Mr And Mrs Huo

Chapter 22

For a few moments, silence reigned in the hall. The crowd was taken aback by this sudden outburst while wondering what the cause was. Their gaze frequently moved from Austin to Mao He and back.

Austin was truly furious.

Since he set his eyes on Blue Night, he had been feeling incredulous. He felt perhaps he saw wrongly, but his eyes weren't deceiving him. He tried to probe the other party, and the results he got made him very angry.

He had never met such a person who plagiarized so shamelessly!

With eyebrows furrowed, Fang Zhifei questioned, "What do you mean, Austin? Those labels aren't something that can be thrown around carelessly in this setting."

Austin sneered, "Of course, I know that, and I can assure you that everything I've said is true." He turned to Mao He and asked him, "Are you really the creator of Blue Night?"

Mao He could feel cold sweats starting to form within his clothes. He had a terrible feeling about where all this might be heading, but he was already riding on a tiger, and he couldn't get off. He steeled his expression and answered, "Yes, I am the creator of Blue Night."

Austin's expression hardened, and he let out a cold laugh. "Since you aren't willing to admit it, you will only have yourself to blame for the consequences."

Cao Min saw that there might be something hidden in this matter, so she turned to Austin. "Austin, can you tell us what's going on."

Right there, Austin dropped a bomb. "My father designed that necklace. Therefore, this shameless individual committed plagiarism."

It was like water was poured into hot oil. The entire hall went into an uproar.

Plagiarism was a huge offense. In a circle that required creativity, like the jewelry design industry, this offense could end one's career in a split second. Even a mere accusation without proof could damage one's reputation.

Committing plagiarism in a competition like this was akin to digging one's grave. The organizers behind the Donovan Jewelry Design Competition would suffer a loss on this matter, and their anger was sure to be vented on the culprit. Retaliation from the organizers alone was enough to end Mao He's career, even without considering the hit to his reputation.

This time another judge spoke, "Austin, this accusation isn't light. Do you have proof?"

"Of course I do." Austin whipped out his phone and showed the picture of a necklace to the judges.

Fang Zhifei saw it, and his face stiffened. The necklace in this picture looked exactly like the Blue Night they were currently evaluating.

One of the judges exclaimed, "It's exactly the same!"

Cao Min interjected, "No, it's not. There are a few differences. The quality of gems used for this necklace are of better quality, and it's more detailed. The one currently on stage looks like a well-made imitation. It's tough to tell without experience or seeing the two in reality. Austin, your father made this?"

"Yes, he did."

Austin then proceeded to explain the origin of the necklace.

Wang Zian had rushed to the stage earlier when he noticed that something had gone wrong. A bad incident that wasn't handled well would be unfavorable to him. After listening to Austin, Wang Zian recalled why he found Blue Night familiar.

Gregory Caide made blue Night as a token of love for his wife. According to Gregory, he met his wife at the lowest point in his life. Coincidentally, he met her on a winter night. Since then, things turned around for him and became better and better.

Two years after Austin was born, Gregory created the necklace. The designs took him a long time to complete. Upon completion, he couldn't afford the quality gems he wanted to make the design a reality.

Gregory didn't want to settle for less, so he kept the design until his financial capability grew large enough.

Once the jewelry was completed, Austin's mom cherished it deeply. This was a token of her husband's love, and it took years to become a reality.

Many years later, Gregory became popular enough for his works to be exhibited. But it took a long time before Austin's mom agreed to allow the necklace to be put on display. Even at that, it was for a very short period of time. Therefore not many people knew about this necklace.

Wang Zian was lucky enough to have attended the exhibition, but it was long ago. So when he saw the counterfeit, he only felt it was familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it before.

If he remembered clearly, the name of the necklace was also...

"What was the name of this necklace?" Fang Zhifei asked.

With a smile filled with ridicule, Austin replied, "Blue Night."

The audience, "...Truly shameless."
Not only did they steal the design, but they also stole the name. Did they think that because the necklace wasn't well known, they could get away with it? Even if the world didn't know, wouldn't the designer's son do? What gave them the guts to be so confident in the presence of Austin? Did they really not know the origin of this piece or the people who were likely to recognize it? At this point, one couldn't say if they were stupid or shameless.

Mao He was sweating bullets. He honestly had no idea. Who knew he would be so unlucky to meet someone who knew about Blue Night very well? Thinking about all the stories he just spouted about creating Blue Night, Mao He wished he could find someplace to bury himself.

On the other hand, Yan Hui was fully cursing in his heart. This was the worst luck. The jewelry design belonged to a big shot, and they even ignorantly used the name they found in the design draft, which made things worse.

Now, he knew the trap Li Na set. Only, it didn't look like something she could come up with alone.

Not to mention, one had to be well connected to know who the final judges would be ahead of time since that information wasn't made public and was guarded.

Who could have helped her? Then Yan Hui recalled the lady he had seen with Li Na previously. Was it her? Her gaze had made him uneasy. But Yan Hui didn't have the leisure to think deeply about that at this moment. He had to find a way to disassociate Lustrous from this mess.

Upon hearing what Austin had to say, Fang Zhifei was livid and ashamed. To think he had labeled the designer from Lustrous a genius. Yes, he was a genius. A genius in telling lies and being shameless.

Fang Zhifei felt he had totally lost face. Some of the judges present were foreigners, and this incident also tarnished the reputation of Country A's jewelry design industry. The culprit and the company behind him couldn't go scot-free and had to be severely punished.

Thinking this way, Fang Zhifei's gaze turned cold.

Author's Note
Guys!!! It's been so long!!!
The last two weeks have been busy for me. With sheer determination, I resolved to release a chapter before the end of this week, and I made it!
I hope you all enjoyed it. ❤️❤️