Chapter 162
Could it… be Valerie? The moment the thought crossed Arianna’s mind, she found it laughable.
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Arianna couldn’t help but scoff.
She mused, ‘Ha… How could that be?
Valerie could never have that
of
power.
‘Impossible. No way…
Just as Valerie had predicted, the
e moment Adrienne publicly defended her rights, her name exploded across the internet.
Though Adrienne already had a decent reputation within the circle, she had not been widely known. But after this, tons of netizens flocked to the trendisongopic just to check her out. Even the sales of her books shot up dramatically.
Valerie didn’t pay much attention to the drama online. She had finally finished preparing her design submission for the competition.
The jewelry design competition was being held the next day. Most of the participants were third- or fourth–year university students, all hoping to give their resumes a solid boost and land a good job before graduation.
But Valerie wasn’t like them. She just wanted
Compared to jewelry, Valerie preferred music.
to
ve it al
a try–to prove her professional skills.
Whenever she lost herself in the ocean of music, she felt as if she had found her true self.
And as a creative musician, Valerie despised plagiarism and theft more than anything else.
In her previous life, Arianna, along with Valentina, Meredith, and Jasmine, had done terrible things to her and Adrienne. And even now, they hadn’t changed one bit. But Valerie was no longer the person she used
to be.
News of Arianna’s plagiarism had spread like wildfire online. After Jasmine and Meredith were thrown under the bus, every song they had submitted to the competition was dug up–and all of them had been stolen. Each one had been plagiarized from different classical pieces from around the world, disguised under modern pop arrangements to claim as their own.
The internet blew up at the sheer audacity of it all!
Netizens were furious, denouncing the shameless plagiarists. Some even doxxed them, exposing their personal information.
From full names and home addresses, to mobile numbers, ID cards, passport details, and even their dormitory room numbers–nothing was left hidden.
The organizers of the online music competition immediately disqualified them, revoked their qualifications, and clawed back all rewards from the previous three rounds. Prize money, trophies–everything was taken back. They even issued an official statement declaring that the two were no longer considered original composers.
The fallout was instant. All the music labels that had been scrambling to sign them suddenly backed off–even trampled each other in their rush to flee.
Meredith and Jasmine had just spent days negotiating a contract with an agency. They had been acting all high and mighty, trying to squeeze out a higher signing bonus.
But the moment the plagiarism scandal broke, the deal was off. Not only that, the agency mocked them coldly: “Just a few days ago, you were talking big -claiming to be multi–talented singer–songwriters. And now look at you. Disgusting. Thank god we didn’t sign you. Otherwise, we’d be the ones losing money!”
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Chapter 162
Jasmine was livid, but before she could shout back, the call had already been hung up.
Meredith, who had always been more emotionally fragile, had been trying nonstop ever since the online attacks began Watching Jarm call, she sobbed, “What do we do now? We weren’t the ones who plagiarized! We didn’t steal anything! Why do we have to carry the BLANDO IT-
unfair!”
There was a flash of resentment in Jasmine’s eyes as she snapped, “You still have the nerve single one was plagiarized! Great, just great. Now everything’s ruined. We’re both finished!”
falk? You were the one who chose all those sangst Every
Meredith cried even harder, lamenting, “So now you’re blaming me? Why didn’t you say anything earlier? You even told me each song was a great pick and sounded amazing! Now, you’re just trying to push all the blame onto me. If I’d known this would happen, I never would’ve partnered with you…
“Hmph,” Jasmine sneered coldly. “If you hadn’t worked with me, would you even have the guts to do something like this? Where was all this righteo talk when we were getting famous? When we were making money? If you ask me, the one we should blame is Arianna. Damn it, if I’d known this would happen, I never would’ve sold those songs to her!”
Meredith sniffled, choking on tears, “What’s the point of saying that now? What we need is a way out of this mess!”
“And what way out is there?” Jasmine hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and said, “We’re already this deep in–why not just tell the truth?
“The truth?” Meredith was taken aback.
“These songs were written by Valerie Clark. If there’s any plagiarism involved, then she’s the one who copied someone else. What does it have to do with us?” There was a flash of hatred in Jasmine’s eyes as she declared, “We’re not the ones who should take the fall for this!”
Meredith seemed swayed by her words. After
a
moment
of hesitation, she reluctantly went along with Jasmine.
Ever since the scandal broke, neither of them had dared to log into their X accounts. But now, as soon as they logged in, the vicious comments hit them like a tidal wave, practically leaping off the screen with malice.
[Whoa, this account is back online!]
[They’re back! Everyone, start roasting them!]
[Plagiarist scum! Shameless! Disgusting! Give me back my respect!]
[Feeling awful lately, huh? You two look alright, and your voices aren’t bad either. Name your price–come sing for me tonight. If it turns me on, I’ll even tip you extra.]
Across the internet, people held nothing back in their hatred.
Even Jasmine, who usually had thicker skin than Meredith, found it unbearable. She nearly considered deleting everything and vanishing from the toxic online world.
But Jasmine just couldn’t swallow her anger!
She thought, ‘Valerie obviously wrote those songs. Why should we be the ones
‘She’s the one who deserves the insults, the hate!
‘If we could just shift the spotlight onto her, the pressure on us would ease up!‘
s getting dragged through the mud for her?
Jasmine quickly drafted a post on X: [Regarding the recent plagiarism scandal, I have something to say! Honestly, the songs we submitted for the competition were signed under our names–mine and Meredith’s—but they were not our original creations. After submitting them, we were plagued with guilt. After all, it was someone else’s work, their hard–earned effort… even if that person was our dearest roommate.
[Her name is Valerie Clark. These are the handwritten drafts she gave us. Our classmates can verify the handwriting, and at the bottom, you’ll find her
Chapter 162
signature.]
Attached below was an image.
The post continued: [We know we were wrong. We shouldn’t have been greedy and claimed someone else’s work. But the only reason we dared to do it was because we trusted our roommate.
[Valerie is extremely proud–she’s the campus beauty of Reano University. She often performs piano recitals in the school auditorium, Everyone at school recognizes her playing. We thought that someone so proud could never have stolen from others… but reality gave us a brutal slap in the face.
[We never wanted to be plagiarists. We were just dragged down with the real thief by accident. Please, stop scolding us. This was never supposed to be our fault. Don’t let two young lives be destroyed over an innocent mistake. Please… show mercy!]
6
AD
