Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

Accusatory and resentful gazes instantly fell on Ai, especially from authors who couldn't get selected. They felt it was unfair that a liar like her won instead of the others who worked hard.

"We are against this!"

"Yes! MissImperfectlyFine should not be selected at all."

"After all the ruckus she caused, how can the judges select her?"

Yating watched everybody with a cold gaze, and his knuckles cracked.

Even though Ai clarified the matter, they still…

In face of all the animosity, Ai stood confident and calm. Her gaze shone with resilience that she won't waver or back out.

Worried for Ai and furious at everyone, Guiying was about to confront the ones opposing Ai, but Zhan Yahui grabbed her wrist.

"Don't even think about it, Cai Guiying."

She scowled. "Do you think I should-"

"Yes," she narrowed her eyes. "You should not be so stupid in standing up for her. This is a mess which Zhou Ai has created for herself. She has to face the ramifications for it. If it was some other author, would you have stood up for her?"

Guiying gritted her teeth. "Zhan Yahui…"

"No, right? You are only doing this because she is your friend," she sneered. "And for hell's sake, I have told you a million times to think professionally, not personally! She is a rival!"

Yating had enough of it and was about to face the crowd when Ai spoke it herself, "I understand you all have concerns against me. But I am here to redeem myself through my story. I appreciate the judges keeping an open mind about me, and I will feel gracious if everybody here can grant me one chance too."

One of the writers scoffed. "How can we believe you? What if you plagiarized the story?"

Ai faced the writer in question, and set her gaze dead straight at her, making her slightly jump in her seat.

"I have already clarified through my post that I am not a plagiarizer. That misunderstanding occurred because I lied about my identity, which is my fault. Sky is not to be blamed for the misunderstanding because they didn't know that I was Butterfly as well as MissImperfectlyFine. I had my own reasons for lying about my identity, but I am not a plagiarizer," she narrowed her eyes. "Sky knows that I am Butterfly, and Dream High knows that I am MissImperfectlyFine. Both are me. A writer cannot copy one's own story, can they?"

Her expression turned ugly.

"If you have any doubts, you can ask the editor-in-charge of Sky, Sun Bai, whom I met as Butterfly."

The writer sneered. "This might be the case now, but who knows if you have not plagiarized before?"

Ai blinked. "I don't think I would have won the Best Newcomer Writer award five years ago if I had been a plagiarizer. The judging committee does a thorough plagiarism check for each and every story. The process is extremely stern and unforgiving. If I had copied, I would have been instantly caught."

Her mouth twitched.

"Also, I have published three books so far. The story is out there for everybody to read, yet nobody came claiming that I snatched anybody's story in the last five years, have they now? That means everything I have written until now solely belongs to me. Not just that, I worked with Dream High until now. They have their own process to check if an exact story has been written before, and only after my editor, Miss Xing Bi's approval did I go ahead with my second and third books. Not just them but the one I accidentally submitted to Sky and the one I chose for tonight's Summit too."

Xing Bi nodded.

Ai stated plain facts which added with her composure and elegance in speech felt even more burning for the writer who was raising the accusations against her.

In normal circumstances, it is detrimental for any writer to recover from a plagiarism charge. But Ai knew it was only a misunderstanding. Her heart was clear as were her stories. She had nothing to fear when she hadn't used any deceit in crafting her stories.

A plagiarism charge could be easily proved once the other writer comes forward from whom it is copied. But that never happened with Ai, so she was confident that this charge wouldn't hold water for much longer.

Jun smirked in the darkness as he watched Ai slapping that writer's mouth shut. For once, he felt grateful that he wasn't at the receiving end of the conversation where he felt as if he was burning with the words she spoke.

For a moment, he thought that he would have to protect Ai, but he forgot that she was strong enough to protect herself. Even in face of all the resentment, her shoulders were straight, and her posture was firm.

She might have made a mistake, but she wasn't the one to let it drag her down forever like some helpless woman.

The edgy atmosphere seemed to settle down after the writer withdrew. Hearing what Ai said, most of the other writers and the employees of publishing companies agreed with her.

A writer couldn't survive in this fierce industry for five years if they had plagiarized at any point in time. The platform where she won the award was also the most prestigious. If she could win an award in that competition, then she definitely had skills.

The emcee cleared his throat and quickly continued before somebody else raised any more questions and brought a halt to this Summit.

"Now that all the three winners are announced, we will head to the final segment where the winners will recite their story. But it will be after a short break! Please take this time to enjoy some refreshments."

Ai sat back and breathed out. Xing Bi hugged her and smiled. "You did well, Ai. It required guts to face them, but you did a fine job. You are so brave!" She cried with happiness and pride.

The author, MysticMidnight observed Ai and slowly nodded. "That was courageous. I commend that."

Ai glanced at her, surprised. "Thank you. I appreciate your understanding. Nice to meet you, I am Zhou Ai."

"Nice to meet you too. I am Shi Huan."