Read My Mind, Pay the Price

Caleb pointed right at my nose. "Do you think everyone is as filthy as you are?"

I snorted. "It's pretty impressive of you to date someone that disgusting for three years."

"Clara Gardner!"

The audience caught on and immediately erupted into murmurs. "Hold on, she's right. If she were that kind of person, how could Mr. Fairchild have dated her for three years without noticing? There must be some kind of misunderstanding."

"Yeah. Clara has a point. Perhaps she and her sister hired the same ghost designer. That would explain why their designs overlapped."

As doubts spread, I curled my lips into a faint smile.

Sophie's brows drew together almost imperceptibly before she plastered a gentle smile on my face and took my hand. "Clara, if you're indignant, why don't we compete in front of everyone? I don't want your reputation ruined. I'd feel terrible if that happened."

My father and stepmother both sighed. "After everything your sister's done to you, you're still indulging her. You're just too kind for your own good, Sophie."

Just then, my gaze landed on Caleb's grandmother, Olivia White, whose eyes were full of disappointment, and I made up my mind. "Alright. Let's do three rounds. I'll let you choose the themes, and I'll choose how we compete. How does that sound?"

In this life, no matter what, I was determined to get to the bottom of this.

"That sounds fair, Clara. Let's go with family, friendship, and love."

I snorted. "Alright. First round, family. We'll each use a computer and design in real time."

"Sure. That's fine with me."

In no time, two computers were brought onto the stage, and we sat facing each other. I closed my eyes, visualized my design, and got to work immediately.

I was confident that even if someone was spying on my screen for her, she could only copy what I'd already drawn. She would lag behind me, and her lie would unravel.

Half an hour later, I was halfway done when Sophie rose from her seat with a smile. "I'm done, judges."

My heart sank when her design appeared on the massive screen. It was exactly what I was drawing.

I wasn't even done yet, and she had already completed it. How was that even possible?

"Let me explain the concept behind my design. It features a diamond set inside a soft platinum arc. It is based on a story between my mother and me.

"My mother had a difficult labor when she gave birth to me. The doctor said I refused to come out. My dad’s never been one with words—he joked I was a stubborn little stone to get out. But Mom said I’d grow up to be a diamond, just as tough and unyielding."

Her words stole the air from my lungs. That was my story with my mother. How could she possibly know it?

Having said her piece, she shot me a triumphant look, as if to say, "So what if I plagiarized your work? What can you do about it?"

Just then, my unfinished design was projected onto the screen, and laughter immediately rippled through the audience.

"Damn. Didn't she say she didn't copy her sister's work? Her design is the same as hers, and she hasn't even finished it. Now, this is embarrassing!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Olivia sigh in disappointment.

Ever since my mother passed away, I had never felt the warmth of a family again.

Olivia had treated me like her own granddaughter. To make sure Caleb treated me right, she told me that after I married Caleb, she would transfer all her shares to me, so he'd be working for me, not the other way around. Yet, even she had started to lose faith in me.

There was no way this was happening. My mind raced. Perhaps my father had told Sophie that story.

However, even if she knew the backstory, there was no way she could design the exact same piece as mine. Hence, I decided to test her again. "Fine. I'll count this round as my loss. Let's move on to friendship. This time, we hand-draw it on paper!"

Before, she finished the design before I even did. Perhaps she had used some kind of AI or data modeling to predict my unfinished design. This time, with pen and paper, there was no way she could replicate it perfectly again.