Secret Marriage: The CEO's Pampered Wife

A complete blank. This was indeed difficult.

The audience was going crazy with anxiety, but Georgia Thorne only slowly picked up her pen.

Georgia Thorne drew very quickly, a skill honed entirely from her past competition with Seraphina Goldsmith.

Two hours ticked by, second by second. The atmosphere was tense.

Some contestants finished early, full of confidence, while others wore worried frowns.

When Georgia Thorne emerged, she let out a sigh of relief, her face expressionless.

"How did it go?" Nathan Rhodes asked anxiously.

"I don’t know." Georgia Thorne shook her head, showing her uncertainty.

When she saw the two words of the prompt, "White Space," she had truly frozen. Her mind had gone completely blank, and it took a long time before she could pick up her pen.

"You have no idea how worried we were in the audience! We were afraid you wouldn’t be able to draw anything!" Nathan Rhodes said, his face a mask of tension. Then he waved his hand dismissively. "All we can do now is wait for the results."

While they were waiting for the results, a group of people entered from outside.

Several men in suits walked in, with another man at the center, treated like a celebrity by the entourage surrounding him.

Georgia Thorne recognized him at a glance. It was Erin Irving.

’What are the odds of running into him here?’

In the spacious waiting room, his gaze fell upon her.

She assumed Erin Irving’s gaze had just swept past her by accident, but he actually stopped and smiled at her. A sinister chill instantly crawled up Georgia Thorne’s spine.

She quickly averted her gaze, looking down at the cup of water in her hand.

Nathan Rhodes nudged her from the side. "See that man in the lead over there? His name is Erin Irving. He’s the one who put up the prize money. I also heard he was the one who suggested judging based only on the design sketches, not the finished garments."

When Erin Irving first proposed the idea, it had caused widespread dissatisfaction. Ever since their company started hosting competitions, there had never been such a rule.

Who ever heard of a competition judged only on sketches, without looking at the actual clothes?

But even with the complaints, there was nothing to be done.

Erin Irving was rich, after all. If they didn’t do as he said, he’d pull his funding.

At such a critical juncture, they couldn’t just let him pull the funding.

So, the organizing committee’s staff worked through the night to change the competition format to one that satisfied Erin Irving.

That Erin Irving was a man who loved the limelight and had no regard for their established rules.

As Nathan Rhodes spoke, Georgia Thorne glanced at Erin Irving again with a strange feeling. ’No wonder this competition is so unusual.’

The wait for the results was long. The judges were deliberating inside, while reporters conducted interviews in the waiting room.

Georgia Thorne refused all interviews. After being rebuffed by her, the reporters had no choice but to seek out other contestants.

The final results came out soon. The judges asked all five contestants to come in.

Archetype Company had branches all over the world and was a powerful force, so the judges were also from all over the globe.

Georgia Thorne stood nervously before them, listening as they announced the results.

"First place is Laura Chase, second place is Lillian Lowell, and third place is Summer Bloom..."

Georgia Thorne and the other girl whose names weren’t called for the top three both wore expressions of disappointment and unwillingness to accept the outcome.

’To have come so far, only to fail at the last step.’

Staff members brought out their design sketches one by one.

Laura Chase, who won first place, had designed a magnificent wedding dress. The sketch alone was breathtaking.

Georgia Thorne looked over each one. She didn’t feel her own work was inferior in any way.

Fourth place went to the other girl. Then it was Georgia Thorne’s turn.

A judge pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Miss Thorne, you have not placed."

"Why!" The question escaped Georgia Thorne’s lips instinctively.

"Miss Thorne, we have carefully examined your work and found that all of your designs are plagiarized. Therefore, you have not placed."

"Plagiarized?" The other contestants heard this and turned to look at Georgia Thorne in astonishment.

Georgia Thorne’s work had been highly regarded; everyone had even thought she would take first place.

No one expected such a major reversal in the end—that all these great designs were just copies of someone else’s work.

Originality was paramount in their field. Once a designer was branded a plagiarist, it would be difficult to ever make a name for themselves.

Georgia Thorne’s mind went blank. She shook her head and said softly, "I didn’t plagiarize!"

"Is that so?" The judge pulled up an image on his phone. "Then, Miss Thorne, do you find these designs familiar?"

The image on the phone was enlarged, and everyone crowded around to see. On the screen was a pink, cherry-blossom-themed wedding dress. From the design sketch to the finished garment, it was extremely similar to the piece she had submitted in the last competition.

"This is a piece by a designer from Akashima who entered a competition not long ago. Your work is very similar to hers, and she published it a month before you did. Are you telling me this isn’t plagiarism?"

Plagiarism is the biggest taboo for a designer. Georgia Thorne stared, stunned, at the work on the screen.

As he swiped through one image after another, she had to admit they really did look like her style.

’How could there be such a coincidence in this world?’

Georgia Thorne straightened her back and said with even more conviction, "I did not plagiarize!"

"The evidence is right in front of you, and you’re still denying it? Georgia Thorne, have you no shame?" Laura Chase looked at her with contempt, her tone aggressive.

"I did not plagiarize!" Georgia Thorne roared at them, as if she had lost control.

Everyone there was startled by Georgia Thorne’s outburst. Laura Chase shot her a sideways glance. "So shameless. You dare to plagiarize but don’t dare to admit it!"

Georgia Thorne stared at them blankly. Her vision swam, and it felt like every single one of them was opening their mouth to accuse her of plagiarism.

’I really didn’t plagiarize!’

Georgia Thorne walked out, utterly dejected. Nathan Rhodes and Preston Larkin rushed over. "How did it go? Did you make the top three?"

Georgia Thorne gave a bitter smile and shook her head.

Laura Chase, who came out behind her, overheard Nathan Rhodes and laughed as if she’d heard a joke. "A plagiarist has the nerve to aim for the top three?"

"Exactly. And she won’t even admit it," another person chimed in from behind.

Nathan Rhodes’s expression changed instantly. "What’s going on? What plagiarism?"

Georgia Thorne wanted to laugh but couldn’t. "My work has been accused of plagiarism!"

"How could that be!" Preston Larkin said, astonished. "With your talent, you don’t need to plagiarize to get into the top three. Were you framed?"

"No!" Georgia Thorne shook her head, but that was the reality of the situation.

Looking at the works that so closely resembled her own style, even she almost believed she had plagiarized. The number of similarities in the series was simply staggering.

Georgia Thorne returned to her apartment and turned on the TV to watch the morning’s competition broadcast.

As she had requested, her face wasn’t shown. The camera’s lens remained focused on her drawing.

An ocean-like blue was applied layer by layer, growing more turbulent toward the top, while the bottom remained completely calm.

Georgia Thorne looked at her work and recalled what the judge had said to her: "Your talent is undeniable, so why would you need to plagiarize?"

The words were an affirmation of Georgia Thorne’s talent, but also a lament for her lack of character.

Georgia Thorne couldn’t say a word. Even if she did, they wouldn’t believe her.

Her head throbbed. She opened her computer and searched for the works of that designer from Akashima.

Yulia Upton. A previously unknown designer from Akashima.

She only became famous in Akashima after this series of works.

She carefully scrolled through each of Yulia Upton’s design works. The more she looked, the more familiar they seemed.

It was as if she had seen them somewhere before.

Especially when she saw the cherry blossom wedding dress—even the flowers on the skirt were identical to hers. A jolt went through her, and she suddenly remembered.

’These were all things I drew in my lost sketchbook.’

’That’s strange. How did they end up with her?’

The most likely possibility was that she had accidentally lost it in Akashima and this designer named Yulia Upton had found it.

But the chances of that were minuscule.

Georgia Thorne stayed in the study for four or five hours.

When Elliot Sheridan returned, he saw the housekeeper standing at the door. "Sir, you’re back."

"Where is my wife?" Elliot Sheridan glanced at the untouched utensils on the table.

"She’s in the study."

He had watched the morning’s competition. Georgia Thorne hadn’t taken first place; she was ranked fifth.

It was impossible for Georgia Thorne to rank so low. He had seen the other designs; hers was in no way inferior to the first-place winner.

’Something must have gone wrong.’

He had called Nathan Rhodes immediately.

Nathan Rhodes hadn’t believed Georgia Thorne would plagiarize and had gone to question the decision. But after seeing Yulia Upton’s work, his disbelief had turned to belief.

Nathan Rhodes had dejectedly explained, "Georgia Thorne’s work was accused of plagiarism. They didn’t announce it publicly to protect her reputation."

He knew what kind of person Georgia Thorne was.

After hearing the news, he had canceled his afternoon appointments and rushed back immediately, a journey that took four or five hours.

When Elliot Sheridan entered, Georgia Thorne was staring blankly at her sketchbook, not noticing his approach.

A warm, broad palm covered the back of her hand. "You had your competition today. Tell me how it went."

Elliot Sheridan’s hand was warm, stroking her arm again and again.

Hearing the man’s voice, her vacant gaze suddenly found focus. She stared at Elliot Sheridan’s profile. "They said my work was plagiarized!"

"Who said that?"

"Everyone."

"Is that so? But I think what you draw is the most beautiful and unique in the world," Elliot Sheridan coaxed her gently.

"You’re lying!" Hearing his words, Georgia Thorne’s lowered eyelashes trembled violently, and a few crystalline teardrops welled up.

"You’re lying. They all said I plagiarized." Georgia Thorne began to cry uncontrollably.

These works were the culmination of her thoughts and energy. From start to finish, down to every last stitch, she had never let anyone else touch them; she had created them with her own two hands.

"Why would I lie to you?" Elliot Sheridan cupped her face, lifting it to look at him. His thumb gently grazed her cheek. "Don’t listen to what other people say. What do you think? Have you admitted to yourself that you plagiarized?"