Bankrupt Tycoon? No Problem – This Villainess Will Make Him Rich Again

Chapter 170: Chapter 173: Cecilia Quincy’s Plagiarism

The taxi sped along the elevated highway. Sonia Quincy leaned against the car door, staring blankly at the guardrails rushing past the window.

BUZZ BUZZ—

Suddenly, the phone on her lap vibrated twice.

She snapped back to reality and picked up her phone to look.

The phone was still locked, and the screen only showed a group message notification from WeChat.

This was a WeChat account she had registered after transmigrating, and she was only in one group chat: "Bloom Preston’s Die-Hard Fans," which Hannah Sutton had started a few days ago.

There were only four people in the group: Hannah Sutton, Sonia Quincy, Mina Jennings, and Julia Dawson.

The four of them got along well and usually enjoyed gossiping in the group. When a new message suddenly appeared, Sonia instinctively assumed someone had new gossip, so she unlocked her phone and tapped into the chat.

Mina Jennings (GossipMakesMeSkinny): [Shared Link]

Mina Jennings (GossipMakesMeSkinny): Oh my god, Cecilia Quincy opened a jewelry design studio too!

’Hmm?????’.

Sonia Quincy sent five question marks.

Hannah Sutton made a grand entrance.

GossipGobbler: Her trashy ass is opening a jewelry design studio? I fucking have to see this!

MissGoody: I’ve already looked at it, and now I have a question.

Bloom Preston: What?

Julia Dawson sent a photo to the group.

MissGoody: This design sketch is what Cecilia Quincy released as her debut piece, but why does it look so familiar?

GossipGobbler: ...What the fuck? This-this-this... this is way past ’familiar.’ This is a goddamn copy-paste!

After sending that message, Hannah Sutton immediately shared a photo in the group as well. The picture was of the design sketch for "Everbloom," the custom piece she had commissioned from Sonia.

GossipGobbler: Isn’t this my Everbloom? How is Cecilia Quincy’s trashy debut piece exactly the same as my custom design?

"What’s going on?" Sonia Quincy’s brows knitted tightly as she furiously typed question marks on her phone.

Bloom Preston: ?????

MissGoody: ?????

Mina Jennings (GossipMakesMeSkinny): ?????

GossipGobbler: This is definitely not a coincidence! That freaking Cecilia Quincy definitely plagiarized it!

MissGoody: This was a custom design. The only people who’ve seen it are the four of us. Where could Cecilia Quincy have copied it from?

Mina Jennings (GossipMakesMeSkinny): @Bloom Preston Have you posted this design sketch anywhere else?

Bloom Preston: I haven’t. I never share custom designs publicly.

MissGoody: ??????

Julia Dawson spammed question marks in the group.

Sonia Quincy thought for a moment with a dark expression, then suddenly tagged Hannah Sutton.

Bloom Preston: @GossipGobbler, have you shown the design sketch to anyone?

Hannah Sutton first replied "No," but retracted it a second later.

GossipGobbler: Wait! I did! I did show the design to someone else!

Bloom Preston: Who did you show it to?

Hannah Sutton sent a screenshot of a different WeChat group chat.

GossipGobbler: When I first got the design, I took a picture and shared it in this group. But the people in here are all rich ladies who just eat, drink, and play. They’re not interested in jewelry design at all. They wouldn’t have gone out of their way to show the photo to Cecilia Quincy. Besides, none of us even knew she was opening a studio.

MissGoody: They might not have proactively sent the photo to Cecilia, but Cecilia could have proactively asked them for it.

Reading Julia Dawson’s message, Sonia Quincy’s mind suddenly cleared.

Bloom Preston: Who in that group is close to Cecilia Quincy?

GossipGobbler: Yvonne Scott. She’s Cecilia Quincy’s little sidekick.

"Yvonne Scott..." The name was all too familiar to Sonia. When she ran into Cecilia at the mall while selling her necklaces, the girl who was always by Cecilia’s side, defending her and throwing shade at Sonia, was Yvonne Scott.

Bloom Preston: Case closed, then.

MissGoody: You mean Yvonne Scott sent the photo of the design to Cecilia Quincy?

Sonia didn’t answer. Instead, she scrolled up through the chat history, found the Spudster link Mina had shared, and tapped it to go directly to Cecilia Quincy’s studio account.

The account had been created a week ago and had only made three posts so far.

The first two posts were just text teasers. Only today’s post included Cecilia Quincy’s design.

Sonia was a professional jewelry designer. She could tell with a single glance whether a design was plagiarized or simply shared similar elements.

It was obvious. Cecilia’s debut piece wasn’t just plagiarism; it was eighty percent copy-pasted. Her work was almost identical to Sonia’s "Everbloom," with only a few inconspicuous changes that Cecilia had made herself.

What was even more interesting was that Sonia’s piece was called "Everbloom," while Cecilia’s was "Still in Bloom."

Although Cecilia’s chosen name was a bit tacky, there was no denying how similar they were.

"Heh..." Sonia let out a humorless laugh.

Cecilia was free to get into jewelry design, but she couldn’t just leech off of Sonia and no one else.

From the design to the name... at this rate, Cecilia would fleece her down to her underwear!

"Sigh..." Sonia shook her head helplessly, sent an eye-roll emoji to the group chat, and followed it up with a message:

Bloom Preston: Our girl Cecilia, so full of "talent."

GossipGobbler: I think that Cecilia Quincy has completely lost her mind! Plagiarizing from me, of all people! This is for my wedding jewelry!

GossipGobbler: That bitch! I’m gonna go fuck her up right now!

Hannah Sutton was about to explode. After sending those two messages, she immediately took a picture of herself grabbing her car keys and heading out the door, apparently serious about going to confront Cecilia.

Sonia didn’t want her to ruin this perfect opportunity for publicity, so she exited WeChat and called her directly.

The call connected instantly.

"What’s up?" Hannah’s voice was seething, and it sounded like she was walking.

Afraid she’d be too late if she spoke slowly, Sonia blurted out in a single breath, "Don’t move! Go home and let me handle this. Just listen to me!"

"...Huh?"

Sonia had spoken so fast that Hannah couldn’t understand what she was saying at all.

She took a deep breath and repeated herself more slowly, "I’m telling you to go home first. Don’t rush off to start a fight with Cecilia Quincy!"

"I’m an influencer, for crying out loud. Something as sensitive as plagiarism obviously needs to be posted online. Let’s make that plagiarist Cecilia Quincy famous."

"Hiss..." Hannah’s footsteps stopped abruptly. "You mean, you’re going to post about Cecilia’s plagiarism online?"

Sonia: "Exactly. After everything she’s pulled on me, there’s no way I’m letting her off easy this time. I have a way to make her pay dearly. Don’t do anything rash. Just go home and wait."

"Leave everything to me."