Chapter 229
Jane’s POV
Harmon Designs – later in the day
“Come in,” I called out as I heard a knock on the door.
I was surprised as I saw Adrian enter.
“Adrian p>
“Aunt…Ma’am p>
“Adrian, Veronica adopted you once, so in that way, I’m also your grandmother p>
“You can call me grandma just like Janet does p>
“Granma, I think you should see this p>
“I wanted to show to Uncle Jonathan p>
“But he’s already in enough trouble p>
I took the document and read it.
I saw the document was of a transaction bought by Alex Vale.
He was the one causing troubles for Veronica and Jonathan.
But I got shocked as this transaction was between him and Harmon Designs.
“I think you should check the old design archives for this,” Adrian suggested.
I was shocked as this document meant he had a connection to Harmon Designs before he came to Veronica for a business proposal.
“Don’t worry Adrian,” I said.
“I’ll definitely look into this p>
“Let’s access the old archives first p>
I gave access to Adrian on his laptop as there was a lot of matter to go through.
We searched for the old designs my father made.
Scanned the proposal collection, the rejected concepts, and confidential sketches my father made.
I began to compare them with his early designs.
As expected p>
His early designs were not able to make him begin a business he owns today.
The least he could have opened a small shop.
But I could not accuse him based on these alone.
Then I began to look at the suspected design drafts.
I immediately froze.
I noticed the lines and the sketching style.
I was in shock as this was my style when I began sketching designs.
And these sketches were never released.
It was a tradition of the Harmon family.
The first designs were always kept in the safe and never released.
Later they would be released as a last edition in tribute.
Then I checked his early design collections.
There were several identical designs he sold in his early years.
My stomach tightened.
I checked the archives.
“Back then when I made them, father showed them to his designer team p>
“It was only then, I became part of the designing team p>
“But my sketches were never shown to anyone else p>
“They were never advertised p>
I felt I was robbed as these were my first official sketches that began my designer career.
And they were sold from inside of Harmon Designs?
I closely studied his earlier collections.
He used the same designs in all of them.
Some of his collections were nearly seventy percent copied from the designs.
Then I compared the dates.
Alex began working on the designs the moment he got them and sold his first collection a month later.
Figured how he was able to sell such outstanding designs and also why he left the country as he knew he could not begin his business in the same country as Harmon Designs.
Anger was boiling inside of me as I realized he made his millionaire business from my sketches.
“But how did he get access to these designs?” I asked.
“Is it p>
“Back then the designer team, executives and the admin staff had access p>
“Later…I married Fredrick, who also had access p>
“Could it be p>
Adrian pointed to a transaction receipt.
My eyes were open wide in shock as I saw the name of the seller:
Imelda Harmon.
I looked into the later files from when Imelda took over.
I checked the marketing strategies.
Her relationships with the suppliers.
Her collection release times.
The clients she targeted as she sold to a few more often than others.
That’s when I noticed Alex began buying wholesale jewelry from her and later on must have struck a deal with her for the designs.
And during this time he must have found out Imelda has access to the files.
I also realized Alex could have affected the entire Harmon Designs operation back then.
But he was sensible in taking the designs and leaving the country.
I was searching the files as I stumbled across a folder labeled confidential.
“What p>
“What’s it grandma p>
“Look p>
I said, showing the screen to Adrian.
“These are the proposals made for the legacy designs p>
“This is my handwriting explaining the concept of the designs p>
“I remember staying overnight to finish them p>
“I was so proud of myself back then,” I said with a smile.
“And Alex is the one who released them under his name,” my smile faltered.
Something that began as a corporate robbery, became a personal robbery.
“Granma,” Adrian said as he found something.
“Look,” he said.
“He even released a catalogue back then p>
I opened the file and glanced at the designs.
The designs were not exactly mine, but were mostly copied from mine.
They were so copied that one could not even call them inspired as they still would fall under plagiarism…if found out.
“This is a clear robbery of my designs p>
“No wonder he never released his jewelry back here p>
“What p>
“I can’t believe this p>
“He released the designs before I even made them notarized back here p>
“If this is so…I can never claim them back p>
“Granma,” Adrian said.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find a way p>
“We know it was mother who sold them to him p>
“And even back then, she had no rights to do so p>
“Grandfather would have arrested her if he knew p>
“But Adrian,” I said.
“He released them before I notarized them p>
“His dates are more legal than mine p>
“For that matter he can sue us for plagiarism based on these dates p>
I was feeling anger as well as humiliation. For something I designed from scratch…there was someone who could claim my work as his and make me a plagiarist.
“Granma,” Adrian said.
“No matter how much a robber thinks he’s more brainful p>
“He’ll always make a mistake p>
“But Adrian,” I said, confused.
“He released them before I notarized them p>
“Yes, back then your father did notarize them p>
“But because it was in the old records, and grandfather stole the company p>
“He never had the notarized records p>
“So mother never knew they were notarized and sold them to Alex p>
“Adrian?” I was a little hesitant.
“We can’t be sure my designs were the only ones sold, can we p>