Three years of loving him, three days to erase myself from his world novel Chapter 126

"..."

The barrage of high praise left Seraphina, who had been fully prepped to tear the work apart, completely speechless. Her face burned hot with embarrassment.

Clara offered a modest, composed smile.

"Seraphina drafted the original concept, but due to time constraints, I personally handled the revisions and detailed line work. I'm well aware of my own limitations, Ms. Shaw. Your praise is entirely too generous."

Phoebe looked genuinely shocked. "You revised this? My goodness, Clara, I had no idea you possessed such incredible design talent!"

Clara smiled, just about to reply.

But Seraphina simply couldn't stomach it another second. She cut in sharply.

"Ms. Shaw, you're mistaken! Manager Vance didn't draw this—she hired a ghostwriter to do the revisions for her!"

Dead silence fell over the pavilion.

Clara's expression instantly turned freezing cold as she locked eyes with Seraphina.

Phoebe's brow furrowed. Her refined features darkened with a terrifying intensity. Anyone who knew her understood this was the calm before the storm.

After about three agonizing seconds, she tossed the design drafts onto the table and leaned back in her chair, her voice turning to ice.

"Excuse me? What did you just say? Clara hired another designer to do this?"

Before Clara could even defend herself, Seraphina doubled down with absolute certainty.

"Yes. Manager Vance absolutely hired someone else to fix this."

"She has zero formal training and knows nothing about design. How could she possibly execute revisions of this caliber?"

"Besides, if she actually had any talent, you would have known about it, Ms. Shaw. You've been working with her for a long time, haven't you?"

Her logic sounded flawlessly airtight.

Phoebe's face grew even colder as she turned her piercing gaze to Clara, demanding an explanation.

Clara's conscience was perfectly clear. Hearing those ridiculous accusations only made her want to laugh.

"Ms. Shaw, we've collaborated for over a year now. You know my work ethic and my integrity."

"I was the one who revised this draft. If you have any doubts, I am more than happy to sit here and re-draw the revisions right in front of you."

Phoebe and Seraphina both snapped their heads in his direction.

Caught completely off guard, Seraphina's mind went blank.

Phoebe glared at her. "Well? Have you lost your voice?"

Seraphina's face crumbled. The man's overwhelming aura was suffocating, stripping away any courage she had to talk back. Finally, she stuttered out a pathetic, "I... I don't know..."

Phoebe scoffed coldly. "You don't know? You have no proof, yet you sit here and hurl accusations at Clara with such absolute certainty? Do you have any idea that if this escalated, Clara would have every right to sue you for slander?"

Panicked by the brutal reprimand, Seraphina floundered. She was young, and the mere mention of legal trouble terrified her.

Biting her lip, seeing she was losing the battle, she immediately tried to deflect the blame.

"I'm sorry, I was just repeating what I heard from people around the office..."

Clara frowned, her lips parting to speak.

"Who exactly did you hear it from?" Dominic demanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. He stepped up into the pavilion and casually took an empty seat. He sat with his long legs slightly apart, one arm resting over the back of the chair—the absolute picture of an apex predator in control.

His gaze locked onto Seraphina like a hawk eyeing its prey.