harper stayed cool and said, "Yeah, I did have my guy buy the clothing, but it wasn't to destroy evidence."
"Just 'cause you say so?" The woman, clearly there to stir the pot, smirked and said, "If it wasn't to destroy evidence, then show us the clothing."
The place went wild.
Harper lowered her eyes a bit.
The woman, thinking Harper was stumped, raised her voice, "Did you burn it? Can't bring it out? Just admit you plagiarized..."
Before she could finish, Jessica rolled a display case onto the stage, holding the very piece of clothing!
The woman's face fell, but she quickly recovered and shouted, "Fine, you didn't destroy it. Everyone, look at the craftsmanship and embroidery. Isn't it identical to the event's clothing?"
Harper stayed calm, "The event's clothing isn't here. How can we compare?"
She signaled for someone to bring the event's clothing onto the stage.
Seeing them side by side was a shocker; they were identical.
The noisy room went dead silent.
This was the first time someone had proven their own plagiarism.
The woman smirked, "Everyone can see it clearly. What do you have to say now? Looks like not only your clothing is plagiarized, but even your degree is fake!"
Harper's expression didn't change a bit, and she calmly said, "I admit the clothing is identical. But everyone should know that this old piece was designed by Elodie Sackler."
The woman sneered, "Yeah, and you thought you could get away with ripping off a retired designer's work?"
Harper had enough of this loudmouth and her jabs at Elodie.
She cut in coldly, "Hate to break it to you, but Elodie is my mother."
Everyone was floored! That was the legendary designer Elodie!
Harper actually had such an amazing mom!
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