I Once Married You (Harper and Benjamin)

Chapter 363 Plagiarism

Harper fell into a thoughtful silence, lowering her head. In a place hidden from Benjamin's view, a faint smile appeared on her face.

At this moment, his words shone like the sun in a winter chill, warming her heart.

With Harper's competition time nearing, Benjamin checked the time and gently brushed her face, his voice soothing. "You've got this. Don't be nervous." "Okay." Harper nodded.

They exited together.

Benjamin followed Curtis to the viewing area for the competition while Harper headed to the adjacent resting room.

She shared the news of the recovered files with everyone. After some mutual encouragement, they prepared to go backstage for the upcoming performance.

Upon arriving backstage, Harper found the woman explaining design sketches on stage was the same sunglasses-clad woman she had encountered with Annie earlier.

Harper learned her name was Louisa Moss from the staff. She was a designer from Dattlech who presented highly adaptable work that piqued the interest of judges and audiences alike. However, Harper seemed lost in her thoughts, staring fixedly at the sketches being presented by Louisa without any reaction.

Annie, noticing her distraction, asked, "Harper, what are you looking at?"

Harper snapped back to reality, her gaze cold as she looked at Sophia and the others, saying, "Do you recognize the sketches on the big screen up there?"

Sophia, Annie, and the others followed her gaze. From their angle, they could only see the side view, but with the overall presentation in 5D format, they could clearly see the complete version. Sophia exclaimed, "Ms. Mitchell, these are ours..."

"Does it look familiar?" Harper cut her off, mindful of the staff present.

The three fell silent, tension thick in the air.

Annie quickly grasped the situation.

The group moved to a secluded spot. Annie asked, "Do any of you know this woman on stage?"

They all shook their heads.

Liam pondered, saying, "How could this happen? Could she be the one who tampered with the computer earlier?"

Sophia and Max shared the same suspicion.

Harper, however, focused on theProperty belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

immediate issue, her expression

impassive. "Regardless of whether it

was her or not, our designs have

been plagiarized. What do we do

now?"

Liam, the calmest of the group, replied, "Ms. Mitchell, if we continue using our designs, we'll be accused of plagiarism due to preconceived nations."

Harper nodded in agreement.

Max added, "But if we don't use our sketches, we can't compete in this event."

Sophia, inexperienced in such large-scale competitions, felt lost after a tumultuous half-day. Annie spoke up. "Harper, do we have backup sketches?"

"No." Harper shook her head, adding, "Not only do we lack backups, but all our discarded drafts and sketch papers for the competition have been destroyed."

Revealing these would directly challenge Louisa, but Harper had destroyed them to prevent malicious use.

Now, they were in a dilemma.

As Louisa finished her presentation, she locked eyes with Harper upon descending, a smile on her face tinged with provocation.

Harper, however, showed no sign of avoidance or retreat as she stared directly into Louisa's eyes, her expression showing a hint of indifference. She thought, "I didn't steal anything, so why should I feel guilty?"