My Great Escape Led Me to You novel Chapter 349

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“Exactly, that’s how it should be. This entire mess is between Emily Blair and Isabella Austin—it has nothing to do with us. I support the suggestion that Emily should apologize publicly, but I don’t agree with our PR team drafting her apology statement. We weren’t involved from the start, and we shouldn’t get involved now. Just let Emily and Isabella handle it themselves. It’s not our problem, so let’s keep our hands clean. If anything else goes wrong later, we’ll be the ones left holding the bag.”

Everyone murmured their agreement.

“All right, if we’re all on the same page, someone reach out to Emily Blair and have her issue a public apology—”

“I disagree.”

Emily’s head snapped up, her eyes flickering with surprise.

It was Arianna George’s voice.

Arianna spoke up, her tone steady. “It doesn’t matter what Isabella Austin said or what her intentions were. None of that changes the fact that she plagiarized Vivian Martin’s piano piece. Emily Blair had every right to expose Isabella’s plagiarism in public—that was not a mistake. Emily did nothing wrong, and she owes Isabella no apology.

“As for Isabella giving up the championship trophy, that’s only fair. The Starlight Piano Competition has always valued originality and has zero tolerance for plagiarism. Even if Isabella’s final performance was original, the fact remains that she did plagiarize. In my opinion, she should not be awarded the champion’s trophy.

Arianna’s words rang with conviction. “The only one at fault here is Isabella Austin. We’re blameless, and especially Emily—she was just a courageous young woman standing up for her teacher and the truth. She shouldn’t have to apologize, and frankly, I don’t ever want to see her do so. If she’s forced to apologize, that would be truly absurd—a victory for those who wish to see her crushed.”