Filed to story: That Campus Prince Is a Girl
Milena told herself, ‘Anyway, since I’m already here, I have to get to the bottom of what’s going o
Milena asked, “Ms. Starling, did you ask to meet me?”
Leanne nodded. “Yes, that’s right. Ms. Wallace, I’m here today on behalf of Noir ?clat.”
Milena said, “Oh, what can I do for you?”
Only then did Leanne stand up, open the folder she brought, and reveal a stack of design drafts inside. They were the very designs Milena had submitted.
Leanne pulled out one of the drafts and showed it to Milena. “Ms. Wallace, did you draw this?”
Milena stared at the draft, but it didn’t look familiar at all.
Back when Xander sent her the drafts, she barely looked at them before forwarding them to the submission email.
Milena hesitated and wondered, ‘Is this one of the designs I submitted? But if it isn’t, why would Leanne ask me? It must be my draft.
“Ms. Wallace, please answer my question,” Leanne urged, frowning at Milena’s silence,
Milena replied, “Yes, I drew it.”
Leanne nodded and pulled out another draft. “And this one? Did you draw this too?”
Milena nodded. “Yes, I did.”
“What about this one?” Leanne took out yet another draft.
“That one’s mine too,” Milena answered.
After that, for every design Leanne brought out, Milena confidently claimed each one as her draft.
Leanne nodded and looked at William. “Mr. Drake, you saw it, right? She admitted these are all her work.”
William’s face looked absolutely terrible. He never expected there would be someone like Melina among his students.
At Langford Academy, all the students come from money or power. Usually, none of them would be dumb enough to do something so shameless. But Milena was the bad apple that ruined the bunch.
Milena glanced at William, then at Leanne, her heart pounding out of control. She asked nervously, “Um, is th?re a problem?”
Leanne’s face was cold. “Are you kidding? Ms. Wallace, you entered the competition with someone else’s work, and you still have the nerve to ask if there’s a problem? Don’t you feel ashamed?”
Milena was utterly floored. She thought, ‘Someone else’s work? What does she mean? Did Cameron set me up? But I submitted my drafts before
Cameron did.
‘As soon as I got Xander’s message, I sent in my submission right away. Cameron should’ve been a bit later than me, It should be Cameron stealing my drafts.’
Milena bit her lip. “Um, maybe there’s some kind of misunderstanding? These are my designs.”
Leanne actually laughed out of anger. “Your designs? Fine, why don’t you tell us your design concept?”
Milena wondered, ‘Design concept? These were Cameron’s works. How would I know the design concept?’
But Leanne was already suspicious, so even if Milena had no clue, she had to make something up on the spot.
Milena pointed at one of the floral dresses and stammered, “The idea behind this one is, um… You know… Girls should love themselves.
Leanne let out a cold laugh. “Girls should love themselves?”
Milena nodded. “Yeah, that’s right.”
Leanne was completely speechless. “Ms. Wallace, you’re even more shameless than I thought. No wonder you could do something so unethical”
Milena widened her eyes upon hearing that.
“Let me tell you,” Leanne continued, “The real design concept for this collection is wearing spring. The ten designs use green and blooming flowers as the main theme, capturing the vibrant energy of spring perfectly. This collection even broke our spring sales record.”
After listening to Leanne’s explanation, Milena froze, thinking, ‘So that’s what the design is all about. Wearing this outfit, one can really feel the vibe of spring.
‘That’s seriously impressive. How did Cameron even come up with this? Didn’t expect she had some real talents. But wait…
“Ms. Starling, did you just say this design broke your brand’s spring sales record?” Milena asked, feeling something was off.
She wondered, ‘This is still in the submission phase. How could the actual product already be out? Is that so fast?”
Leanne nodded. “That’s right.”
Milena smiled, “That’s pretty impressive.”
Leanne huffed, “Of course it is. You think Eric is famous for nothing?”
Milena was confused. She mused, ‘Eric? Who’s she talking about?’
Leanne said coldly, “Ms. Wallace, everyone here is disgusted by what you’ve done.”
Leanne turned to William. “Sir, I hope you’ll make a school-wide announcement about Milena’s actions. She’ll be blacklisted by the entire design industry. No one will ever accept her again.”
William replied, “Don’t worry, Ms. Starling. Langford Academy doesn’t tolerate students like this. I’ll make sure the whole school knows, and she’s expelled for good. We will never take her back.”
Milena’s heart dropped. “What do you mean? Expel me? Why would you expel me? These are my designs.”
Leanne shot back, “Your designs? Milena, do you even hear yourself? They are from Mr. Eric Saunders’ spring collection. He’s the founder of Noir ?clat. Are you saying he copied you? That’s ridiculous.”
Milena widened her eyes.
Leanne’s words were a bombshell, and Milena was completely stunned.
But Milena quickly snapped out of it, thinking, ‘So Leanne thinks the designs belong to Eric? She’s so mad because she thinks I copied his works. That’s why William wants to expel me.
‘No, it’s not me. The designs aren’t even mine. They’re Cameron’s. So Cameron is the one who copied Eric’s works. That means Cameron should be the one getting expelled and having her reputation ruined.’
Thinking of this, Milena couldn’t help but smile. She thought Cameron really dug her own grave this time.
Milena smiled and said, “Ms. Starling, please calm down, I really didn’t copy Mr. Eric Saunders’ works. Someone else did that.”
Leanne frowned. “Someone else? What do you mean?
Milena smiled and said, “Ms. Starling, I’ve made it pretty clear. I didn’t draw the designs. They’re someone else’s works, and I just submitted them for that person.”
Leanne shot back, “You submitted the designs for someone else? Didn’t you just say you drew the drafts yourself?”
Milena muttered inwardly, ‘That was a while ago, but it’s different now. If I don’t throw Cameron under the bus, I’ll have to take the blame. No way that’s happening!’
William frowned and asked, “What’s really going on here?”
Milena said, “Ms. Starling, Mr. Drake, my brother drew the designs. He asked me to submit them for him, so this has nothing to do with me if you want to hold someone accountable, ask him. It’d be so unfair to punish me.”
William asked, “Your brother? Who is he?”
Milena replied, “Cameronass 15, Senior Year.”
William thought in shock, ‘Cameron? Did Thear that right? How could it possibly be Cameron?’
William was stunned. “Who did you just say? Say it again.”
Milena repeated, “Cameron from Class 15, Senior Year.”
William shook his head. “No way.”
He wondered, Cameron plagiarized? Why would Cameron ever do that? For the 300-thousand-dollar prize? Is she kidding?
‘I promised her 3 million dollars and a house worth millions if she became the top scorer in the SATS. Would Cameron even care about a 300-thousand- dollar prize?
‘Besides, after Cameron won the basketball game, I already gave her 300 thousand dollars. Cameron has such a bright future. Why would he throw it all away?
‘That guy is obviously smart. There’s no way he’d do something so foolish.’
“Sir, I’m telling the truth. I really helped my brother submit his works, so this has nothing to do with me. You can’t punish me for it.”
Milena hadn’t expected William not to believe her. She wondered, ‘Are Cameron and William close or something?’
William’s face darkened. “Just because you say so? You’re a high schooler now. If you claim it was Cameron, then show us the proof.”
Milena didn’t expect William to ask her to show the proof.
Milena’s eyes darted around. “Sure, I have proof.”
She still had the chat logs with Xander. She kept the messages when Xander sent her Cameron’s design sketches.
