Framed for Plagiarism, Reborn to Do Nothing Novel – After I’d gotten fired, I went back to the countryside and spent my days playing cards with my grandma. But at the same time, my whole family acted like they’d lost their minds trying to find me. All because the “genius” jewelry designer in the family, my little sister Selina Hunt, couldn’t draw a single decent design once I was gone.
In my last life, at the National Jewelry Design Competition, Selina had always submitted a design that matched mine, down to the tiniest lines. Everyone decided I’d plagiarized her, and my own family even stepped up to “prove it.” My company labeled me unethical, accused me of stealing work, and claimed I’d damaged their reputation. I received my termination notice on the spot, along with a demand for a massive payout.
My parents treated me like dead weight and kicked me out of the house. Crushed by family betrayal and public hate, I spiraled into depression. One day, while I was crossing the street, one of Selina’s rabid fans hit me with a car. Even as my consciousness faded, I couldn’t figure out how Selina had always managed to finish my exact designs before I did. Then I opened my eyes again. I was back to the day before the National Jewelry Design Competition. ……… “Michele, are you feeling confident about tomorrow’s competition?” The noisy chatter in the office snapped me back to the present.
I realized, with a jolt, that I had been reborn! “Michele’s won the company’s Outstanding Designer Award multiple times, how could she not be confident?” As she said it, a coworker bumped my shoulder and flashed me a grin. Her words left me momentarily speechless, because I was the only one who knew what was coming. In my previous life, I’d submitted a design I’d worked on for days, line by line, detail by detail.
Then I’d been declared a plagiarist right there in front of everyone. The organizers put two drafts on the big screen. They were identical, even the engraving lines on the jewelry matched perfectly! Yet, the other draft had been submitted earlier than mine. And the person who submitted it was my own sister, Selina. She stood below the stage with red-rimmed eyes, staring at me like I’d stabbed her. Then she grabbed a microphone and demanded, loud enough for the whole room to hear, “Michele, why did you steal my work? If you failed to work something out, you could’ve asked me to help you find inspiration.
Why did you have to plagiarize mine?!” I froze. That design had been mine, saved on my computer, and I had never shown it to anyone. I tried to speak, but the crowd had exploded. “Kick the plagiarist out!!!” “How dare she bring stolen work to a national competition?” “People like her don’t belong here. Calling her a designer? Bullshit!” I snatched the microphone to defend myself. Almost no one believed me. Then my parents pulled out photos of Selina staying up late at home, working on “her” design until dawn, and displayed them for everyone to see.
They even declared they regretted ever having a daughter like me, claiming to cut ties with me. After that, nobody believed a word I said. Security dragged me out. When I opened my phone, the internet was overflowing with insults aimed at me. I went back and tore through my computer, I found no viruses, no spyware, no hidden monitoring. My laptop and even my paper drafts had always been with me, there should have been no way for anything to leak.
So why had Selina’s design been a perfect match to mine? Every sketch, every idea, every line, I had drawn myself. There was no way I had copied her! “Michele, I heard your sister’s competing too. Who do you think will take first place this year?” Not long after I’d joined this company, Selina had somehow ended up here too. Hearing her name made my chest tighten. I clenched my fist so hard it felt like my nails might break skin.