Chapter 78: A Friend’s Betrayal

Zhou Ruoyu extended her hand, pointing at the ancient-style fashion sketch she had drawn herself, and said sternly to the young lady at the reception, “This… this is my sketch! Did you register it under the wrong name? I drew this! I even wrote a concept description…”

“Uh… this…”

The young lady opposite her was actually unclear about what was going on. After all, she had received so many entries in a single day, how could she remember who had submitted and who hadn’t? Besides, there were so many people in the company, and this competition was cross-departmental. She simply couldn’t remember everyone’s names.

She could only pull out the sketch, glance at the number on it, and then check the registration form. A moment later, she shook her head awkwardly and said, “This… I’m sorry, Miss Zhou Ruoyu, this ancient-style fashion design does have a sketch, concept description, and proposal, but… the author of this design… is registered under a different name, so… this is not your submission.”

“Huh?” Having worked hard on something only to have it registered under someone else’s name, Zhou Ruoyu instantly turned red. She frowned and demanded, “Who is the registered name?”

‘Damn it, how could this be? Did someone steal my design? Who did such a despicable thing? I must find them and teach them a lesson!’

“Uh…”

Under the girl’s gritted teeth, the young lady trembled and hesitated for a long while before stammering, “The registered name seems to be… from the Planning Department… Sister Ling…”

Ling… Ling Bo?!

Zhou Ruoyu’s voice changed in shock. She couldn’t believe it was that name. The young lady opposite her, with an awkward expression, nodded after a moment and confirmed, “Y-yes, it’s Sister Ling Bo. She submitted the design first and registered it under her own name, so… she is the author of this design.”

“This… this…”

Zhou Ruoyu felt she couldn’t breathe. After a long while, she waved her hand, swallowed hard, but still couldn’t fully believe that Sister Ling Bo would steal her design. So she just waved her hand and said softly, “I… I understand. Let me go ask again…”

“Hey! Wait, um… Miss Zhou Ruoyu, I’m about to leave work. If you want to participate, don’t rush. You can submit it next Monday. You can still revise it over the weekend.”

“Ah… well… okay, I understand.”

Zhou Ruoyu nodded repeatedly. The young lady packed up all the materials and left, presumably to store them somewhere. But at this moment, Zhou Ruoyu no longer cared about the competition. She turned and headed straight for the Planning Department!

There was only one thing she wanted to clarify: why… why did Sister Ling Bo do this? Wasn’t she her good friend?!

Thus, under the black-haired little loli’s frantic sprint, she actually managed to catch Ling Bo before she left work. By now, the Planning Department was deserted, leaving only a woman with a bag and long black-and-white hair standing at the restroom door, combing her hair.

Zhou Ruoyu rushed up behind her in irritation. Ling Bo saw her in the mirror, as if she had been waiting deliberately. Instead of looking guilty, she curled her lips into a smile.

“Sister Ling… you! What’s going on with that design? Why was it registered under your name? Did you… forget to mention my name and make a mistake?”

Zhou Ruoyu still tried not to assume the worst, thinking it might have been a simple mistake. In that case, she could just correct it on Monday. But she never expected that the next moment, Ling Bo turned around, gave her a cold smile, and said with her hands in her pockets, “What are you talking about? I don’t understand, little Ruoyu. What do you mean ‘my design under your name’? Wasn’t that ancient-style fashion originally my design?”

“Wh-what do you mean ‘originally yours’…”

Seeing Ling Bo’s ruthless and indifferent gaze, Zhou Ruoyu was momentarily stunned. She felt a strong sense of dissonance. She couldn’t understand why Ling Bo, who had been so gentle, warm, understanding, and trustworthy, had suddenly become so unfamiliar to her.

A sharp pain of betrayal pierced the girl’s heart like an arrow. Seeing Ling Bo’s reaction, Zhou Ruoyu understood: there was no mistake, no misunderstanding. Ling Bo had deliberately stolen her design.

But… why?

“Why?!”

Zhou Ruoyu collapsed and shouted at Ling Bo, “Sister Ling! Why? I considered you my most trusted friend in the entire company! You were so good to me, so why… why did you steal my design? What does this mean? Did I… do something wrong?”

“Hey, don’t talk nonsense. Who stole your design? Hmph… You know, that proposal was written by me. I designed it all by myself! Little Ruoyu, you must be too tired these days, having hallucinations. I just showed you the design, and you fantasized it as your own?”

Ling Bo’s words carried a hint of sarcasm, making Zhou Ruoyu even more pained. She was so angry that tears squeezed out, and she shouted back, “Lies, lies! That concept description and that sketch were drawn by me! I showed them to you, and you stole them while I was asleep! Why…”

“Hmph, you can talk nonsense, but don’t say that. Little Ruoyu, what evidence do you have that those things are yours? Is there a watermark on them? Evidence! Without evidence, how can you prove it? Oh, and a friendly reminder: the surveillance in our department has been broken for a few days~”

Ling Bo covered her mouth and sneered. That arrogant smile made Zhou Ruoyu so angry that she crouched on the ground, clutching her stomach, unable to speak for a long time…

Her good friend of a week, the older sister supervisor she had once trusted completely, walked past her with a cold laugh, turned around disdainfully, and slowly left. The sound of her high heels clicking on the floor seemed to trample on the girl’s genuine heart for friendship.

So… why? Was everything before… just a lie?

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