Chapter 6

Chapter 6

She pushed a folder across the table.

“This is an additional statement about the branding plan. I can publicly acknowledge that you were involved too.”

I opened it.

Involved. Not the creative lead. Not the original designer. Merely involved.

I almost laughed aloud.

“Shen Qinghe, do you think I'm that easy to fool?”

Her tears fell immediately.

“I know you blame me. But I really didn't mean any harm. Gu Huai's company needed a stronger portfolio back then. I only helped a little.”

“What about my name?”

She bit her lip. “You were already Mrs. Gu. You didn't need that bit of recognition.”

I set down the folder and switched on my phone's recorder. Her expression changed at once.

“Go on,” I said.

She stared. Little by little, the vulnerability disappeared from her eyes.

“Su Wen, do you really have to take it this far?”

“How far?”

“You've divorced him. You've tormented Gu Huai enough. Now you want the credit back too. Aren't you just trying to ruin me?”

“When you took what belonged to me, did you consider that you were ruining me?”

“It's just a name!”

I nodded. “Yes. Just a name. So why won't you give it back?”

She had no answer. I pushed the folder back and stood.

“And don't call me Mrs. Gu again. I find it filthy.”

8

Chen helped me publish a statement asserting my copyright and right to be credited. No tearful pleas. No gossip about my marriage. Just three pieces of evidence.

The original files for the early branding plan, with me listed as their creator. Seventeen drafts with the complete revision history. Messages in which Gu Huai acknowledged me as the creative lead.

The accompanying statement was one sentence:

“I have authorized my lawyer to address ownership of the original work underlying the complete ‘Qinghe Returns’ branding plan, and ask all parties concerned to cease using my work for commercial promotion.”

Ten minutes after the post went live, Shen Qinghe's comment section erupted. Her fans accused me of jealousy, of going mad after the divorce, of refusing to let her enjoy her life.

Half an hour later, a designer in the industry shared my evidence.

“From its creative logic to its visual language, this plan clearly develops the same stylistic system seen in Su Wen's early work. The version on display looks like a later refinement and packaging of an existing product, not an original creation.”

An hour later, Gu Huai's company closed comments on its official account.

But online comments weren't what truly brought Shen Qinghe down. The brand launch three days later did that.

Wearing a white formal gown, she stood onstage, her eyes wet as she described her supposed original inspiration.

“This plan began with a dream I had three years ago.”

Applause rose from the audience. She lowered her head and smiled.

“I'd just returned to the country. My health was poor; I was very weak. Mr. Gu kept encouraging me to draw what I'd seen in that dream.”

Gu Huai sat in the front row, looking deeply uncomfortable. He'd already asked her to stay out of the public eye for a while. She hadn't listened. She knew too well how to cast herself as a victim.

“I don't want to explain too much,” she said. “The truth will prove my innocence.”

The moment she finished, the big screen changed.

It wasn't the promotional video she'd prepared. It was a file directory.

Draft one. Draft two. Draft three.

Draft seventeen.

Creator: Su Wen.

Created: May 17, three years earlier.

Every original version predated the point at which Shen Qinghe claimed to have begun her work.

The hall fell silent. Her smile froze.

Then her voice came over the speakers.

“You've divorced him. You've tormented Gu Huai enough. Now you want the credit back too. Aren't you just trying to ruin me?”

My voice followed.

“When you took what belonged to me, did you consider that you were ruining me?”

She whipped around. Staff hurried to turn off the equipment, but it was too late. The recording kept playing. Her voice was perfectly clear.

“It's just a name!”

An uproar broke out. People pulled out their phones to record; others got up and left.

Onstage, she was as white as paper. Instinctively, she looked toward Gu Huai. Once, that look alone would have made him get up and deal with the consequences for her.

This time, he didn't move.