The Queen's Back

Hearing Danielle's words, Mona's grip on her glass cased, feeling the tension lift slightly.

Meanwhile, Molly's face flushed as she stammered, "I didn't copy anything! I'm not a plagiarist!"

Jasper, who'd taken favors from Molly, jumped in, "Come on, Danielle, she says she didn't do it. Can't you just give her a shot?" But after one sharp look from Danielle, he went silent.

Danielle leaned back, looking between the two of them. "Alright, Molly. You say you didn't plagiarize, and Mona says she didn't either. How about you both prove it in a design competition right now? I'll be the judge

Mona lifted her coffee glass, a faint smile playing at her lips. She knew Danielle was giving her chance to clear her name. "No problem with that. I'm inf

Danielle turned to Molly, "Mona agreed. And you? Ready to show us what you've got?"

Molly's tense expression and hesitation said it all-she was the one who had plagiarized.

"Uh... Mrs. Reed, don't you think this is a bit... unnecessary?" Molly asked, bracing herself.

Molly had been a model forever and didn't know a thing about design. She'd just splurged on designs to slap her name on them. So, when Danielle expected her to come up with something on the spot, she felt totally out of her league. Danielle just smiled mockingly. "What's the problem. Molly? Afraid of a little competition? After all, if Mona is the copycat, what's there to be worried about?"

"That's right, Molly," Jasper urged. "Didn't you want a chance? Well, now you've got one-might as well make it count!"

He believed Molly when she said she was capable, and that Mona was the one who plagiarized. Now that Danielle had given her a chance, Jasper couldn't understand why she would want to turn it down. Figuring out a woman's thoughts is tough enough, but a beautiful woman? Oh, forget it!' he thought.

Lum-Molly stumbled over her words, shooting a glare at Jasper.

He couldn't get anything right and somehow always managed to mess things up. Seriously, he was just a deadweight

teammate.

"Alright, Molly. If you don't want to compete, just leave. It's almost lunchtime, so don't waste time!" Danielle said, clearly impatient.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

"Fine, I accept the challenge!" Molly finally said, feeling trapped,

If she bailed now, it would look like she was a plagiarist scared to face the consequence. Might as well tough it out Even if she ended up losing, it didn't prove she actually copied that dress "Awesome! I have a white T-shirt in my yard. With this hot weather, let's use the yard for inspiration and design a pattern for it! Danielle said.

They both nodded. Jesse led them to the design space, where he handed out white T-shirts. They had 15 minutes to create something Mona quickly decided to sketch a grapevine pattern. As soon as she stepped in, the sight of all those grapevines caught her attention

Drawing was a breeze since she had the perfect scenery right there; matching colors was a walk in the park.

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On the other hand, Molly had only picked up drawing a few years ago when she was younger, and now, having forgotten most of what she learned, she was overwhelmed by the colors around her.

As the clock ticked down, her nerves kicked in. Molly peeked over at the partition next to her and felt even more anxious. Grabbing a random color, she made a few strokes on her T-shirt, but suddenly, the paint started spreading all over the place. She looked at the mess she'd made of the T-shirt and felt like crying—she was really going to embarrass herself today.

When time was up, Danielle and her students gathered to check the designs. Everyone nodded approvingly, smiling at Mona's pattern on the white T-shirt

Then they moved to Molly. By now, she was so frustrated she'd crumpled her T-shirt into a ball, ruining any trace of her original design.

"Molly, this is what you bring to the competition?" Danielle said, her tone sharp. "You lack even the basics, yet you Mona of plagiarism. Where's your shame?" accused

Danielle had been impressed by Molly's designs when Jasper brought her in, thinking they were fresh and lively. Now, realizing Molly knew nothing about design, she was fuming.

It was obvious to everyone that Molly had zero design skills, yet she had somehow made it as a judge for the Noretin Design Competition. Clearly, she was just riding on connections, Even Jasper, no expert in fashion, could see it-he realized he had been conned.

As he glanced at Danielle's stern face, he had the sinking feeling she would ban him from the studio again. He could práctically see the sign on the door: [Jasper is not allowed!] Mona's voice cut through the silence, calm but icy. "Molly, don't you think you owe me an apology?"

Molly's face twisted into a smirk. 'An apology? I already gave you one when the police hauled me in! Apologizing isn't going to fix anything.

"No way!" Molly shot back, clearly furious.

As far as she was concerned, it was Mona who had taken her chance to be Mrs. Carter. Now, thanks to that, she couldn't even use the name Lydia Reed and had to come back as the "illegitimate daughter."

If Mona thought she was getting an apology from her, Molly thought she could keep dreaming.

Mona, on the other hand, was just fed up. Molly had stolen her work, claimed credit, and somehow kicked her out of the Noretin Design Competition.

That whole setup was clearly flawed. But all Mona wanted now was a simple apology. That didn't seem like much to ask. Molly's dismissive attitude, though, pushed her over the edge. Mona grabbed the coffee glass from the table and splashed its warm contents right onto Molly's face.

Coffee dripped down, messing up Molly's perfectly done makeup as her eyes squeezed stuur.

"That's what you get when you don't apologize," Mona said, slamming the glass back onto the table. Honestly, she wasn't even sure how she kept her cool enough not to throw the whole glass at her.

Molly's eyes snapped open, her face twisted with anger. "Mona, how dare you- she started, hand already raised, clearly ready to strike..