Never Too Far Novel

Chapter 391

Felicia had just come out of the washroom when she heard the noise. At that, she asked with a frown, “Who are you guys?”

“I’m George Walden, the director of Savill Jewelry Atelier. We suspect your employee has stolen one of our designer’s work, and we have the right to pursue legal liability,” the guy said confidently as though it did happen, and it was even dire.

No doubt they were merely causing a ruckus since something like this was normal between rival companies. At that, Felicia sneered and asked, “Where’s your proof? Don’t slander our employees for no reason, or we’ll sue you for defamation.”

“We definitely have proof, or why do you think we’d dare come to you? You have a designer named Anastasia Tillman, working under your company, don’t you? She has submitted a sketch for next year’s spring jewelry show, hasn’t she? In reality, she stole my employee’s masterpiece and claimed it as her own. We have the right to pursue her legal liability, so if you’ll please have her come out.”

Felicia couldn’t help feeling shocked at that. Who knew that Anastasia would be caught up in a plagiarism scandal? How could this be, though?

“She’s on leave right now. I can deal with this.”

“Oh, we’re not just holding her accountable. We’re also suing Bourgeois for mismanagement,” George announced arrogantly.

Clearly, they weren’t going to quit until they heard the end of it.

“Alright, I’ll contact my designer and have her come forward to clarify the incident.” With that, Felicia went into her office and called Anastasia.

Anastasia happened to be at Tillman Constructions right then. The reports she was reading were giving her a headache, and she eased immediately upon hearing the ringtone. “Hey, Felicia.”

“A director of another jewelry atelier has come to us saying that you allegedly plagiarized their employee’s work, Anastasia. Are you free to come and deal with this?”

“What? Plagiarize? Me?” The news baffled Anastasia as there was no way she would ever do something like that!

“Yeah, they’re even claiming that the piece you stole is the one you submitted to the jewelry show.”

“Impossible! That’s my own design and my own inspiration.” Anastasia retorted.

“I believe you too. However, those guys won’t leave until you come and verify it yourself. Can you rush over?”

“Sure, I’ll be there in a second.”

With that, Anastasia dashed to Bourgeois.

Back at Bourgeois, gossipers began crowding together. Alice was among them as she listened to their whispers about the incident. More than that, it delighted her when most of them were evidently mocking Anastasia.

“Goodness! They’ve even paid to be on the trending page.”

At that, someone read out the headline, saying, “Designer of a famous jewelry atelier shamelessly steals other’s work after running out of ideas. Evidence to prove.”

“Designer, Anastasia Tillman, of Bourgeois by QR is guilty of plagiarizing.”

Alice smiled as she listened to all that. Looks like Savill really wants to make a big deal out of this! Will Anastasia still have the nerve to stay in this industry?

At this point, Felicia ushered the people from Savill to wait in the conference room. After coming out, she deliberated whether to call Elliot, but in the end, she decided to wait until Anastasia had arrived before doing so.

After all, it was an inglorious issue for Anastasia.

As she dashed toward the lobby, the receptionists all shot her nasty looks. Clearly, everyone at Bourgeois had heard about her incident.

When Anastasia showed up in the office, the gossip stopped immediately, leaving only a mocking gaze staring at her.

“Here, Anastasia,” Felicia called out to her.

At that, Anastasia went into Felicia’s office. As soon as the door closed, Felicia looked at her gravely. “Anastasia, they’re making a big deal out of this. They are clearly planning to ruin Bourgeois’ reputation.”

Of course, Anastasia could understand Felicia’s worries. At that, she raised her hand and swore, “I swear that I’ve never stolen anyone’s work.”

“Alright, I trust you. Also, I haven’t told President Presgrave about this yet. You decide whether to inform him.”

“I want to meet these guys first.” An exasperated Anastasia wanted to set the record straight. How dare they accuse her of plagiarizing for no apparent reason.

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“Take it easy. I have a feeling they’ve come prepared, so we’d better not fall into their trap.” Felicia patted Anastasia’s shoulder.

After entering the conference room, Anastasia looked toward the five people sitting there. There were two lawyers, two Savill staff, and the director.

“Are you Anastasia Tillman, the person who stole my designer’s work?” George sneered as soon as he saw Anastasia.

At that, Anastasia stared coldly at him. “On what basis do you say that?”

“We have proof, of course. In fact, you replicated nearly the whole of my designer’s piece and submitted it to the show.”

“I know well if I’ve done so.” Anastasia continued to stare coldly at George, not intimidated at all.

Just then, one of them took out an iPad and opened the sketch before handing it to Anastasia. “Miss Tillman, why don’t you take a look at these two pieces first? One of them is our designer’s drawing and the other one is yours. They’re practically identical.”

Anastasia took the iPad with a frown and couldn’t help being stupefied upon seeing the sketches. They were indeed identical with only differences in a few details.

“This is my work. You guys stole it!” Anastasia retorted as she put the iPad down.

“We get that you’re not talented enough, Miss Tillman, and that you want to establish your reputation as a designer by plagiarizing my designer’s work,” George said with utter sympathy.

At that, Felicia stood up for Anastasia. “That’s where you’re wrong. Miss Tillman is our most talented designer, and she will never steal somebody’s work.”

“Naturally, we would gather all the evidence before coming to look for you. Firstly, this piece is from our chief designer, Jacqueline Sherman. Secondly, she released it earlier than you did. What’s more, the finished product was placed in our company’s display case last month. However, Miss Tillman submitted her sketch on the twelfth of this month. According to the timeline, she could’ve plagiarized the piece.”

“Impossible!” Anastasia held her breath, shocked that Savill had moved so quickly.

Felicia’s face turned slightly grim as well. She remembered that Anastasia had keyed her piece into the company’s system on the second of this month and submitted the sketch to the show a week ago. Hence, the timing was very unfavorable for Anastasia.

Nonetheless, she still trusted that Anastasia wouldn’t do something like this.

“Miss Tillman, Savill will not tolerate such behavior. You have two options—take down your piece, apologize to Savill publicly on behalf of Bourgeois, and compensate for our loss. Otherwise, we will pursue your legal liability for plagiarizing our work and demand compensation. Of course, you’d still have to apologize to us.”

George pressed on, and he even concluded that Anastasia was the thief.

At that, Felicia said, “We need to dig into this before giving you an answer. Why don’t you guys head back first?”

“Alright, seeing that we’re fellow traders, I’ll give you until 3.00PM tomorrow.” George added disdainfully, “How unfortunate for something like this to happen within the jewelry design industry.”

Anastasia was still baffled when the door closed behind her. How did Savill manage to display her work in advance?!

She was certain that was her design, for she had sketched it out with her own hands. In fact, that piece came to her when she sat alone until late at night under the starry sky.

How did she become the plagiarist?!

The true thief was Jacqueline!

Anastasia heard people gossiping about her the entire way back to her office. Some who long had a problem with her couldn’t care less about offending her anymore.

“I thought she really was capable, but it turns out she got to her position by stealing other people’s work.”

“Well, isn’t that the truth? Thanks to her, our company’s reputation will be ruined.”

“I swear, one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel.”

Meanwhile, Alice entered Anastasia’s office with a cup of coffee, gloating. “I thought you were something! Who knew that you only rose to fame with such shortcuts?!”

Chapter 393

Anastasia remained silent in her seat.

“I think it’s best if you don’t ask President Presgrave to save you, for it’ll only make things worse. You’d better quickly apologize and compensate Savill to save our company from further losses,” Alice reminded her.

Of course, she didn’t want Elliot to be involved in this. Though she was confident that they wouldn’t have anything on her, she didn’t want to be panicky either.

“Why should I apologize when I never plagiarized in the first place? The one who should be apologizing is Savill.” Anastasia looked up and stared coldly at Alice.

Alice hit the roof at that. “Are you going to keep acting stubborn, Anastasia? You’ve already become a joke in the jewelry design industry. Are you only going to apologize after you’ve ruined all of Bourgeois’ reputation? I will not let you destroy the company’s future!”

Anastasia’s only option was to apologize.

Anastasia stood up in response and said firmly, “I will not apologize before I get to the bottom of this.”

Alice couldn’t help choking and snapped, “Just because President Presgrave likes you doesn’t mean you can act lawlessly, you know. It’s already embarrassing that you’ve plagiarized. Are you going to make a bigger deal out of this?!”

“I didn’t plagiarize, so I won’t apologize.” One could tell from Anastasia’s beautiful face that she wasn’t about to compromise.

Alice was taken aback, for she had never seen someone as stubborn as Anastasia.

At that, she glared at Anastasia and uttered, “Well, I can’t wait to see what your fate will be!”

Meanwhile, Felicia pondered over something as she stood in her office. Savill was coming at Anastasia with full force, putting her at a disadvantage. With that, she decided to give Elliot a call.

“Hello?” Elliot’s voice came from the other end of the line.

“President, there’s something you need to know.”

After hearing the whole story from Felicia, he asked concerningly, “What did she say?”

“Anastasia is sure that she didn’t plagiarize.”

“Alright, I’ll come over now.” With that, Elliot ended the call.

Bourgeois was still in the process of moving; since Elliot was at the Presgrave Group, he needed some time to get there.

Meanwhile, Grace brought a cup of tea for Anastasia while she sat in her office. “Anastasia, I believe you didn’t plagiarize. No matter what everyone else says, I believe you,” said Grace as she comforted her, feeling bad for the woman.

“Thanks, Grace.” Anastasia was grateful to have an assistant like Grace.

After Grace left, Anastasia propped her forehead, trying to figure out how the whole thing came to be.

She had finished her first draft on the tenth of last month, and Savill had already put the piece on their display by the end of last month. In other words, they had about twenty days in between amending and coming up with the finished product. If their workshop worked overtime on this piece of jewelry, it was indeed possible for them to launch it in about a fortnight at best.

However, the sketch had always been with her, so who could’ve handed it to Savill?

already happened when she came up with the

longer have a place in the industry if they were

Anastasia determined that someone had stolen her sketch

and she needed more time to find out exactly who

her to answer by 3.00PM the next day. They clearly didn’t want to give her time to

they were also being ruthless, dragging

companies in the market and also garnered a high approval rate. Hence, no doubt fellow traders would

for her first draft when she heard someone pushing the door

Elliot had come!

your situation.” Elliot propped his hand on the desk and

Chapter 394

desk and said, “This

the company assessed were based on when the piece

believe you.” Elliot looked at her with

and she smiled wryly. “Do you really have that

suppose to believe when I don’t even believe in

her a little stump, and she evaded his gaze. Nonetheless, his

want to get to the bottom of this and see who leaked my

sketches, but now, Savill claimed it as their own and even slandered her for

face turned grim. That person probably had a death wish

looked up, he continued, “Also, Savill will have to pay a

at a loss for

a feeling Savill would

to check the office’s surveillance footage

sending the footage of said time to her laptop. With that, Elliot and Felicia kept her

her office. She hadn’t expected Elliot

What was more, he had a bunch of formidable lawyers. Even if Anastasia was sued, his lawyers

put up with it. Right then, she sat in front of her laptop while she looked through the footage. She swore that she

the screen with her brows locked into a deep furrow, non-blinking. “Do you have any enemies in the office?

her. However, she couldn’t rule out the possibility of someone using her sketch to make money, or that Savill

watching the footage.” Anastasia watched the surveillance footage frame by frame,

Evans? I’ll keep her company.” Elliot pulled a chair over and sat next to Anastasia. He decidedly ignored the important work in Presgrave Group,

to work too! I can handle this myself.” Anastasia didn’t want to take up

After all, nothing was

pick Jared up, she turned to Elliot. “I might have to stay and watch the footage

I’ll call him.” With that, Elliot

and more than that, he was among the only

hanging up, Elliot stayed by Anastasia’s side with peace of mind, watching the surveillance footage with her. Meanwhile, Anastasia had been recording the

to falsely accuse the innocent, nor would she spare the

by the following afternoon, she had to look through all the footage and find the culprit

little pick-me-up. After taking a few sips of the coffee,

Chapter 395

want me to help you out?” Elliot

She had

that case, you should

but she wasn’t in the mood to take

wear your eyes out.” Elliot’s heart broke as he

her eyes and take a break. While she rubbed her temples, she suddenly felt a big, warm palm massaging

to find Elliot massaging Anastasia’s neck, causing her

had clearly underestimated Anastasia and Elliot’s relationship. More than that,

unlocked her phone and grew nervous upon seeing the five hundred thousand transferred

short break. Meanwhile, Elliot took a sip from her coffee and suddenly thought of something. With that, he took

progress, but it didn’t mean he

on the laptop screen. However, her brows suddenly locked into a deep furrow upon seeing someone coming

less than two minutes before coming

expression. Then, she saved this portion of the footage before

her this whole time either. He finally grabbed her hand when he saw that her eyes were bloodshot and that she was

first, and you can continue your search

stressed out since she was being accused of

to even if you don’t want to. If you’re worried that Savill won’t let you off the hook, then there’s no reason for you to fear at all. At worst, I’ll acquire them tomorrow, and your problem will

restaurant across here,” Anastasia said, brushing her

office hand in hand, Elliot had his bodyguards come up and guard the

investigate, she stayed as well. Right then, she was texting Jacqueline and

win the lawsuit,

is

assured, for she didn’t mention one important fact to Jacqueline—Anastasia’s relationship with Elliot. Savill only knew that Anastasia was one of Bourgeois’ designers. What they didn’t know was that she was

Alice had a creeping sense of panic that Savill

leave the country. When she came out, she snuck a peek at the

despite

food on her plate, which she ate before saying with integrity, “I can support

independent women were the

bowl of bird’s nest soup

force-fed by this man. However, she still did

to find a text from Rey. ‘President, I discovered that half a million was transferred to Alice Thompson’s account at 2.00PM

to that, he replied, ‘Keep an

Chapter 396

was done drinking the bird’s nest soup, Anastasia grabbed her bag and said to Elliot, “I’ll

anyway. With that, they paid the bill and headed back to Bourgeois. When they arrived back in the office, those who were working overtime had all gone home by

Meanwhile, she removed her jacket, finding it a bother. The khaki-colored

he sat across from her and

underneath her thick, long lashes as clear as crystals, and her delicate facial features made her palm-sized face

more infatuated with

matches

preferences, and she was

look away from her laptop only to find a certain someone staring

how long he had been watching her like that. Underneath the lights, his eyes were like vortexes that sucked her in, and his pursed lips were

his lips and smiled.

really.” Anastasia leaned back and raised

find the culprit?” He asked out

However, since he had suggested it, she agreed jokingly and said,

“That’s a yes?”

you a reward if you can find this culprit.” I’ve watched the surveillance footage for hours, and I still haven’t gotten anything. As if you’d be able to find

a deal.” With that, he closed her laptop. “Don’t look anymore. I’ve already found

Anastasia stumped.

you know tomorrow. Now, let’s go home!” It pained Elliot to see her so

who it is!” Anastasia

her anyway. With that, he explained, “I’ve asked Rey to retrieve all of Bourgeois’ employees’

She thought Alice had been acting

figured it was her.” Anastasia slapped her desk in anger. “That

from Elliot’s cold gaze as he swore, “I’ll make them pay for what

of the surveillance footage at this point, certain that the clip she saved could prove that Alice had been into

they came out of Bourgeois. Just then, a gust of cold wind blew past, leading Anastasia to hug herself

pulled her into his arms and wrapped her up in his

his pleasant

she gave up on picking

for some tea?” Elliot’s true intentions

as she looked at

going to drink some tea. I won’t do

you not realize you

at her. “You heartless woman. Go on,

Just then, what Alice

a taxi, entering hurriedly with her suitcase. Meanwhile, one of Elliot’s bodyguards received a call as he sat inside a black sedan not far from

Chapter 397

the country anyway.” Rey’s voice came from the other end of the

so there was no way would she be able to get through airport

She had prepared to hide abroad with the five hundred thousand until all of this

trouble, for

only to find them glancing at her. With that, she asked

customs officer returned her documents and announced, “I’m sorry, miss, but you’ve been banned from leaving

face upon hearing their words.

the reason, I’m pretty sure you know it well!” The customs

genuinely freaking out now, but all she could do was leave the airport with her luggage. Am I still not able to escape when I’ve already moved

got to public security through her friends and asked if she had committed some sort of crime. However, she

like the day before, her colleagues

you find anything?”

into her bank account. I also have a clip

sighed in response. “She’s

3.00PM, but what came was even bigger news. Savill had been sued for bribing

trending pages the day before were all about Savill prosecuting Bourgeois, but it was the other way

was commercial

and she fell silent for a few seconds after answering it.

at how Elliot moved so quickly, for he

all night to deal with this? Anastasia

news came. Savill’s stock market crashed and even hit the limit at one point, causing it to be on the verge of bankruptcy. In other words, its several-billion worth of

their one mistake to cost them everything after taking legal action against a designer, and for that, they pissed off the

CEO even held a press conference himself to apologize to Anastasia, admitting

heard the compensation amount, they all turned into green-eyed monsters. Not only had Anastasia recovered her reputation, but she would also be getting 1.8 million

was different having Elliot’s

was happy to get a whopping amount for nothing, but she also

it seriously polluted the industry’s

Anastasia took a trip to the pantry later on, everyone fawned on her

all know you

would Anastasia need to steal their work when

Chapter 398

just jealous of

Alice had it coming, and Savill brought their ending upon themselves. Though Elliot’s move left them

returned to her

tonight.” Elliot’s voice came from

treat.” Anastasia had to give him proper

she’d be leaving the jewelry-making industry and returning to help her father’s business, he had retained her reputation for her. This would retain her footing

I’ll be

the reservation.” She didn’t

a special