Chapter 562: Who’s the Real Plagiarist?
Selina acted as if she hadn’t seen Ronald’s terrifying expression, her face calm.
"Yes," she said evenly.
"You still dare to admit it?!"
Selina knew Ronald had taken the bait. With a half-smile, she asked, "So Mr. Ronald believes this isn’t my work?"
"Of course not!"
Ronald sneered. "Selina, I knew it—how could an amateur perfumer like you convince a hundred and twenty-five judges, even fooling me for a moment? Because you plagiarized—!"
Selina had plagiarized—Mr. Ronald himself had admitted it!
His smile twisted into something grotesque. "And you were clever, too. You didn’t copy some nobody. You stole from the discarded drafts of the most famous perfumer alive! You thought, since those formulas were never published, no one would ever suspect you. But what you didn’t know—" Ronald’s voice rose with triumph— "is that I am the student of the very perfumer you copied!"
Wait. Wait a minute.
Everyone froze in shock.
What did Ronald just say?
He claimed Selina had plagiarized his teacher. But everyone knew Ronald’s teacher was...
Faces stiffened across the hall.
Piper.
Ronald’s teacher was Piper.
So Selina had copied one of Piper’s discarded works, and Ronald had caught her?!
It almost sounded plausible. After all, it was Piper— even her discarded drafts were at a level many perfumers could never reach in their lifetime. If Selina had used one, of course she could win a championship easily.
The room sank into dead silence.
Selina chuckled softly. "So Mr. Ronald believes I plagiarized?"
Ronald lifted his chin proudly. "That’s right! Selina, I know you’ll never admit it without proof. So look closely!"
He pulled out a USB drive. "This contains all of my teacher’s formulas. And your perfume matches one of her discarded drafts with ninety percent similarity! See for yourselves!"
On the giant screen, a formula appeared—also based on wintersweet.
Main notes, supporting notes, transitional accords—every detail was nearly identical.
Only in the final base notes did Selina’s handling differ slightly. Some perfumers even thought her adjustment elevated the fragrance entirely...
No, no—they couldn’t think like that! This was plagiarism! Even if her changes improved it, she had still copied—and worse, she had copied Piper’s formula!
The evidence was undeniable. Selina’s plagiarism was nailed to the board.
Ronald gloated, "Do you have anything else to say now?"
But he had miscalculated. Selina neither cried nor begged. Not a flicker of fear touched her face. She tilted her head and asked, "Mr. Ronald, are you really Piper’s student?"
At the mention, Ronald puffed up with arrogance. "Of course. That’s something all of Country Y knows as fact."
Selina smiled.
When Ronald had first pretended to be Piper’s disciple, perhaps he had been nervous.
But when no one exposed him, his courage swelled. What began as a lie stretched into five years.
With that stolen identity, he gained everything: the title of Country Y’s Chief Perfumer, influence, wealth, unlimited access to Piper’s archives of formulas—"tools" he could freely exploit. His reputation and authority only grew higher.
There’s a saying: the greatest liars eventually deceive even themselves.
Ronald had been pretending so long, he had fooled even his own mind. By now, he truly believed he was Piper’s student.
As Ronald and Selina faced off, Logan remained seated at the head table, not even lifting his eyelids.
The livestream chat was in an uproar:
[Selina plagiarized?!]
[Ronald already showed the evidence—it’s solid. I can’t believe I just praised her for bringing honor to Country M, and now it turns out she copied.]
[What a disgrace to Country M! We don’t want perfumers like her. Copying Piper right in front of Piper’s student—how could she!]
[I always knew Selina wasn’t any good...]
[But why does Mr. Reid look completely calm? His wife is being accused of plagiarism. If she’s guilty, he’ll share the shame too. Yet he hasn’t even flinched, as if he trusts her completely...]
[Trust? What’s left to trust? The evidence is out. The only "plot twist" possible now would be if Selina was Piper.]
[Hahaha, don’t be ridiculous. How could that be?]
Logan wasn’t nervous because he knew Ronald was being an idiot.
Accusing Piper of plagiarizing Piper, right in front of Piper herself—what kind of fool does that?
Logan sipped his tea calmly, his gaze drifting toward the stage.
...
Selina had no intention of sparing Ronald’s dignity. "I heard you became Country Y’s Chief Perfumer through a competition, Mr. Ronald?"
Ronald thought Selina was stalling for time, but the question gave him a perfect chance to boast. He lifted his chin proudly. "Of course."
"I recall your winning perfume was called Winter Night. Funny, that exact name, with the exact same formula, can also be found in Piper’s USB drive..."
Selina tilted her head in mock confusion. "Mr. Ronald, could it be that you plagiarized Piper too?"
The hall erupted. All eyes turned toward Ronald in disbelief.
His face stiffened, fear flickering across his expression. Wait—how did Selina know what was in that USB drive?!
Before he could recover, Selina continued evenly:
"Last October, Ronald released a perfume themed on Country M’s osmanthus. Funny, the same formula is in Piper’s so-called ’discarded drafts.’"
"And in February, you launched a fragrance called First Snow. Need I remind you? It’s the tenth file in Piper’s USB drive."
"Last year, you only released two perfumes in total. And both... were Piper’s discarded works. No explanation for that, Mr. Ronald?"
"Selina, shut up—"
Selina cut him off coolly. "Let’s go further back. From five years ago until now, Ronald has released twelve perfumes. Every single one can be found in this USB drive—with Piper’s name on them."
Someone in the audience couldn’t hold back: "Ronald, you plagiarized Piper too?!"
"Unforgivable!"
Ronald’s expression darkened visibly, though he forced himself to appear calm. "I won’t deny that some of my perfumes resemble my teacher’s formulas. But that’s because my teacher gifted them to me!"
His words briefly stilled the hall.
"I am Piper’s student. Overlap is natural. But Selina—this is about your plagiarism. Don’t try to drag me down with you! I’m Piper’s student. And you? Who are you to her?"
Selina tilted her head, her smile faint. "Mr. Ronald, I’ll ask you one last time: are you certain you’re Piper’s student?"
Using my alias to humiliate me... who gave you the right?