Free Web NovelChapter 80: Chapter 80: Forcing Noelle Lockwood to Apologize
As she spoke, Rose Lowell seemed to grow more confident.
"Our Noelle wants for nothing. With the Lockwood family backing her, she has no need to use a perfume to make money or boost her fame. It’s impossible that she would go to such lengths to plagiarize someone else’s work!"
"Yara Lockwood, on the other hand..." Rose Lowell said with contempt.
"Her parentage is unknown. She’s an orphan. Someone like her is the one who desperately needs a successful work to solidify her position."
"Nathaniel, think about it. Noelle got into perfumery purely because she loves it. Yara, however, did it for fame and money. Between the two of them, who is more likely to plagiarize?"
Rose Lowell spoke with such conviction that the room fell silent for a moment.
Austin Lockwood and Noelle Lockwood said nothing, but it was clear they thought the same.
Estelle Lockwood, however, let out a cold laugh.
’Rose Lowell had used the exact same argument back then... She really hasn’t changed one bit!’
She had said, "Noelle has us to protect her. Perfumery is just a hobby for her. She got into it for fun, so how could she possibly plagiarize? You, on the other hand, are so desperate for our approval, so driven by personal gain. It must have been you who plagiarized her!"
Something seemed to cross Nathaniel Sloan’s mind, and his eyes suddenly turned icy.
But before he could speak, Henry Kendrick cut him off.
"So, Ms. Lowell, you determine whether someone has plagiarized based on their family background? According to your logic, Noelle Lockwood is the precious daughter of the Lockwood family, she has money and fame, so she has no need to plagiarize. In that case, are you saying that the chief designer of Star Group, the apple of the Kendrick family’s eye, *would* plagiarize?"
Henry Kendrick sneered. ’Rose Lowell’s bias is completely shameless! To think she could spout such twisted logic.’
"By your reasoning, Ms. Lowell, the Lockwoods are rich, and rich people never do anything wrong. Meanwhile, Yara is an ’orphan,’ so she’d do anything for money and glory."
Hearing this, some people in the crowd began to frown, their gazes toward Austin Lockwood and Rose Lowell filled with displeasure.
The Lockwood family wasn’t even a major player in Crestfall, and besides, this line of reasoning was utterly preposterous.
Since when was a person’s wealth the standard for judging their character?
Noelle Lockwood, the famous star with a sterling reputation, now looked completely hypocritical.
Henry Kendrick gritted his teeth, fiercely venting the frustration that both Yara and the Estelle of the past must have felt:
"What is your Lockwood family compared to my Kendrick family? In terms of wealth, the Kendricks are a hundred, a thousand times richer than you! In terms of reputation, the Kendrick family is a century-old prestigious family!"
"Following your logic, Ms. Lowell, our Yara has both wealth and power, so how could she possibly plagiarize? Noelle Lockwood is inferior to Yara in every way, so she must be the one who plagiarized!"
"Oh, and one more thing."
Henry then delivered the knockout blow. "While it’s true Yara isn’t a Kendrick by blood—she’s the family’s adopted daughter—don’t forget that Noelle Lockwood is just the Lockwoods’ fake daughter!"
Didn’t the Lockwoods look down on Estelle? Didn’t they despise her for being a country bumpkin? Well, Henry Kendrick was going to use their own logic against them!
A dead silence fell over the entire venue.
Rose Lowell was so furious she looked about to faint. "Nonsense! You—you’re spouting utter nonsense! Even if—even if the Kendrick family is more powerful than ours, you can’t just bully people like this!"
"How is this bullying? Isn’t this just your own logic, Ms. Lowell?"
After speaking, Henry Kendrick gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "Of course, our Yara prefers to convince people with reason. She didn’t plagiarize, and that’s that. We’re not going to stoop to your level of baseless, irrational attacks, Ms. Lowell. We have proof."
Then, a video began to play on the stage.
Outside the perfume department of Evernight International, Noelle Lockwood and her manager were talking.
After a moment, the manager made sure no one was around, then furtively slipped into the perfume R&D lab. She came out with a small sample vial and handed it to Noelle Lockwood.
After that, the story of Noelle Lockwood’s fans cornering Yara Lockwood in an attempted murder also hit the trending topics.
The entire venue erupted.
At this point, everything was crystal clear.
The plagiarist was Noelle Lockwood. The perfume had been stolen from Evernight International!
She had stolen Yara Lockwood’s perfume, claimed it as her own, and then had the audacity to turn around and slander Yara, trying to frame her for plagiarism.
How could this woman be so vicious?!!
By now, the number of viewers watching the livestream had hit a new peak. Aside from Noelle Lockwood’s fans, everyone else was expressing their disgust.
[So she orchestrated this whole drama herself! The plagiarist calls black white while the original creator suffers. Noelle Lockwood is really something else!]
[How can she be so disgusting! And she had the nerve to talk all high and mighty about ’staying true to your original passion’ and ’always despising plagiarists’... she even hypocritically told Yara Lockwood to turn over a new leaf. Who the hell does she think she is?!]
[She’s completely two-faced! She acts all gentle and harmless, but in reality, every single word she said and everything she did was meant to push Yara Lockwood into a corner with no way out!]
[She basically wants Yara Lockwood to die, doesn’t she? How else would her fans have known where to find Yara’s car and corner her in the parking garage?] freēwebnovel.com
[After all, if Yara Lockwood died, no one would ever be able to expose her as a filthy plagiarist!]
[Can’t call her a plagiarist anymore. She’s a murderer!]
"AHHH!! NO, IT’S NOT TRUE!!!" Rose Lowell shrieked, her eyes squeezed shut. "AHHH!! SHUT UP!! NOELLE DIDN’T PLAGIARIZE!"
Henry Kendrick couldn’t be bothered with her barking and just sneered. "Weren’t you the one saying the plagiarist needs to apologize?"
Nathaniel Sloan’s cold gaze fell upon Noelle Lockwood.
A wave of panic washed over Noelle Lockwood. Nathaniel’s gaze was like a knife, stabbing deep into her heart.
’She hadn’t even felt this panicked when she had framed Estelle and set that fire to kill her!’
’No, no... Nathaniel, don’t...’
"Apologize."
But the icy voice shattered Noelle Lockwood’s fantasy.
Nathaniel Sloan said, word by word, "You plagiarized. You should apologize."
Estelle Lockwood suddenly looked up. The words sent a sharp, aching pang through her heart. Her eyes welled up uncontrollably with a tangled mix of anger and some other unidentifiable, unvented emotion.
’Those were the words Nathaniel Sloan had said to her all those years ago.’
’Back then, he had clearly promised to help her find proof. He’d said he believed she hadn’t plagiarized and told her not to worry, just to wait at home for news.’
’And yet, just one day later, he had decided she was the plagiarist. He shut down all the online discussions, drove her to the Lockwood estate, brought her before Noelle Lockwood, and told her:’
’"Estelle Lockwood, apologize."’
’"You plagiarized Noelle Lockwood. And even though she isn’t holding it against you, you should apologize."’
’Estelle had trembled all over, refusing to apologize no matter what, and had even been slapped by Rose Lowell for it.’
’But Nathaniel had said she’d brought it on herself, that this was the consequence for plagiarizing and refusing to admit it.’
’Why? She hadn’t plagiarized. Just the day before, Nathaniel had said he believed her, but the very next day he was standing on Noelle’s side.’ freewebnovel.cσ๓
And now, the one being forced to apologize was Noelle Lockwood.
Estelle Lockwood had been waiting five years for this apology.
So, she was not about to refuse it.
Even if everyone else said she shouldn’t make things too ugly, that she had to give the Lockwood family some face.
But Estelle Lockwood was determined to hear this apology.
She looked at Noelle Lockwood, a slow smile spreading across her lips. "Miss Lockwood, where’s my apology?"
