She raised her head and gave a start.
“M-Mr. Russell.”
He was baffled upon finding her working on some insignificant documents.
Isn’t she also a designer? I’ve seen her work – it’s pretty good. Why is she doing admin work here?
“Show me the latest design for the food packaging project.”
Josie froze for a moment before returning to her senses. “Sure. I’ll get it now.”
With that, she recalled that Samantha had stolen her designs, and she hadn’t cleared her name yet.
Hence, she said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Russell. I’m not in charge of that project. If you want to look at the designs, you’ll have to ask Ms. Robson.”
A flicker of doubt flitted across Dexter’s eyes.
“You’re not a part of it?”
“Nope,” she replied, sitting down. “Ms. Robson is leading the project. It’s best if you talk to her about it if there are any problems.”
Knowing that Dexter wanted to check on the design department, Samantha went to him. “Mr. Russell, the designs are in my office. You can take a look there.”
Dexter initially intended to walk around after lunch to see what Josie was busy with. He asked that question because he previously saw her taking the project’s lead.
Since he brought the subject up, he couldn’t abandon it halfway.
When they arrived at Samantha’s office, she showed him the designs immediately.
“Mr. Russell, this is the confirmed design. Our clients are happy with the results.”
Initially, Dexter was not interested, but his gaze dimmed after seeing the screen’s design.
Only Samantha’s name was shown in the bottom left corner.
Recalling Josie’s upset expression, he suddenly understood something.
“Did you design this?” he asked.
Samantha replied with a straight face, “Yes, Mr. Russell.”
He smiled. “Elaborate more on your idea.”
Samantha was momentarily stunned, but she quickly replied, “My idea came from the project itself. I accumulated the upsides of the product and used bolder colors…”
All the years she had dabbled in design were not wasted; at the very least, she still had some skills and techniques.
After she finished explaining, she looked at him earnestly.
“But these are just my two cents. Do let me know if you see any room for improvement.”
He raised his head and looked at her.
“This idea is quite creative but doesn’t have any substance; it’s very surface level.”
Samantha froze.
“Ms. Robson, are you sure you came up with this idea alone?”
Samantha didn’t understand his implied meaning. “Yes. Mr. Russell. I did it myself.”
Unexpectedly, he said, “Is that so? It’s a coincidence that I’ve seen the same design from two different people.”
Samantha was incredulous to hear that.
She looked at him with her mouth agape, at a loss for words.
“Ms. Robson, would you like to explain what is happening?”
“M-Mr. Russell, t-this is my design,” she said, clenching her clothes tightly.
I can’t tell him the truth, or I’ll be ruined.
“I’m not sure where you saw the other copy. If that’s the case, someone must have stolen my work. I have the right to report plagiarism.”
