Mrs Hale, I Surrender
Chapter 362 - 361 Ban? Young Uncle: You Want to Be My Boss? (3 More)

Chapter 362: 361 Ban? Young Uncle: You Want to Be My Boss? (3 More)

At the venue, all eyes were fixated on Finn Robinson who had suddenly emerged.

This, after all, was Finn Hale’s assistant.

Every action of his represented Finn himself.

Sussie Lopez was inexplicably smeared, already somewhat irritated, and now Finn Robinson was implying she was not innocent? What was going on?

"I knew it," someone remarked, "with the plagiarism exposed, Mr. Hale wouldn’t just stand by idly."

"Of course," another agreed, "if he were to indulge this treachery, it would only abet the villain. More plagiarists would emerge."

"They must pay the price, to serve as a warning to others."

...

Finn Robinson also glanced at Finn Hale, seeing that his boss hadn’t spoken, he then signaled to the staff.

It seemed the boss had no intention of protecting Sussie Lopez.

So he would crush this woman.

Erase her completely from this circle.

Kick her out of Mr. Hale’s professional and personal life.

To plagiarize and then to dare to challenge him, it was preposterous!

The image on the big screen switched to Sussie Lopez’s design, which she had made public a few days ago, a set of house design drawings that included both interiors and exteriors and bore only her name.

"Miss Lopez, are you familiar with this work?" asked Finn Robinson.

Sussie Lopez frowned, "This is my design."

"Good to hear you admit it."

Taking advantage of this moment, the screen split and a comparison appeared. One side was still Sussie Lopez’s just-acknowledged design, while the other side showed an unsigned design.

But to those present, it was apparent...

These were Finn Hale’s original drafts!

His designs had a very distinct personal style.

Declan Saunders’s plagiarism went unnoticed because he had skinned and deboned the original designs, breaking them down, whereas Sussie Lopez’s design was a more clever form of plagiarism.

She had copied only fragments of the essence, so scattered and disjointed that at first glance, the plagiarism wasn’t obvious unless pointed out.

Sussie Lopez’s hands, resting by her side, clenched slightly as she stared at the screen intently.

What was going on?

The design was submitted to the boss by Declan Saunders and also made public, and while she wasn’t the sole creator of it, parts of it were refined with Declan Saunder’s help, and he had even shown her the final version.

At the time, Sussie Lopez had thought it was quite good; little did she know it was plagiarized.

And it bore her name.

This was...

Utterly indefensible!

She looked at Declan Saunders, her eyes full of confusion.

They had a good relationship, and there was frequent collaboration at work. Otherwise, Sussie Lopez wouldn’t have entrusted the remaining work to him after she got injured. What was all this about?

"Looks like Northern Architecture has fostered a whole nest of plagiarists."

"Miss Lopez doesn’t look like someone who would plagiarize to me. It just goes to show you can’t judge a book by its cover. To think she studied abroad only to come back and do something like this."

"Get out of here already!"

...

The crowd’s comments piled on, as if they intended to seal Sussie Lopez’s guilt.

Pin her to the pillar of shame for good.

If she couldn’t clear this up, Sussie Lopez’s reputation in this industry would be utterly ruined.

Tim Payne naturally didn’t believe his fellow disciple would plagiarize and turned to the person beside him,"Finn Hale, what’s going on here?"

Since Finn Robinson was his man, and he dared to do this, everyone assumed it was at Finn Hale’s behest.

Otherwise, how would an employee stir up such trouble at an important event like this, especially with evidence in hand—clearly, this wasn’t something that could be put together in a moment.

Finn Hale remained silent, just staring intently at Finn Robinson.

But seeing Sussie Lopez’s obvious panic, Finn Robinson felt a sense of satisfaction.

He immediately signaled to the staff again, and the screen changed, "And this design, which is even closer to Old Sir Hale’s style. To the uninformed, it might look like it was drawn by him."

Sussie Lopez looked at the design drawing, this one...

It really was the one he had drawn for her.

She hadn’t expected that her laziness in asking Finn Hale to help with the design would turn into evidence of her plagiarism.

"Not only that, but some people have the shameless gall to apply for a patent. Are you in such a hurry because you’re afraid your plagiarism will be discovered? So you’re rushing to register the design patent?"

"But a copy is still a copy; it can never become yours."

"To think that you even dare to call yourself Junior President Payne’s junior sister is simply disgraceful."

...

Sussie Lopez chuckled lowly, ignoring Finn Robinson and only looking at Declan Saunders, "Why are you doing this to me? I thought we had a good relationship, and I’ve never done anything to wrong you, yet you want to ruin me completely?"

Declan Saunders steadied himself and, with Finn Robinson’s evidence, felt somewhat relieved.

Don’t panic!

As long as he pushed all the responsibility onto Lopez, maybe he could walk away unscathed.

"Lopez, things have come to this, just admit it."

"As things stand, I’ll be straight with you—I did this foolish thing because I liked you. Even if you wanted to become famous, you shouldn’t resort to plagiarism."

"Taking advantage of living at the Payne Family home to come and go from the Hale Family residence, just to steal design drawings. I’m really disappointed in you."

"And I was foolish to have been an accomplice to tyranny."

Those words were like a punch to the gut for both of them.

Zoe Payne was dumbfounded.

She looked at William Hale, her voice pressed, "Is this what you call a good show?"

William Hale remained silent, in tacit agreement.

Sussie Lopez sneered, looking at the man in front of her, "Declan Saunders, are you sure it’s me who plagiarized?"

"What else could it be?"

"This is clearly the drawing you helped me upload, and some of the design is your work."

"That was with your consent!"

"..."

"And besides, when would I have had the chance to come across Mr. Hale’s designs?"

That was key!

Having access to Finn Hale’s designs would require extraordinary means, something clearly beyond Declan Saunders’s reach.

Sussie Lopez was already so confused by the plagiarism accusations that she had no clue how Declan Saunders had come across Finn Hale’s designs.

With the situation developing like this, Wyatt Hale and Michale Shaw, as outsiders, could only worry.

Not knowing the whole story, speaking out rashly might backfire.

"Nothing to say now?" Finn Robinson snorted coldly, glancing at the industry chairman, "This matter must be addressed. I urge you to stand up for Mr. Hale and ban this plagiarist throughout the industry."

"Banned! Who dares!" Tim Payne stood up.

Finn Robinson had already been with Finn Hale for a long time. Facing the archrival of his own boss, he naturally didn’t hold back, "Junior President Payne, the evidence is conclusive, and furthermore..."

"I have to thank you."

"It was you who first spoke up righteously, helping us reveal the fact that Declan Saunders plagiarized. It emboldened me to bring out the evidence."

Because the design patent had been snatched away, Finn Robinson had been struggling with how to deal with Sussie Lopez.

Unexpectedly...

Junior President Payne had leapt out.

With Declan Saunders’s plagiarism confirmed, and him implicating Sussie Lopez, the comparative designs were brought out.

The industry chairman and other staff exchanged looks, seemingly in a difficult position. Junior President Payne was obviously protecting Sussie Lopez, but the plagiarism was seemingly irrefutable. They did not want to offend Junior President Payne, but M & R also deserved an explanation...

Hesitating, they turned their gaze to the real victim of this affair—

Finn Hale!

After all, he was the victim of the plagiarism incident.

"Mr. Hale, what do you think about this?" the chairman inquired.

"Do we even need to ask? It should definitely be a ban!" Finn Robinson proclaimed indignantly.

Finn Hale chuckled lowly, "I haven’t even spoken yet, and you’re doing..."

"Trying to make decisions for me?"