Chapter 468 Apologize to Her Sincerely
Following Luna's finger, everyone turned to check out Adeline.
Richard squinted at Adeline, who was chilling in the crowd with a hat and mask on. "Who the heck is she?"
He had this nagging feeling that he knew her from somewhere.
Luna scoffed. "She used to be our team leader! She was running these projects before, but her crappy attitude and picking on team members got her booted from the competition. That's how I ended up in charge!"
Luna shot daggers at Adeline, practically shaking with anger. "I thought she was just a jerk, but I never imagined she'd stoop so low as to plagiarize!"
Luna pointed a finger at Adeline. "A designer like her should be blacklisted from the whole industry!"
Luna's righteous fury was almost comical, and Adeline couldn't help but laugh. Anyone who didn't know better might think Luna was righteous and upright. But Adeline knew Luna was just using this as a chance to take her down.
Adeline's smirk only made Luna madder.
Luna took a deep breath, stepped into the spotlight, and went on her tirade. "Master Moon's got a legendary rep in the design world. Even though she's retired, we owe her respect. If anyone dares to rip off Master Moon, we gotta shut that down! Today, the Foster Group's design had elements that copied Master Moon's work. That was our bad for having the wrong people on the team, but she's been kicked out! To show we're serious about stopping plagiarism, I say we blacklist Adeline from the industry!"
In the Foster Group's president's office...
Jason watched Luna on the screen, his brow furrowed. "She's really going for it, huh? She wants to blacklist Adeline?"
He glanced at Jasper. "Don't you think your Ms. Jones isn't as sweet and innocent as she seemed?"
Jasper kept his head down in his papers. "What do you think?"
Jason sighed. "I think she's showing her true colors more and more."
Jason looked back at the screen, where Luna was still ranting about blacklisting Adeline. "She's pushing to blacklist Adeline, and you're just gonna sit there?"
Jasper smirked. "Why should I?"
Jason's eyes widened. "This is about Adeline's career! Don't you still have feelings for her? You don't care?"
Jasper took a deep breath and closed his document. "Do you really think Adeline would plagiarize? If she did, the only person she'd be copying is herself."
"Resist!"
"Blacklist!"
"Resist the plagiarizing designer!"
"Blacklist the plagiarizing designer!"
The crowd at the competition, hyped up by Luna, started chanting to blacklist Adeline.
The noise woke up Violet, who had been napping on Adeline's shoulder. She looked around, confused. "What's going on?"
Adeline chuckled. "They're saying I plagiarized myself and want to boycott me."
Violet's eyes went wide, and after listening for a bit, she got the gist. She stood up with a grin. "Are you guys for real, saying Adeline plagiarized Master Moon?"
Luna, on stage, glared at Violet, her voice dripping with venom. "There's solid evidence! Every designer should stand against plagiarism!"
As Luna spoke, she sneered inwardly.
Luna had set up Adeline and forced her to step down because she knew this whole competition was Jasper's way of spotlighting Adeline. She had to wreck it!
But she never thought Adeline would actually copy the design style of a famous designer. This was like hitting the jackpot! If she didn't use this chance to completely trash Adeline's career, she'd be wasting the golden opportunity Adeline handed her!
Thinking about this, Luna kept riling up the crowd. "And it's not just me saying this; Mr. Evans said it too! Who's Mr. Evans? He's Master Moon's student. If he says it, it must be true!"
After watching Luna's show for a while, Adeline, who had been quiet, finally stood up with a smile. She took off her hat and mask, showing her delicate features.
Adeline grinned at Richard. "Take a good look! Who's this so-called plagiarist?"
Seeing Adeline's face, Luna sneered and shouted louder, "Everyone, look! It's her! Remember this face! We need to blacklist her!"
Luna's words made Richard frown a bit.
Even if he didn't get the whole backstory between Luna and Adeline, he could tell Luna was trying to completely ruin Adeline's future.
Thinking this, he instinctively glanced at Adeline. The moment their eyes met, Richard's eyes widened. "Ms. Moon?"
Amid the crowd's shocked stares, Richard jumped off the stage and ran to Adeline. "Didn't you say you weren't coming to today's competition?"
Adeline smiled. "I did it on purpose. If I told you, you'd be looking for me everywhere while judging, which wouldn't be fair to the contestants."
Luna was stunned on stage. Did Richard just call Adeline "Ms. Moon"?
Most of the crowd was just as shocked, speechless.
Even Timothy and Robert, who knew Adeline well, were wide-eyed.
"Don't you get it yet?" Violet rolled her eyes and shouted, "Adeline's code name in the jewelry design world is Moon."
Violet sneered. "So, you think a designer using their own style in new stuff should be blacklisted? That's just laughable!"
Violet's words caused an uproar. So Adeline was Master Moon? Then the plagiarism claim was a joke.
Luna stood there, frozen. How could this be? Wasn't this her best shot at taking down Adeline? How did it backfire? Why did Adeline never reveal her true identity?
"So Adeline is the Master Moon we all admire." Timothy, standing behind Luna, chuckled and stepped forward. "I'm truly lucky to have designed jewelry with Master Moon and even won awards with her."
Timothy glanced at Luna. "Luckily, Mr. Evans recognized Master Moon, or she would've been blacklisted by Luna's call."
Timothy raised an eyebrow at Luna. "Didn't you say you admired Master Moon and saw her as your idol? Now that she's right here, aren't you going to greet your idol?"
Robert, who had been quiet, also smiled. "Maybe start with an apology. Ms. Jones, without checking if Ms. Wilson plagiarized, you accused her and called for her to be blacklisted. Shouldn't you now use that same energy to give her a formal apology?"
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