After Reborn, I Become a Billionaire
Chapter 986 Expose Plagiarism

Chapter 986 Expose Plagiarism

Doyle instantly felt Besse's gaze on him. He turned to her and asked, "What's up?"

Besse's eyes flickered.

"Another burst of inspiration?" Doyle joked.

Despite his sometimes bad temper, the sincerity in his expression and the simplicity of a big boy still made her believe that Doyle was not lying to her.

She said, "No, I just wanted to ask how much longer until we board?"

Doyle looked down at his watch. "About ten minutes. Are you bored? Do you want me to sing you a song?"

Besse smiled slightly.

She knew that Doyle's kindness towards her was genuine and not fake. She shouldn't let other people influence her doubts about him. Besides, deep down inside she didn't want to know the so-called "truth." "I'm tone-deaf so don't poison my ears with your singing," Besse declined.

"You actually hate my singing? Believe it or not, when I get back to Keelung Cami I'll learn how to sing on pitch," Doyle said angrily.

Besse thought he could really do it if he wanted to.

"I don't hate it! It's just too quiet here and I'm afraid of disturbing others," Besse surrendered.

Doyle smiled brightly. "That makes sense."

So how could such a straightforward man deceive her? How could he lie seamlessly? Perhaps she was overthinking things again...

As she turned back towards her phone, it suddenly rang.

She answered the call from their assistant Lu Se who informed them of some bad news: The Angel collection haute couture show they were going to release in Karami had been accused of plagiarism. Besse's face visibly changed.

"What happened?" asked an anxious Doyle.

But before Besse could say anything else, Doyle snatched the phone from her hand and began asking for more details about what had happened.

Doyle naturally believed in Besse unconditionally when it came design talent; he knew very well that after waking up from the car accident she became even more talented than before - almost like knocking some sense into herself! Of course this kind of thing made him feel amazed but also terrified at once - after all experiencing something like this once would be enough for anyone's sanity!

Doyle hung up the phone in anger and opened the news on his mobile. As soon as he entered, he saw that the news had instantly made headlines with the title, "Designer Besse's 'Angel' collection steals the show, suspected of plagiarism." He clicked on the article and saw a few comparison photos. On the left were Besse's works, and on the right was a designer named "Phantom's" work. Although there were differences in detail handling between both works, their similarities could be seen at first glance.

The work by "Phantom" had been published eight years ago in a fashion magazine from Northfield but hadn't caused any sensation at that time since aesthetic standards weren't as high back then. Therefore it went unnoticed and wasn't given much attention later when this designer didn't produce anything outstanding either.

Now suddenly brought to light again, it caused an uproar immediately. It wasn't unreasonable for Northfield media to exaggerate its coverage to protect its country's design copyright since Besse launched her "Angel" collection first in Northfield while being accused of copying another local designer.

Besse hadn't thought deeply about it yet when her phone rang unexpectedly. She looked at who was calling before answering,"Luther."

"Miss Besse, I've received calls from global media magazines all asking about your plagiarism issue; I managed to dodge them all so far but now there is another hotline call... What should we do?" "You shut down your phone for now."

"Yes," Luther replied hastily before hanging up.

Someone else called during their conversation too; after hanging up with Luther she dialed back,"Hello?"

"Besse what is going on? How come your work looks so similar to Northfield Designer? All our pre-ordered 'Angel' collections clients want an explanation or they will send us legal letters demanding compensation." The director of operations called her asking about what happened.

"I don't know what's going on either; I just received notice myself."

"You have got to solve this problem quickly! Otherwise we can't explain things clearly enough for our clients - not only Angel series but also all other series you designed are affected by this incident! In just such a short period of time we've already cancelled fifty orders related to your designs!"

"Okay," Besse agreed.

She hung up the phone and looked at Doyle.

Doyle had also answered countless calls by now.

But this one made him stand up and walk away.

Besse didn't need to think twice about who it was from.

It was Doyle's mother, Queen Carol.

Doyle only listened to her, even though they seemed to be arguing right now.

Besse knew that Doyle was probably explaining things to her on the phone, but they both had their own opinions and ways of handling things, which led to arguments that lasted a long time. Finally, Doyle hung up the phone and angrily stomped his foot on the ground.

"What's wrong?" Besse asked as she approached him. She smiled in an attempt to comfort him.

"I'm so angry," replied Doyle with obvious frustration in his voice.

"Who made you angry?" Besse laughed a little bit more as she tried calming him down.

"You can still laugh? Don't you see how everyone is talking about you outside right now?"

"But you believe me," Besse smiled back at him confidently.

Doyle felt something stir inside of him when he looked into her eyes again: "I believe in you."

"That's enough for me," nodded Besse with satisfaction.

"The problem is my mother doesn't believe in you!" exclaimed Doyle furiously once again: "After all these years of knowing how talented you are!"

Besse couldn't help feeling some emotional turmoil herself over this situation too.

Other people might not trust her abilities but she thought that both Doyle and Queen Carol should have faith in her work.

"How did the queen react?" asked Besse curiously.

"She said that although there may be similarities between designs sometimes due to coincidence or inspiration, it's almost impossible for two designs like yours and 'Phantom' to be so similar unless it was plagiarism."

Besse pursed her lips together tightly; deep down inside she knew that Queen Carol wasn't entirely wrong either because after all these years working within design circles herself - such coincidences were rare without plagiarism being involved somewhere along the line!

But no matter what anyone said she hadn't plagiarized anything! It would have been foolish for anyone who knows anything about design principles or ethics - let alone someone like herself who has worked hard building their reputation over time -to do something so stupid!

"She didn't say outrightly accuse me of plagiarism though," added Doyle quickly noticing how upset his girlfriend had become: "She just suggested maybe subconsciously seeing 'Phantom' before could have influenced your work without realizing it."