Chapter 218
Early the next morning.
At seven in the morning.
When many people were still asleep, a topic rapidly climbed the ranks on Twitter.
Unaware of what was happening on Twitter, Leo and Isabella had arranged to meet a lawyer that day, intending to formally initiate their lawsuit against Storm Group.
Just as they were about to leave, the lawyer called.
Picking up the phone, Leo cheerfully said, “Mr. West, don’t worry, we are just about to head out.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end, and then Mr. West, the lawyer, said, “Have you checked Twitter this morning?”
Leo was momentarily taken aback, then nonchalantly replied, “Everyone on Twitter supports me. Whether I look at
it or not doesn’t make a difference.”
After a pause, the lawyer slowly said, “You should take a look.”
“Alright,” Leo responded casually, “I’ll check it on my way.”
“There’s no need to come. We don’t have to meet. I’m withdrawing from the case,” the lawyer stated.
Leo immediately became anxious, “How can you just decide not to take the case? Just yesterday, you were excited, saying that winning this case would make you famous. We’ve even signed a contract.
Your withdrawal now is a
breach of contract!”
The lawyer’s tone was just as harsh, “Become famous? That’s only if the case had a chance of winning. As a client, you’ve withheld such critical information from me. Regardless of where this is discussed, it’s your fault in the first place!”
“What information have I hidden?” Leo angrily demanded.
“Just check Twitter,” the lawyer replied, frustrated, and hung up.
Perplexed by the lawyer’s strange attitude, Leo felt a sense of ominous foreboding.
He hurriedly opened his phone to check Twitter.
“Leo, what’s wrong?” Isabella cautiously asked, sensing something amiss.
Despite wracking her brain, she still believed their plan was flawless, leaving no room for mistakes, unless
MM
somehow they discovered she was reborn, which seemed impossible.
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Ignoring Isabella, Leo immediately opened the trending topics on Twitter and his eyes instantly fell on the top trend, causing his eyelids to twitch and fingers to tremble.
His fingers on the keyboard couldn’t help trembling.
“Starry Romance Author Responds”
What did this mean?
Starry Romance was just a game, right?
How could there be an author involved?
the topic.
He quickly clicked on with Isabella peering over his shoulder.
Five minutes later, both their faces turned ashen.
‘This… how is this possible?” Isabella stepped back, her eyes filled with disbelief.
At the top of the topic was a post from a verified author on Love Literary Network, going by the pen name “Azure
Sea.” This text is © NôvelDrama/.Org.
Azure Sea, [The trending topics these past few days have been absurd. I never imagined people could be so malicious, branding something as plagiarism! I hereby declare that the Starry Romance game is adapted from my novel ‘Flirting With the Marshal in the Future World!’ Storm Group had purchased the adaptation rights to my novel months ago, and the game adaptation was based on this purchase!
[The so–called Future Romance game does share similar backgrounds and character designs with Starry Romance. However, it’s not Starry Romance that plagiarized, but Future Love, which plagiarized my novel.
I
[Seeing these recent trends, I now understand the true meaning of “the villain becomes the accuser even before. being accused.”
[Since Infinite Technologies wants to send a lawyer’s letter, I will also issue one.
[Infinite Technologies, I’ll see you in court.]
Finally, there was a straightforward lawyer’s letter, along with a link to her novel and its publication date.
When netizens clicked on the link, they discovered the novel had been published three years ago.
Moreover, the novel’s background and character settings were indeed identical to Starry Romance.
This meant that Starry Romance hadn’t plagiarized but had actually purchased the rights to the novel!
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ATG
The real plagiarists turned out to be Infinite Technologies, Leo, and Isabella.
The netizens, who had been slapped with the truth, flocked to Leo’s previous tweet.
The last time they viewed it, it was with sympathy and pity.
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But now, only anger remained, especially as Leo had repeatedly claimed that the game was a labor of love by
Isabella.
Looking back, it was all seen as mockery.
–
What a labor of love plagiarizing, huh?
Feeling duped, the netizens were furious.
The more they had sympathized with Leo before, the angrier they were now.
His tweet was soon flooded with vitriolic comments.
Theresa, who had been heavily criticized the day before, now welcomed a wave of apologetic messages.
She didn’t care much about this as she had anticipated such a development.
She aimlessly scrolled through the apologies in her messages before logging off, disinterested.
Leo, witnessing this drastic turn of public opinion, felt his gaze gradually fill with a blood–red rage.
How could this be?
He turned to Isabella and asked, “Didn’t you say that the work was your original creation? How come someone else published a novel with the same content three years ago?”
“I…” Isabella was visibly panicked.
In her previous life, she hadn’t played much of Starry Romance, so she only had a vague understanding of the story behind the game.
How could she have known that the game’s background and character settings were based on a novel?
And crucially, that novel wasn’t well–known at all, or else someone would have mentioned it earlier.
She wondered how Susan managed to dig up such an obscure piece.
A plan that seemed foolproof was shattered by just four words, “adapted from a novel.”
This had to be Susan’s deliberate sabotage!
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Leo, observing Isabella’s flustered face, lost every ounce of pity he had for her.
He realized he was ruined.
He was done for.
All his investments had gone down the drain, and his reputation was in tatters.
He no longer had the means to make a comeback.
And all of this, he believed, was due to Isabella’s doing.
His previous pity and trust in Isabella turned into towering rage.
He raised his hand and viciously slapped her, yelling, “Wretch!”
Isabella, stunned by the slap, looked at him in disbelief. “You… you slap me?”
“What’s wrong? Can’t I slap you?” Leo’s expression was ferocious.
“You can’t do this to me,” Isabella said fearfully. “You love me. You even abandoned your mother for me. How can you hit me when you love me so much?”
Leo scoffed coldly. “That old woman gave all her money to me, keeping her around wasn’t much use anyway. I chose you because you seemed somewhat useful. But it turns out you’re just an incompetent fool!”