Chapter 81: Recreate The Design
“We haven’t been able to decide which one of you owns the last design, we will have to hold a competition between both of you.” The host announced this as Merissa and Daisy sat side by side amongst the judges and tutors.
“Did you not go through the evidence I sent to you? That’s enough to prove that the design is mine!” Merrisa remarked, her voice sounding as haughty as the expression on her face.
“Well, you aren’t the only one who provided evidence. She did too, and in such cases, that evidence isn’t enough to prove that you both own it. Except you have video evidence of it,” the hostess joined in while trying to keep the glare away from her eyes.
“There is no need to throw tantrums. Whether or not you own the design will be revealed in this segment. And like other stages, this will be broadcast live for everyone to see,” the host announced.
Hearing his words, Merissa felt a bad premonition in her heart as her hands began to fidget with the belt of her dress.
“So this stage is going to be simple. It’s not a competition between teams; instead, it is a competition between the both of you. Since what we are trying to do is between both of you.”
“What you need to do is recreate the design from the previous stage, and this time, divide it into smaller parts of the dress. While giving us the inspiration behind each part of the designs,” the hostess announced with a bright smile, and Merissa felt her heart sink to her stomach as her hands clenched tightly around the belt.
“I’m this version; you must add all the details of the dress. I’m talking about telling us what kind of fabric you want, the colour scheme, and whatnot. We will judge it based on the previous design you submitted,” she continued.
“Since it’s a competition between just you two and it’s a design you are already familiar with, you’ll both have twelve hours to get it done. The person with the highest similarity rate will be announced as the winner, and the other will be announced as the one involved in plagiarism. Good luck to you two.” The host explained carefully.
As the host’s words sank in, Merissa felt a growing sense of dread and panic. The confident, haughty expression she had worn earlier when she walked into the hall was immediately replaced by a nervous, tense atmosphere.
Her heart hammered in her chest, and her palms grew clammy at the thought of messing the whole thing up. Just as she was about to plan a way out of the competition, a new group of people walked into the hall.
Some she immediately recognised as the camera crew, and others she had not seen before.
“To avoid any urgent medical situations, both of you will be examined before the competition begins. And you two will be under close surveillance, as the segment will also be broadcast live to the audience.” The host announced.
“We owe them that much since we postponed the segment that was supposed to air today,” he added, and Merissa’s face went pale; however, she immediately readjusted herself and gained back her confidence.
“You can decide to use a paper sketchpad or the notebooks provided by the team. Either way, good luck to you two.”
Daisy gave Merrisa a meaningful look as she picked the farthest corner to work. She immediately took the notebook and got to work.
Merissa, on the other hand, stood still for a brief moment, her hands constantly fidgeting between them while she decided which to choose, the paper or the pad.
Finally, she went with the pad and chose the opposite corner from the one chosen by Daisy.
Recreating the original design was not the main problem. The problem is that she didn’t know the perfect fabrics to use during the making or the perfect colour scheme.
All those had been left to the tailor to decide, even though it was meant to be done by the designer of the dress.
Taking a deep breath, she attempted to focus on what she knew about the design. She remembered the flow of the fabric, the way it draped over the model’s form and the intricate embellishments that adorned the dress.
With a trembling hand, she began to sketch the design, hoping that her artistic skills could help to mask her deficiencies. She began with the body of the dress and soon moved to the other parts.
Meanwhile, as the competition between the two was going on, Lily wasn’t idle. She instructed the system to create pictures and videos of Merrisa, asking her to make designs for her and also about the staircase incident where the original body owner had died.
Since she had promised to avenge her death, she is determined to make sure she doesn’t leave a way for the Smith family to return.
Using an anonymous account, she sent the file to the police and also the school disciplinary department. Not only her own, she included the scheme Merissa had done to others.
Once that was settled, she logged into her other anonymous account, the one that she had been using to tackle the Smith Corporation, and with that, she sent the police a huge file containing evidence of the Smith Corporation’s fraudulent means.
She was so busy dealing with Smith that she missed the calls from Bryan and the message from Alpha.
Once all the evidence had been submitted, she relaxed into the chair with a glint in her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she decided to join the live broadcast just in time for Alana to walk into the room with two cups of boba tea.
“Are you watching the competition between the two?” Alana asked, and she gave Lily one of the boba teas and took the empty seat beside her.
“There isn’t much to watch; the camera isn’t even moving close,” Lily replied with a shrug.
“Even then, you can see the difference between their appearances. Did you check the comments?” Alana asked.
“I turned off the comments. Is there anything interesting?”
“Well, it’s mostly the audience arguing about who owns or who plagiarised the design, but I suspect Merissa paid some keyboard warriors,” Alana explained as she took a sip of her boba tea with her eyes still glued to the computer screen.
Lily turned on the comments section and immediately noticed what Alana meant.
The comments were filled with people throwing shade at Daisy, calling her names for trying to make it in the industry without the proper talent. The more Lily read the comments, the darker her face became.
She clenched her fist and immediately sent out an anonymous notice to a designer, which she had been keeping to deal with Merissa for the last time.Content is property of NôvelDrama.Org.
Amongst the designs that Merrisa ‘Successfully Stolen’ from her, there is a particular design that belongs to a popular upcoming designer who works for a famous company.
This design was made for a female celebrity to attend the Met Gala, and knowing Merissa, she would have kept the design for the last segment.
Lily’s plan from the start was to make Merrisa offend the young designer, and the other would deal with her, consequently sending her out of the industry.
But seeing how much Merrisa was willing to go. Lily decided to give her a push.
She hacked into one of Merissa’s friends’ social media accounts and made a post saying.
How could someone who can create such a beautiful masterpiece be accused of plagiarism?
Isn’t it obvious at first glance who plagiarised? Kick Daisy out of the industry!
After making the post, she manipulated the media and made sure the post trended in the online space, attracting the original designer of the dress.