Chapter 3
Vivian smiled. "I know you. You're Damien's ex-girlfriend."
She added, "Or should I say, my replacement?"
My hand froze mid-wipe as I cleaned my clothes.
I shot up, anger flooding my voice. "Damien and I have been together for three years. You're the other woman who came between us."
Vivian scoffed. "The other woman? When Damien and I were together, you were still in diapers."
"You..." I was about to retort, but she walked right up and grabbed my hand.
She said, "I'll tell you straight up. Even after three years together, I'm still the one he cares about most."
Suddenly, Vivian grabbed my hand and used it to slap herself across the face.
The next moment, she clutched her cheek, dropped to the floor, and cried out in shock.
"Ms. Shelton, why did you hit me?" she wailed.
I snapped, "Are you out of your mind?"
It wasn't until Damien suddenly showed up at the door that I realized why she did it.
She was setting me up.
I stood frozen in the doorway, completely at a loss for words. "I..."
Damien shot me a cold, icy glare, walked over, picked Vivian up in his arms, and turned to leave.
Panic flooded me, and I grabbed his hand. "Damien, I didn't, I didn't..."
I didn't hit her.
Before I could finish, he coldly brushed my hand aside and walked away.
"Damien, Cora's just a kid. Don't take it to heart. I'm fine," Vivian said, acting all magnanimous.
But as soon as Damien turned his back, she flashed me a sly, provocative smile.
"Cora, are you okay?" Erin rushed over and grabbed my shoulders.
Erin hurried over and gripped my shoulders.
Her eyes scanned me up and down, checking for any injuries.
I shook my head and walked out, numb and hollow, like a shell of myself.
Erin looked like she wanted to say something, but she stopped herself in the end.
By the time I got home, it was already late at night.
I slumped on my bed, phone in hand, editing and deleting messages again and again.
Finally, I sent Damien a message: [Damien, you have to believe me. I didn't hit her. She was the one who rushed at me.]
When I sent the message, a red exclamation mark popped up.
Panic hit me, and I called him right away.
He picked up after a few rings.
"Yeah?" Damien's voice came through, cold and distant.
I blurted out, panic in my voice, "Damien, I promise I didn't hit her today. You have to believe me, I..."
"Damien, who's that?" Vivian's voice cut in.
My words died in my throat. My breath seemed to slow as I caught Damien's indifferent tone.
"No one," he replied.
After a brief silence, a sultry moan came through the phone.
"Damien, be gentle, it hurts!" Vivian's voice was all whiny.
Hearing that, it felt like someone just ripped my heart right out of my chest.
I frantically hung up.
I was so numb, I couldn't even cry anymore. I just lay there in bed for days, barely moving.
Until that day, Erin burst into my room. "Cora, this is bad! Someone's saying your competition entry was plagiarized!"
She shoved her phone right in my face.
A big, bold headline jumped out at me. "University design student accused of plagiarizing a famous designer in a competition entry."
This was the project my professor said was a shoo-in for the prize just a few days ago.
It was already in the bag. It just needed to go through some formalities. How could this even be happening?
"No way! I never plagiarized anyone!" I said.
Erin also knew I hadn't plagiarized a thing.
Her face was full of concern as she asked, "Could it be the judges made a mistake?"
Just then, an incoming call lit up my phone.
"Hi, is this Cora Shelton? Word is that your entry for the international competition copied the work of famous designer Vivian Bates. Is that true?"
Vivian...
I turned to Erin, barely able to keep my voice steady. "Who do they say I copied?"
Erin looked sheepish. "Cora, please don't freak out. I only kept it from you because I didn't want you to feel worse."
As she spoke, Erin pulled up a side-by-side comparison of the two design drafts.
Erin said, clearly pissed, "Vivian entered the competition too! This is so messed up! How can they accuse you of copying her?
"Is it just because she turned hers in a bit earlier, and she's more famous than you? That's so unfair! Maybe she's the one who swiped your design!"
Erin was practically fuming.
I couldn't take my eyes off the two designs on the screen, staring hard at every detail.
No doubt about it. This was my design. Vivian just took my original draft and made it needlessly complicated.
The system said she submitted hers a whole day before I did.
That was the same day Damien dumped me, and Vivian moved in with him.
Damien was the only one who ever saw my design.
When I was designing it, I even asked for his opinion. He definitely knew about it.
I didn't care about anything anymore. I just rushed out.
I hopped in a cab and went straight to Damien's company.