Chapter 442
After listening to Leanne’s explanation, Milena froze, thinking, ‘So that’s what the design is all about. Wearing this outfit, one can really feel the vibe of spring.
‘That’s seriously impressive. How did Cameron even come up with this? Didn’t expect she had some real talents. But wait…
“Ms. Starling, did you just say this design broke your brand’s spring sales record?” Milena asked, feeling something was off.
She wondered, ‘This is still in the submission phase. How could the actual product already be out? Is that so fast?”
Leanne nodded. “That’s right.”
Milena smiled, “That’s pretty impressive.”
Leanne huffed, “Of course it is. You think Eric is famous for nothing?”
Milena was confused. She mused, ‘Eric? Who’s she talking about?‘
Leanne said coldly, “Ms. Wallace, everyone here is disgusted by what you’ve done.”
2
Leanne turned to William. “Sir, I hope you’ll make a school–wide announcement about Milena’s actions. She’ll be blacklisted by the entire design industry. No one will ever accept her again.”
William replied, “Don’t worry, Ms. Starling. Langford Academy doesn’t tolerate students like this. I’ll make sure the whole school knows, and she’s expelled for good. We will never take her back.”
Milena’s heart dropped. “What do you mean? Expel me? Why would you expel me? These are my designs.”
Leanne shot back, “Your designs? Milena, do you even hear yourself? They are from Mr. Eric Saunders‘ spring collection. He’s the founder of Noir Éclat. Are you saying he copied you? That’s ridiculous.”
Milena widened her eyes.
Leanne’s words were a bombshell, and Milena was completely stunned.
But Milena quickly snapped out of it, thinking, ‘So Leanne thinks the designs belong to Eric? She’s so mad because she thinks I copied his works. That’s why William wants to expel me.
‘No, it’s not me. The designs aren’t even mine. They’re Cameron’s. So Cameron is the one who copied Eric’s works. That means Cameron should be the one getting expelled and having her reputation ruined.‘
Thinking of this, Milena couldn’t help but smile. She thought Cameron really dug her own grave this time.
Milena smiled and said, “Ms. Starling, please calm down, I really didn’t copy Mr. Eric Saunders‘ works. Someone else did that.”
Leanne frowned. “Someone else? What do you mean?
Milena smiled and said, “Ms. Starling, I’ve made it pretty clear. I didn’t draw the designs. They’re someone else’s works, and I just submitted them for that person.”
Leanne shot back, “You submitted the designs for someone else? Didn’t you just say you drew the drafts yourself?”
Milena muttered inwardly, ‘That was a while ago, but it’s different now. If I don’t throw Cameron under the bus, I’ll have to take the blame. No way that’s happening!’
William frowned and asked, “What’s really going on here?”
1/4
09:59 Wed 4 Jun
Chapter 442
Milena said, “Ms. Starling, Mr. Drake, my brother drew the designs. He asked me to submit them for him, so this has nothing to do with me if you want to hold someone accountable, ask him. It’d be so unfair to punish me.”
William asked, “Your brother? Who is he?”
Milena replied, “Cameronass 15, Senior Year.”
William thought in shock, ‘Cameron? Did Thear that right? How could it possibly be Cameron?‘
William was stunned. “Who did you just say? Say it again.”
Milena repeated, “Cameron from Class 15, Senior Year.”
William shook his head. “No way.”
He wondered, Cameron plagiarized? Why would Cameron ever do that? For the 300–thousand–dollar prize? Is she kidding?
‘I promised her 3 million dollars and a house worth millions if she became the top scorer in the SATS. Would Cameron even care about a 300–thousand- dollar prize?
‘Besides, after Cameron won the basketball game, I already gave her 300 thousand dollars. Cameron has such a bright future. Why would he throw it all away?
‘That guy is obviously smart. There’s no way he’d do something so foolish.‘
“Sir, I’m telling the truth. I really helped my brother submit his works, so this has nothing to do with me. You can’t punish me for it.”
Milena hadn’t expected William not to believe her. She wondered, ‘Are Cameron and William close or something?‘
William’s face darkened. “Just because you say so? You’re a high schooler now. If you claim it was Cameron, then show us the proof.”
Milena didn’t expect William to ask her to show the proof.
Milena’s eyes darted around. “Sure, I have proof.”
She still had the chat logs with Xander. She kept the messages when Xander sent her Cameron’s design sketches.
William asked, “What kind of proof?”
“Hold on a sec.” Milena pulled out her phone and started searching through her chats.
Leanne sat quietly to the side, just watching. She also didn’t expect this twist.
Milena quickly found the chat logs and said, “Sir, Ms. Starling, these are the messages from Xander, and these are the design sketches my brother drew,”
William took the phone.
Sure enough, from the chat history between Xander and Milena, it was clear that the designs were really drawn by Cameron.
William wondered, ‘Cameron? How could that kid be involved in this? There must be some kind of misunderstanding.’
“You mean this guy?” Leanne asked, pointing at the incomplete figure of the man in the photo.
Milena nodded. “That’s him.”
Leanne asked, “Did he ask you to submit the designs?”
Milena nodded, “Yes.”
09:59 Wed 4 Jun.
Chapter 442
“Mr. Drake…” Leanne turned to William.
“Wait a second,” William cut her off, already guessing what she was about to say. “Something’s not right here. I’ll get the other two guys here, so we c clear this up face to face.”
In his heart, William silently prayed, ‘Kid, please don’t throw your future away over this!
Leanne nodded. “Alright.”
“No,” Milena shouted, her voice trembling with panic.
Just a second ago, she’d been feeling pretty smug. After all, Cameron was about to get into some serious trouble.
But then, she heard William say he was going to call Cameron and Xander here to clear things up.
Milena panicked, thinking, ‘No way. Absolutely no way. If Cameron and Xander both showed up, wouldn’t the whole thing get totally exposed? Xander is my last hope.’
“Huh?” William frowned. “If you’re afraid to face them, does that mean you’re lying? Are you trying to frame Cameron on purpose?”
Milena wondered, ‘What’s up with William? Why is he so obviously siding with Cameron?‘
Leanne chimed in, “Milena, how much of what you said is actually true, and how much is made up?”
Milena’s mind was spinning, scrambling for a way out.
“Mr. Drake, this has nothing to do with Xander. Just get Cameron here,” Milena said.
“How could it have nothing to do with him? Wasn’t he the one who took the photo of the design drafts?” William said.
Milena bit down hard on her lip. Right now, she only had two ways out.
First, she could admit she copied Eric’s works. That stain would follow her for life, and she’d be expelled from school.
Second, she refused to admit it and kept blaming Cameron. But if Cameron and Xander came to confront her, Xander would find out she was pretending to be Cameron, and she’d never get anything out of him again.
She was torn about what she should do, but it wasn’t even her turn to choose.
William called both Cameron’s and Xander’s teachers and asked them to bring the two students to his office right away.
Milena’s face went as white as a sheet. She thought, ‘Forget it. If Xander finds out the truth, be it. If Cameron gets expelled, that’s not a loss for me. Maybe I’ll meet someone even better than Xander.‘
With that thought, Milena felt a lot better.
Cameron arrived at William’s office ahead of Xander. She knocked on the door and walked in. “Mr. Drake, you wanted to see me?”
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: She's the Campus Prince