The Return of the Cannon Fodder Trillion Heiress - Chapter 949

Chapter 949: Chapter 949 Plagiarism

“L-Leo… why are you siding with an outsider?” Silvia stammered, her eyes reddening. Humiliation burned through her; Leo’s words felt like a slap to the face in front of Hera.

“I’m just stating facts. And stop spreading these misleading claims. I’m afraid my real fiancée would mind if she heard this…” Leo’s gaze flickered briefly toward Hera, worry in his eyes, before he looked away.

Silvia’s stomach sank. She had believed she could quietly replace the true Avery heiress without Leo realizing, but now, even he knew she wasn’t the real one. It was as if she had been struck again, harder this time. Still, she refused to give up so easily. Hatred bubbled inside her as her glare locked on Hera.

Silvia strode to the door, teeth clenched, and hurled the fruit knife to the floor along with the half-peeled apple. Under her breath, she hissed, “Don’t think you’ve won. If I don’t get what I want, then no one will…”

Hera didn’t catch the words, but she could sense the hostility radiating from Silvia. It was clear Silvia wasn’t going to give up; if anything, she might look for an outlet for her anger. Leo was untouchable; Silvia knew she couldn’t match his power. But Hera? Silvia might think she could challenge her, even weaponize the Avery name against her.

Hera only sneered. To her, Silvia was just a placeholder, someone sitting in a seat that wasn’t truly hers. As long as her grandfather didn’t bend to Silvia’s will, she would remain powerless and unable to touch Hera.

After Silvia stormed out with her bodyguards, Zhane wheeled Hera closer to the bed and began arranging the food so they could all eat together. Rafael and Luke pitched in as well, giving Hera a brief moment alone with Leo.

“How are you feeling? How’s your recovery?” she asked, studying his face. No matter how long she looked, she couldn’t find even a shadow of the Leo she once knew. The amnesia had stripped away the warmth and familiarity, leaving only this aloof, detached, indifferent man. For some reason, a dull ache bloomed in her chest.

“I’m recovering well,” Leo replied simply, offering nothing more. But through the corner of his eye, he searched her face. When he caught the flicker of sadness there, something in his own chest tightened painfully.

Unable to bear the silence, he grasped for a subject—anything to keep the moment from sinking into awkwardness.

“How about you? How’s your recovery?” he asked in return.

Hera smiled sweetly. “I’m recovering well too… but maybe, if we shared a room, I’d recover faster?”

She couldn’t resist teasing him, hoping it might stir some memory. The tips of Leo’s ears flushed red, though he kept his face carefully composed, wearing that same aloof mask.

If not for the betraying blush, Hera might have believed his act. Realizing just how good he was at pretending, she decided she wanted to push him further. After all, without reliving some of their shared moments, how could they possibly jog his memory?

So she sighed, loudly, just to see if he’d take the bait. Sure enough, Leo turned toward her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked with a frown, thinking she might be discouraged by his coldness. For reasons he couldn’t explain, her expression left him feeling oddly restless.

“I just…” Hera’s voice faltered as she glanced away, her expression trembling as if she were on the verge of tears.

Leo’s chest constricted painfully at the sight. His fingers curled tightly into the blanket draped over him, lips pressed into a thin line. He had no experience coaxing a woman, yet seeing Hera look so fragile was like a fuse going off in his mind; panic surged through him.

Without thinking, his hand reached out and closed around hers; her hand was resting so close to his bedside. He didn’t know she had placed it there on purpose. The moment his warm palm enveloped hers, he froze, unsure what to do next. After a long pause, the only words he could manage were a hoarse, magnetic murmur: “Don’t be sad…”

The richness of his voice sent a flutter through Hera’s lashes, though in Leo’s eyes it only seemed as if she were fighting to hold back tears. That thought made him tighten his grip, not painfully, but with a steady warmth that seemed to wrap around her.

Hera felt the comfort in his touch and couldn’t resist teasing him. Once, it had been Leo who worked tirelessly to get close to her. Now that he had lost his memories, she decided it was her turn to bridge the distance.

Hera continued her pitiful act, having discovered that Leo had quite the talent for pretending himself. If he could use it on her, then he couldn’t complain about her turning the trick back on him.

And sure enough, Leo seemed to have a soft spot for her feigned vulnerability, but only when it was her. Anyone else trying the same thing would’ve been kicked out without a second thought.

Seeing his positive response, Hera didn’t push her luck. If she overplayed it, Leo might catch on, so she let the moment linger just enough before Rafael appeared with Leo’s meal.

“Hera, I’ll feed him, so you don’t have to worry,” Rafael said gently, setting the tray down. Zhane soon followed, rolling Hera’s wheelchair closer to the table.

They had all witnessed the exchange between her and Leo. Though they pretended not to be affected, it would’ve been a lie to say they weren’t at least a little jealous.

But what could they do? They were like brothers in love with the same woman, left with no choice but to support each other, even if it meant letting her and Leo have their moment.

Zhane was feeding Hera, while Luke helped scoop some soup for her. Across from them, Rafael was busy feeding Leo. At first, Leo eyed Rafael with open suspicion, clearly reluctant to eat, but in the end, he had no choice; he still needed to take his medicine afterward, so he couldn’t delay his meal.

Once Rafael finished feeding Leo, he finally reached for his own plate, only to be interrupted by the shrill sound of his phone.

Ring…

He considered ignoring it, but the calls kept coming. Each time it stopped, it started again, the persistence making it obvious that it was urgent. With a sigh, he answered.

“Hello?” His tone carried a trace of displeasure; it was already late, and he hoped this wasn’t some random crisis involving one of the artists under their management. The PR Team and their managers could handle those.

“Sir! You need to return to the company right away, there’s trouble!” one of the managers said urgently.

“What’s going on?” Rafael’s brows furrowed as he rose from his chair. The change in his demeanor was instant, his aura shifted, his expression hardened, and everyone turned to look at him.

He switched the call to speaker without hesitation. No one here felt like an outsider to him anymore, and this wasn’t the kind of matter he wanted to keep hidden. They’d all grown close enough that there was no need for secrecy, especially not over business.

Besides, everyone here had business experience; letting them hear the situation might mean more minds to help solve it.

As he listened, Rafael began gathering the used plates in front of him. “Do you remember the singer-songwriter Miss Minerva brought to our company some time ago?” the voice on the other end asked, hesitantly with a trembling voice.

Hera’s brows knitted. From that single question, she already had a sinking feeling about where this conversation was headed.

“What about him?” Rafael asked, trying to recall. He had no strong impression of the person and could barely remember his face, but as far as he knew, preparations for the debut were underway. Even so, the thought made him frown.

“Well… didn’t I ask you to increase the allotted budget for his debut?” the voice on the other end sounded tense, almost wavering.

“I remember,” Rafael said, crossing his arms. The manager’s obvious nervousness told him that something had gone seriously wrong.

And sure enough, Rafael’s suspicion was correct; there was a serious problem.

“Well… here’s the thing. We scheduled his debut to coincide with UE’s new singer-songwriter, Logan Walker. But now, there’s an issue with the track we’re releasing, because they’re putting out the exact same song. A carbon copy, if I may say so. Both companies are in chaos right now.”

“We’re preparing to sue for Plagiarism. After all, we only released a short teaser of the track online to stir up excitement and boost Lucas’s visibility for his debut. But who could have expected they’d release the same song, with the same arrangement…”

“They didn’t even bother rearranging the song, same melody, same lyrics. It’s outrageous. And now they’re claiming we’re the ones who plagiarized. It’s a complete mess here.”

“Online, it’s even worse. But Lucas insists that Logan is the real plagiarist. He says Logan must have gotten hold of his song beforehand, since they used to live in the same house. Logan could easily enter his room; Lucas was just staying there under their family’s care, so he didn’t have much say in the household.”

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