Ch. 771..780
Chapter 771
Seeing Sebastian Brenand like this made Xyla Quest feel very sad.
***
After arriving at the office, Xyla took the elevator to her office.
Since there wasn't much work to be done in the morning, she took her unfinished blueprint from her drawer and continued to draw on it.
She had a very serious expression on her face.
Buzz buzz buzz...
After drawing for a short while, Xyla's phone started to vibrate again.
There was a notification from Weibo News on the screen.
"A luxury car worth tens of millions destroyed. The owner left without turning back..."
As soon as Xyla saw this title, she could sense that they were talking about Sebastian. Hence, she quickly clicked on the link to carefully go through the entire post on Weibo.
"Just an hour ago, for some unknown reason, a limited-edition Lamborghini crashed into a tree. Although the car was severely damaged, its owner didn't seem to care. Instead, he looked down and made a
call. After that, he got into the car of his good friend, Xyla Quest, and left. According to our sources, this Lamborghini is worth up to thirty million dollars."
There was a collage of nine pictures below the Weibo post.
The first picture was of Sebastian calmly making a call as he stood in front of the destroyed luxury car.
The rest of it was all pictures of Xyla and Sebastian, including those of her speaking to Sebastian and driving him away in her Maserati.
There were many comments below the post.
"Isn't that car worth thirty million dollars? Why is he behaving as if he lost a three-dollar toy car?"
"Who the hell is this guy? How could he remain so calm when his expensive sports car is that severely damaged?"
"If I were him, I'd probably have gone mad. This car is very expensive! How rich is this person?"
"Indeed, rich folks only hang around other rich folks. Friends of tall, rich, and handsome men are all fair, rich, and pretty..."
"That guy looks very handsome. But he looks very crushed, and he has an overgrown beard. It looks like he just went through a heartbreak."
"What do you know? Maybe this is his laid-back style. I think it's very cool."
"Everyone around Xyla is rich and good-looking, just like how she is. Isn't that a wonderful life?"
Meanwhile, Xyla began receiving notifications of her being tagged on Weibo.
The number of unread messages was also increasing at a rapid rate.
Xyla clicked on the notification tab right away...
Many netizens were tagging her and asking who the rich man was.
Xyla didn't reply to any of them. Instead, she opened the list of trending topics.
Just as she expected, '#Leaving calmly despite crashing his thirty-million-dollar Lamborghini#' had made it onto the list.
In fact, it was now on the fifth spot on the list.
There was the word 'explosive' at the end of the hashtag, which meant this was a very popular topic.
Xyla didn't read on. Silently, she took a screenshot of the list of trending topics on Weibo and sent it to Sebastian on WeChat.
Since Sebastian didn't reply to her, Xyla put her phone away and continued to focus on her drawing.
***
On the other hand, Sebastian had just finished taking a shower.
His hair was half-dried, and he was wearing a white bathrobe.
After returning to the bedroom, he saw Xyla's screenshot. "These people are truly bored... " he replied with a smiling emoji at the end.
With that, Sebastian tossed his phone aside and prepared to sleep.
Suddenly, his phone started vibrating again.
Chapter 772
Chapter 772
Gary Lakes' name appeared on the screen.
"What do you want?" Sebastian Brenand picked up the phone while kicking his slippers away. He then tucked himself under the white duvet and closed his eyes.
"Are you back from Edgewater? When did you come back? How did you get into a car accident?" Gary was leaning against the railing on his balcony as he smoked. He was also looking down at the garden full of flowers in bloom.
"I came back last night... Hmm. I'm fine, but the car isn't..." Sebastian said.
Gary took a deep breath. "Well... Did you see Rachel? Didn't you two patch things up? Why do you look so terrible?" he asked carefully.
"Stop talking about it. She's already married. We'll talk over drinks tonight. I'm hanging up..." Sebastian said before directly hanging up the phone.
Gary frowned slightly. After looking at his phone screen for a while, he shifted his gaze back to the flowers in his garden. "Rachel Wood..." He murmured to himself.
There was an indescribable sense of disappointment in his eyes.
***
Many days later, it was finally time for the blueprint design selection.
Early in the morning, Xyla was woken up by her pre-set alarm.
She got up to make sure her blueprint design looked fine. After that, she cleaned herself up and put on some light make-up. She then put on an oversized white shirt and a pair of velvet-red heels.
As Xyla stood in front of a gold-engraved dressing mirror, she carefully checked her reflection to make sure her make-up seemed alright. After that, she casually unfastened the black ribbon around her hair. In the next second, her ponytail came loose.
Her long, thick, and curly hair dangled naturally around her.
The spotless mirror perfectly reflected her fair skin, her perfect curvatures, and her beauty and elegance.
Although she had on very little make-up, her facial features seemed intricate and perfect all the same.
Casually, Xyla retrieved a red Chanel backpack from the racks for bags. She strapped it on behind her and left the room with her blueprint design.
The first thing she did was to eat breakfast in a restaurant.
After filling her stomach, she made her way to Quest Group.
At this point, there were still over ten minutes left before the blueprint design selection took place.
Xyla stopped her car and quickly made her way into Quest Group.
As soon as she walked in, she could see that a temporary stage had already been built in the main lobby...
There was a projector, a huge display screen, and a computer on the stage.
Emily Quest was already standing on stage, wearing a bright, red dress. Her long black hair went past her shoulders. There wasn't the slightest sign of a smile on her face. Meanwhile, there were countless chairs off-stage. There was an employee on every single seat.
It looked like all the employees of the company had arrived.
May Conner had personally arranged for all of this.
For the sake of this competition, May started getting people to set the stage up days before. She also promoted the competition throughout the company.
Her goal was to make everybody aware of Emily's undertaking.
When May saw that Xyla was here, she quickly approached Xyla and held her hand. "Xyla... Where's your designer friend? Why isn't she here yet?"
Xyla smiled without saying anything. She quickly scanned around.
Very soon, she saw her father, as well as the three architectural designers she met at home previously.
They were seated right in front of the stage. At that moment, they seemed to be having an enjoyable conversation.
"She's here," Xyla said while pushing May's hand away.
With that, Xyla walked hastily over to Jeremy Quest. "Dad... I have a surprise for you later..." She said.
"Okay..." Jeremy said with a look of excitement in his eyes.
Chapter 773
Chapter 773
Under everyone's gaze, Xyla Quest slowly walked up the stage. She went directly over to the standing microphone and stood in front of it, next to Emily Quest. Xyla then picked up the microphone on the computer table and looked at the crowd.
"Welcome, everyone, to our blueprint design competition... I'm sure all of you know the rules. I shan't explain further... Let the selection process begin..." Xyla said.
"Sister... Where's the designer you found? Isn't she coming?" Emily asked.
"That designer is me... Aren't I here?" Xyla chuckled.
Emily seemed horrified and shocked...
The crowd went silent.
Very soon, everyone began talking amongst themselves.
"What's going on? Does Chief Xyla know how to design blueprints?"
"I don't know... I've never heard about it before..."
"If she even knows how to do this, she's really impressive..."
When May Conner heard this, she laughed sarcastically and walked over to Jeremy before sitting next to him.
Xyla had never learned anything about architectural design. May knew this much.
Even if Xyla did, it was probably very superficial knowledge she acquired overseas. It wasn't something May felt intimidated by. Meanwhile, Emily had always been exemplary in architectural design. May felt more confident that Emily would win.
"Sister... Do you actually know how to create architectural designs?" Emily asked.
"Yeah. A little bit... I studied architectural design for half a year previously..." Xyla said blandly.
When the employees heard this, they all started laughing. Even May couldn't help but laugh.
"Half a year? Everybody knows how difficult architectural design is. What could you possibly learn in half a year?"
"She's only studied it for half a year, but she has the guts to participate in this competition. Our Chief Xyla really is a special snowflake..." "Haha... I wonder how worried President Quest is right now."
The employees began talking amongst themselves. They all were rendered speechless by this.
Jeremy was equally filled with questions.
However, when he recalled Xyla saying that she would give him a surprise, he felt reassured...
Jeremy believed that Xyla was truly capable. Otherwise, she wouldn't say those things. Regardless of what happened, he still believed in Xyla... May didn't say anything. Instead, she silently waited for Xyla to embarrass herself.
Who did Xyla think she was?
Did she really think of herself as being capable in everything?
Just because Xyla studied architectural design for half a year, she thought she could beat everybody. May felt that Xyla was over-estimating herself... She was sure that Emily would defeat Xyla and thoroughly embarrass the latter.
This was going to be great! May's daughter finally had her chance to gloat.
Xyla was able to hear what everyone said, and she could see their reactions clearly. However, she didn't show any emotion.
Calmly, Xyla turned around and looked at Emily. "Emily... You go first..." She said.
Emily immediately nodded as she tried to control her excitement. She displayed her blueprint design on the large screen right away.
After that, Emily began introducing each aspect of her blueprint design in detail.
When the employees off-stage saw her blueprint design, they all gasped in surprise...
The three architectural designers were equally stunned. They wouldn't stop showing Jeremy their thumbs as they nodded enthusiastically.
Chapter 774
Chapter 774
Emily Quest's blueprint design was hand-drawn in a 3D format.
The arrangement of land around the beach was clearly outlined, and each area was labeled with texts.
It was a cartoon-style design.
Various cartoon drawings could be seen all over the design. The primary colors were blue and white, and the whole thing looked dreamy, almost as if it was from a fairytale.
When Xyla Quest saw Emily's design, she immediately started smiling coldly.
Xyla didn't think Emily would display the blueprint design Xyla felt least satisfied with.
In fact, it was the original drawing...
This was no longer plagiarism. Instead, it was direct piracy.
Xyla had thrown this design away back then because she found it too ordinary.
It didn't stand out from other regular ocean theme parks.
To Xyla's greater surprise, the audience was actually moved by such a plain blueprint design.
While everyone watched, Emily started explaining her design to them. They enjoyed listening to her more and more.
Matt Leopold and the other two architectural designers nodded throughout the process.
Sensing that everyone was enjoying her presentation, she began to speak more confidently.
After introducing all her pieces of design, Emily respectfully bowed to everyone. "Thank you, all of you... My presentation has ended. Up next, it's my sister's turn to present her blueprint design." With that, Emily handed the microphone over to Xyla. There wasn't any unnecessary display of emotion on Emily's face.
Xyla calmly accepted the microphone and walked in front of the projector.
Right then, the staff members off-stage started laughing amongst themselves.
Emily slowly walked off the stage and sat next to May Conner while pretending to remain calm.
May immediately showed Emily her thumbs up.
The two of them smiled at each other before shifting their gazes back to Xyla.
Although neither of them said anything, they were both expecting Xyla to embarrass herself.
What good could someone who had barely learned anything about the trade possibly produce? "Miss Emily's design looked really good. I think Xyla can't beat her."
"That's without a doubt. Xyla barely has any knowledge in the field. How could she defeat Emily?" "Earlier, I heard the president telling his subordinate that Emily's work once received praise from Lily."
"Who is Lily?"
"Don't you know who she is? She's the up and coming superstar in the world of architectural design. She's a genius at designing. Her masterpieces have garnered a lot of attention overseas, but she's awfully mysterious. To this day, nobody knows what she looks like."
When Emily and May heard what everyone was saying, they became increasingly excited.
Xyla was also able to hear what these people were saying, but she didn't care. Instead, she silently walked in front of the projector and displayed her blueprint design on the screen.
She began going through the design one page at a time.
Like Emily's blueprint design, Xyla's was also in 3D format. However, it had a completely different style.
All of her design pieces seemed to be influenced by luxurious European palaces. Suddenly, the world she created on paper looked like a grand castle by the beach.
Everyone was dumbfounded when they saw her design, including the architectural designers.
Xyla's designs were truly extraordinary. They were many times more high-class than Emily's designs.
All of a sudden, the crowd went silent...
Emily and May's jaws nearly dropped.
Chapter 775
Chapter 775
Now that the crowd had fallen silent, Xyla Quest's voice became unusually clear.
Soon, the expression on everyone's face changed from a condescending one to one of hope and admiration...
With everyone watching, Xyla continued to introduce her design one page at a time confidently. She seemed calm the entire time.
In fact, she looked like a fairy standing on a cloud, giving instructions to the rest of the world.
Her perfect blueprint design, coupled with her seamless introduction, easily helped the audience to imagine how the palace-inspired ocean theme park would look like in their minds.
After her presentation ended, Xyla slowly looked up and smiled at the audience. "I'm done presenting my blueprint design..."
Suddenly, everyone in the crowd started clapping loudly...
"D*mn... Isn't our Chief Xyla too amazing?"
"This looks way more high-class than the cartoon design!"
"Did she really only study design for half a year? Is she a prodigy?"
There was a sudden change in the employees' attitude. They all began showering Xyla with praises.
Meanwhile, the three architectural designers also showed Xyla their thumbs.
May Conner was thoroughly dumbfounded. Her pupils were widening. "How... How this possible..."
How could someone who had only studied design for half a year achieve such standards?
Emily didn't show any emotion. "It's possible if she plagiarized another person's work."
"What? Plagiarize?" May seemed shocked.
Without saying anything, Emily smiled coldly...
The three architectural designers were still mesmerized by Xyla's design, and they wouldn't stop complimenting her.
When Jeremy heard all those people cheering for Xyla, he felt incredibly proud of her.
Jeremy didn't say anything. Instead, he slowly stood up and held Emily's hand before walking up onto the stage with her.
Her daughters were both excellent, and they both made him feel proud today.
After getting up on stage, he stood next to Xyla along with Emily. Xyla passed him the microphone in her hand. "Alright. You have both seen my daughters' blueprint designs. Now, you may start voting... There's a voting page in our company's forum. Everyone can enter now..." Jeremy said.
"You each have five minutes. After that, the voting will end..." He added.
When everyone heard this, they quickly picked up their phones and started voting in the company's forum.
A staff member projected the voting page onto the large screen.
The numbers on the screen kept changing behind them.
The number of votes for Xyla was skyrocketing.
Meanwhile, there were barely any votes for Emily...
Emily, Xyla, and Jeremy paid complete attention to the large screen behind them.
After five minutes, it was apparent that Xyla received 90% of the votes, while Emily only had 10%.
Even so, Emily still didn't show any change in emotion.
A perfect idea gradually appeared in her mind.
"Alright, I will now announce... For Eldoris Ocean Theme Park, we will choose..." Jeremy looked at Xyla affectionately while he spoke.
Before he could finish his sentence, Emily grabbed his hand. "Dad... I have a question. I'm not sure if I should ask."
Jeremy gestured for her to speak her mind.
"This is a competition for original designs, right?" Emily went straight to the point.
"Yes..." Jeremy said.
"Does that mean that someone would be automatically disqualified if she was found to have plagiarized her work?" Emily asked. "Yes, but what do you mean by this?" Jeremy said.
Chapter 776
Chapter 776
"To be honest, I didn't want to say this. But I can't help it because if I don't bring it up, it will greatly affect our company's reputation. My sister's design is a work of plagiarism," Emily Quest looked at Jeremy
Quest earnestly and said.
"What did you say?" Jeremy seemed to be in a state of disbelief.
"This blueprint design looks very much like Lily's when she first started drawing. There is an 80% semblance to her previous work. Perhaps not many people know this, but as her loyal fan, I know very well... I can show everyone if you don't believe me," Emily said.
After that, she immediately searched for a blueprint design from the computer and displayed it on the large screen.
The blueprint design was a huge, complete drawing. Whether it was in terms of style or layout, it had an 80% similarity to Xyla Quest's design.
When the employees saw this, they were all stunned...
Even the three architectural designers seemed confused.
The style and format displayed allowed anyone smart to deduce that it was a work of plagiarism right away.
"This was something Lily designed when she first started out. Previously, she participated in a small design competition in Country Y using this design and came in second place.
"Compared to her more accomplished designs that won her huge awards, this one pales in comparison. Hence, it wasn't shared with a lot of people.
"But since I am Lily's hardcore fan, and also her good friend, I've studied a lot of her material.
"Hence, I know this drawing very well. People who plagiarize do not have the right to participate in this competition. It's shameful," Emily said before calmly glancing at Xyla. "But my design is different. Mine is an original... In fact, Lily even praised me for it," Emily added.
Suddenly, everyone in the main lobby started chattering loudly-
"This explains why someone who only studied design for half a year was able to draw something like this. It was plagiarized after all."
"How dare she plagiarize from someone famous like Lily? Is Emily actually Lily's friend? That's epic."
"Is Xyla crazy? Oh my god... It's such an embarrassment for President Quest. I wouldn't have picked her if I knew."
"If Emily hadn't noticed it, wouldn't things be even worse when Lily discovers this once the project is built? It's Lily after all..."
Xyla was able to hear part of what the people said.
However, she didn't react to them. Instead, she silently stood where she was and observed all of this while she smiled.
"President Quest... Someone who plagiarizes shouldn't be allowed to take part in this competition..."
"We change our mind. We're going to vote for Emily now..."
"That's right. We want to vote for Emily..."
Suddenly, influenced by a member of staff, everyone began voicing their support for Emily.
The architectural designers also gradually stood up.
Matt Leopold grabbed a microphone and looked at the people on stage. "If this is the case, I'm going to choose Emily too... We can't tolerate plagiarism! Xyla, how could you do something like this?" The architectural designers hated nobody more than people who plagiarize.
Faced with such a situation, Jeremy felt thoroughly embarrassed.
Was this the surprise Xyla wanted to give him? It was more like a horrible shock.
He didn't think his eldest daughter would do something like this.
Throughout the entire process, May Conner sat on her seat and calmly observed everything. Although she didn't show anything on the surface, she was ecstatic on the inside.
On stage, Emily was trying very hard not to laugh.
It was over for Xyla.
Xyla would soon be disqualified from the competition, and their father would punish her severely.
Meanwhile, Emily's design would be selected.
When the time came, Emily would successfully enter the design department and become its manager.
Chapter 777
Chapter 777
After that, Emily Quest would surprise everyone with her capabilities. Gradually, she would climb the corporate ladder with her powers and dominate everyone. In the end, she would successfully replace Xyla Quest as the heir!
When Emily thought of this, she couldn't help but feel proud of having everything planned out.
"President Quest... We want to recast our vote..."
"Recast the votes..."
Everyone was chanting loudly along as they secretly mocked Xyla.
Seemingly very upset, Jeremy Quest turned to look at Xyla...
When he caught her smiling, he felt even worse.
Just what was going on with his eldest daughter? Wasn't she embarrassed with herself?
She was the heir he chose. How could she do something embarrassing like this in the company?
Sensing Jeremy's gaze, Xyla smiled even wider. Slowly, she reached for Jeremy's microphone and looked at the crowd off-stage. "Please be quiet for a moment." The noisy crowd instantly fell silent.
"Emily was right. This blueprint design... Indeed, its foundation was drawn when Lily first started out. I modified the parts that I think weren't good enough. I enhanced it... That's how I arrived at this current design," Xyla explained.
Her words were like a heavy rock thrown into a serene pool of water.
Suddenly, the crowd went crazy again.
Jeremy seemed even more upset.
Meanwhile, Emily and May Conner were ecstatic on the inside. The two of them felt certain Xyla was a sitting duck.
"Oh my god. I can't believe someone who plagiarized others' work would have the guts to say something like this..."
"She really is thick-skinned. How could she do something like this as a member of the company's upper management?" "Look at President Quest's face. It's turning into the shade of ash. I think Xyla is done for..."
The employees added one after another, and each of them had this condescending look in their eyes when they looked at Xyla.
"But I am Lily herself. What's wrong with modifying my designs?" Xyla asked calmly. There wasn't a tinge of emotion in her eyes. After that, she turned to face Emily. "Am I your good friend? Did I compliment you for your blueprint designs? Why don't I know about it?" Xyla added.
In the next second, everyone in the crowd went silent.
They started looking at each other.
Their jaws nearly dropped...
Was Xyla Lily herself? How was this possible?
Emily and May froze in place...
"Xyla... What do you mean? Are you saying that you are Lily?" Jeremy's face seemed to be less tense now.
He couldn't quite believe what he had just heard.
"It's true. I wanted to keep a low-profile, but Emily wouldn't allow me to," Xyla said and chuckled.
"How is this possible? Lily is such a talented designer. She must have studied architectural design for many years. Didn't you say that you only studied it for half a year?" Jeremy asked.
Xyla didn't say anything. Instead, she silently opened her phone and projected her qualification certificate as an architectural designer onto the large screen.
Lily's name was clearly visible on the certificate on the large screen...
Below that name, there was another name, Xyla Quest!
Chapter 778
Chapter 778
In fact, there was an official stamp from Country Y officials. It couldn't possibly be fake.
Jeremy Quest couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Meanwhile, Emily Quest, May Conner, Matt Leopold, the other architectural designers, and employees of the company all subconsciously inhaled sharply.
Who would have guessed that things would turn out this way?
Who knew that Xyla Quest, who always kept her talents hidden, would actually be a rising superstar in the architectural world, and that she was the internationally renowned designer, Lily?
"Xyla... What else are you keeping from me? How... How did you do it? Did you really only studied architectural design for half a year?" Jeremy asked excitedly.
Xyla nodded with a smile before returning to Jeremy. "Yeah... I studied it for half a year. My master, Dr. Batton, is the talented one. He taught me everything I know about architectural design..." Xyla said. "You... You really are my awesome daughter! I never thought I could have such a talented daughter!" Jeremy was extremely proud of Xyla.
Matt and the other architectural designers instantly rushed on stage.
In the next second, the three of them knelt to the ground.
When Xyla saw this, her eyes darted uncomfortably. "What are you doing? You are all older than me. Aren't you just putting me in a difficult position?"
Xyla bent over slightly and tried to get them to stand up, but none of them would budge.
Matt cupped his fists together and looked at Xyla with an earnest look on his face. "Teacher Lily, I admire you a lot. Will you accept me as your apprentice?" "Me too..." Sally Wick said.
"And also me... Teacher Lily, I admire you greatly. You're my idol," Tim Gold said.
They all seemed overwhelmed.
Everyone present was stunned by what they saw...
Right then, Xyla became everyone's super idol, while Emily Quest was brushed off to the side once again.
Emily didn't think she would end up stepping on her toes.
At first, Emily wanted to embarrass Xyla. However, she had accidentally unveiled the truth of who Xyla actually was, and it became known to everyone now. Now, even the well-known gurus in the architectural design field were kneeling in front of Xyla. Emily felt both jealous and envious as she watched on.
May, on the other hand, seemed to have lost all the energy in her body. She sat limply on her chair.
Many employees picked up their phones and started recording videos of Xyla.
"Hey, you guys... Don't do this. I can't possibly accept you as my apprentices. You're all older than me...
"In the future, if you need any help, you can always come to me. I'll be happy to share whatever knowledge I have with you," Xyla said earnestly as she tried to get them to stand up again. However, they still wouldn't budge.
"Teacher Lily, please accept us as your apprentice. We promise to learn from you the best we can."
"That's right..."
"Please..."
They were determined to make Xyla their teacher.
Xyla helplessly rubbed her forehead. "I don't have what it takes to accept apprentices, and I don't want apprentices either..."
Seeing how determined Xyla seemed, the three of them finally let out a long, helpless sigh and stood up.
After that, Matt respectfully took one step toward Xyla. "Teacher Lily, why don't we have a meal together after this? Let's exchange our architectural design ideas with each other. What do you say?" he asked passionately.
"Call me, Xyla, please. I'm not used to how you address me now... Let's all keep things casual," Xyla said humbly.
Chapter 779
Chapter 779
Matt Leopold immediately nodded. "Erm... What about our lunch?"
Xyla Quest nodded in response. "Yeah, sure. Let's grab a bite after this. It's on me."
A ripple of excitement spread across Matt and the rest when they heard her answer.
After all, Lily was a legendary existence in the architectural field. She was gifted, yet mysterious and secretive...
She had countless admirers, but no one had ever seen her. She had never accepted any interviews, either.
Despite the admirers' daunting eagerness, seeing Lily in real life was nothing but a mere fantasy.
However, a prodigious opportunity had now come to the few of them. They couldn't contain their exhilaration at this point.
"Xyla, since you're so capable, I think I should hand over the company's design department to you from now on. In addition to the sales department, I hope that you can do your best in leading the design team, too," Jeremy Quest said while patting Xyla's shoulder, his eyes brimming with acknowledgment.
Upon hearing that, raw anger shot through Emily Quest.
The design department was given to Xyla?
Did Xyla just snatch away the department that she had been longing for all through her life?
Wasn't this too much?
"I will, Dad," Xyla promised her father right away.
Emily glared at Xyla in exasperation before lowering her head and heading to the staircase, intending to leave the stage.
Noticing her sister was running away, Xyla immediately called out to her, "Wait a minute, Emily..."
Emily stopped in her tracks and turned to look at her with irritation. "What do you want?"
"May I know where you get your blueprint from?" Xyla asked.
At the mention of that stolen blueprint, Emily's heart threatened to escape from her throat. She started to glance around the hall, absent-mindedly. "What are you trying to say? I drew it, of course! Do you have a problem with that?"
"Oh, really? Why do I feel like I've drawn the same thing as yours before?" Though Xyla retained a soft and steady tone, her powerful aura was palpable.
She looked like a benign little girl, but she could always impress the crowd with her tact.
Instantly, the hall was in an uproar.
The crowd began to whisper among themselves.
Xyla's accusation was a real slap in the face. Emily could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
"You... What do you mean? Did you draw my blueprint? Do you have any proof? I'm the one who drew it!" Emily was disgruntled with Xyla.
What the hell was going on?
Was that Xyla's design?
She could not be so unlucky, could she?
"If I'm not mistaken, you can find Lily's signature on your blueprint..." Xyla added.
Emily sneered. "Signature? What are you talking about? How can I have your signature on my blueprint? Sis... Don't try to accuse me without any proof." Signature?
She had studied the blueprint around eight hundred times. Where was the signature?
Instead of answering her, Xyla walked to the projector steadily and picked up Emily's folder, casually taking out the blueprint from it.
Subsequently, she waved at the security guard next to her and ordered, "Please get me a glass of water."
The security guard quickly poured a glass of water from the nearby water dispenser and handed it to Xyla obediently.
Slowly putting the glass on the table, Xyla dipped her finger into it and wetted the corner of the blueprint...
Very soon, a black signature appeared in the wetted area: Lily...
Chapter 780
Chapter 780
The whole process was perfectly shown on the big screen.
Emily Quest was so shocked that she was at a loss for words.
Once again, the crowd went haywire.
"Oh my, that blueprint really has Lily's signature on it. Emily is the one who plagiarized instead of Xyla, eh?"
"Plagiarize? She's stealing the design! How can she be so shameless? I can't believe she was bragging about an unwanted design all this while."
"Covering up her misdeed by shifting the blame onto Xyla... She's despicable. How can she accuse Xyla with her nose in the air when she's a brat herself?"
"She steals Lily's unwanted design, competes with Lily herself, and boasts about Lily's compliment to her. I'm absolutely appalled by her guts."
The employees rattled on, singling Emily's wrongdoing out for criticism.
Jeremy Quest's face was clouded over instantaneously.
He thought that Emily had turned over a new leaf, but she was as ridiculous as ever to his surprise.
The truth was as clear as day.
Xyla Quest remained silent. She calmly walked up to Emily and admonished her, "Emily, you have to work hard if you want to stand out in the world of designing. Don't try to look for a shortcut to fame and fortune. Plagiarizing, stealing... They aren't going to help you.
"You must've stolen the entire collection that I've thrown away earlier. Where did you get them from? I remember that I threw all of them into the trash can.
"I was dissatisfied with those designs. The designs you showed Matt Leopold and the others that day all came from my collection, too, right?
"You plagiarized the last time around. I didn't expect you to bring my original blueprint here today," Xyla pressed on.
"Hahaha... Taking Lily's abandoned design as a treasure... Holy crap!"
"The sisters' moralities and talents are markedly different."
"I know, right? No wonder Xyla is the company's heir while Emily is nothing but plain dust."
Another wave of discussions rounded the crowd.
Though they tried to keep their voices down, Emily could hear their insults as there were too many people bad-mouthing her off the stage.
Jeremy was truly ashamed of Emily. The three designs she proposed to him the last time were all copied from Xyla?
"Why are you still standing here? You better explain yourself when we get home." Jeremy coldly insinuated.
"How... How can this be true?" Emily staggered as she met Xyla's eyes, thunderstruck.
"Well, I have a habit. I love to leave my name on my blueprints using the invisible ink pen," revealed Xyla. "It's to defend me if someone tries to steal my designs." Every single word that came out of Xyla's mouth had rendered Emily speechless. Emily hung her head and darted from the stage in a flash.
As soon as she got off the stage, tears started to pour down her cheeks involuntarily.
How could this happen?
Why was Xyla always the one winning?
After witnessing what had happened, May Conner immediately caught up with Emily and took hold of her hand, trying to comfort her.
However, Emily shook off her hand mercilessly and scurried off.
May quickly ran after her.
The employees watched the two of them running away from the hall and rolled their eyes in disdain.
None of them had ever imagined that the selection of the theme park's design would turn out to be a farce.
On top of that, May had fought tooth and nail to crush Xyla for the honor and credit of her daughter. Nevertheless, not only did she fail to help her daughter, she had now sent her to hell with her bare hands.
Without paying any heed to Emily, Jeremy turned to Xyla and grabbed the microphone. He then averted his gaze to the crowd and announced, "I now declare that Xyla's design is chosen for the Eldoris ocean theme park project!"
In an instant, the audience broke into great applause.
Some of the employees even began to address Xyla as 'Daddy'.
"Daddy Xyla! Go for it!"
"Ahhhhh... Bravo!"
"Daddy Lily! You're the best!"
Xyla smiled in return. She stared at the crowd calmly without saying a word.
"Alright guys, time to go back to work." Jeremy casually waved at the crowd.
Hearing the order, everyone rose to their feet right away.
Suddenly, a group of men in black appeared at the doorway and walked into the hall as bold as brass...