From Broken to Beloved-Chapter 126- never apologize!

Lucca was on the verge of losing her mind.

After the plagiarism scandal broke, not only was she flooded with online abuse and vicious attacks, but two design projects she had previously signed were also suspended. When she went to work at the company today, many employees at Channing Group looked at her with open contempt. She was so furious that she nearly smashed up her office.

Lucca had calculated everything—except that Bert would strike her from the shadows. What she didn’t know was that when it came to ruthless, underhanded tactics, Bert was an absolute master.

She cried and begged Channing to plead on her behalf, but when he returned, he told her there was no room left for recovery.

She was desperate. And she was furious.

For so many years, she had schemed and plotted to trample Catherine beneath her feet. Yet in the end, she was the one crushed most brutally—and with no chance of ever turning things around.

Gnashing her teeth in hatred, Lucca dug her nails deep into her palms, forcing herself to calm down.

So what if her design career was ruined? She hadn’t even liked the industry that much to begin with. She’d only entered it to outshine Catherine. If she stopped doing design, she could always do something else, couldn’t she?

There were hundreds of professions in the world—she didn’t have to rely on jewelry design to survive. Besides, she was the Channing family’s precious daughter. If she stopped designing, she could simply move into management. That would be easier anyway.

After comforting herself like this, her mood improved slightly.

Then Channing called her.

Regarding the plagiarism incident, he demanded that she issue a public apology.

"The board of directors is strongly urging you to apologize immediately and step down from the position of chief designer. As long as you remain at Channing Group, you will no longer be allowed to engage in any design-related work."

Lucca refused outright.

"I won’t apologize. I absolutely won’t apologize. If I do, wouldn’t that be the same as admitting I plagiarized? Wouldn’t that mean publicly surrendering to Catherine and Bert?"

"I can accept never doing design again, but I will never apologize!"

She shouted sharply and hung up the phone.

Channing was furious. The company was already under immense pressure from the board, and now Lucca had caused such a scandal. He could barely bring himself to stay at the company anymore.

In a rage, he drove straight to Lucca’s place and confronted her aggressively.

"If you still want to stay at Channing Group, then issue the apology immediately. Otherwise, get out!"

Lucca protested angrily.

"This company belongs to the Channing family! Who do those board members think they are to kick me out? They should be the ones leaving!"

When Lucca lost control, she ignored everyone and listened to no one, completely unconcerned about the consequences. That was precisely why she had made so many foolish mistakes.

By all accounts, Lucca had been dealt a perfect hand at birth—yet she had managed to play it into ruin.

In the past, before all these incidents, Channing had been extremely indulgent toward his youngest daughter. Partly because Tracy constantly praised Lucca in front of him, and partly because Lucca was sweet-tongued, lively, and very good at winning people over.

So no matter what happened before, Channing was used to protecting her. As long as her tantrums didn’t go too far, he tolerated them. But now, Tracy’s affair had filled Channing with hatred and disgust toward her—and that resentment naturally spilled over onto Lucca.

On top of that, everything that had happened recently—Lucca’s irrational behavior and immaturity—had completely exhausted whatever affection Channing still had for her. Now, seeing her stubbornly refuse to listen, his anger exploded.

He raised his hand and slapped her across the face again.

"You must apologize! This is a PR decision made by the board. Whether you want to or not, you will do it!"

Lucca burst into tears after the slap.

"Don’t think I don’t know why you hate me so much now! It’s because Catherine latched onto Bert, that old man! You think she’s made something of herself, so you protect her at every turn—and that’s why you despise me!"

"She has made something of herself," Channing snapped. "I never expected her to end up with Bert. And you—if you had even a shred of competence, Gerald wouldn’t have proposed breaking off the engagement!"

Looking at Lucca’s hysterical state, Channing felt utterly drained. But he couldn’t blame anyone else. If blame was to be assigned, it lay with himself—for raising a daughter like this.

Too tired to argue any further, he pulled a document from his briefcase and threw it onto the floor.

"This is the public apology statement. There will be a press conference tomorrow. You’ll read it word for word."

Not wanting to stay there a second longer, Channing turned around and slammed the door behind him.

Furious, Lucca hurled the apology statement aside.

Tracy came out of her bedroom. Ever since Channing had caught her cheating and divorced her, Tracy had been uneasy about facing him. Whenever Channing came by, she hid away. Only now, after he had left, did she dare come out.

She picked up the statement, skimmed through it, then walked over and tried to persuade Lucca.

"I think issuing an apology will at least calm the public opinion for now. You should just go along with it."

Tracy was, after all, older than Lucca and understood the stakes far better. After a full day of escalation, the plagiarism scandal had turned Lucca into the eye of a storm—far worse than the damage Catherine had suffered before.

What had happened to Catherine, to put it bluntly, had been a matter of personal reputation.

But Lucca’s plagiarism scandal was a matter of professional integrity—something that would draw outright condemnation.

Catherine’s scandal had merely earned her people’s disdain, and once it passed, it passed. But Lucca’s case was different. If she didn’t respond properly, it would be something people would spit on every time it was mentioned.

There was no denying it—Bert was truly ruthless.

"No. No!"

Lucca continued to resist.

Angrily, Tracy stepped forward and pinched Lucca hard on the arm.

"Things have already come to this, and you’re still being willful? Do you want to be completely ruined?"

Fuming, Tracy tossed the statement aside as well and returned to her bedroom.

This time, neither Channing nor Tracy indulged Lucca. Her arrogance finally drained away. After lingering in place for a long while, she eventually picked up the statement and went back to her room.

The next day, no matter how unwilling she was, Lucca had no choice but to comply with the board’s demands. She urgently held a press conference and publicly apologized for her plagiarism.

She had originally still been trying to resist. But early that morning, the whistleblower released yet another bombshell—revealing that Lucca had not only plagiarized but had also hired a ghost designer during a past design competition to produce a draft for her.

The ghost designer was located and personally came forward, testifying that Lucca had paid her to create the design, had won a major award with it, and had clearly explained how the prize money had been divided afterward.

Lucca’s reputation in the design world was completely destroyed. The twin accusations of plagiarism and hiring a stand-in artist crushed her beneath the weight of moral condemnation, leaving her no chance of recovery.

In the end, backed into a corner, Lucca hastily held a press conference. Tearfully, she apologized for both plagiarism and using a ghost designer, and announced her permanent withdrawal from the design industry.

Yet even after admitting her mistakes, very few people accepted her apology. Public opinion continued to rage against her. Channing ultimately sent her back home, telling her to stay out of sight for a while and let things cool down.

One evening after the Lucca scandal, Catherine was taking a walk in the neighborhood with Renata when she unexpectedly ran into Gerald’s mother, who had come looking for her.

While Lucca’s world had descended into chaos, Catherine’s days had been calm and steady.

Bert insisted on picking her up for work every morning. If he was at the office at noon, they would have lunch together. Considering that Renata was still at home, Catherine discussed it with Bert—if they ate together at lunch, she would go home in the evening to keep Renata company. Bert agreed without hesitation.

Bert cherished and loved her—and Catherine, in turn, respected and loved him just as deeply.

To Catherine and Bert, this was the happiest and most wonderful relationship of their lives, and both of them cherished it deeply.

Catherine was actually a little surprised by Lucy’s appearance, because she didn’t think she still had any ties or entanglements with Gerald or his family.

When Gerald’s mother saw Catherine and Renata, she stood there and cried out in a sorrowful voice,

"Cici..."

Then she covered her face and burst into tears, crying so bitterly that it looked genuinely heartbreaking.

Catherine and Renata stood there, both completely unmoved. If it hadn’t been for Lucy’s previous display at the mall—when she had acted arrogantly and mockingly, offering to swipe her card to buy them clothes—they might have stepped forward now to ask about Lucy’s situation.

But now, no one felt the slightest sympathy for Lucy.

In the end, Lucy couldn’t keep up the act any longer. Feeling rather awkward, she walked over herself, looked at Catherine, and said shamelessly,

"Cici, I saw you and that Lilian from Burg Eltz getting along pretty well at the mall last time. Could you ask her to put in a few good words for Gerald? His company has really been having an incredibly hard time lately—"

Before Lucy could finish, Catherine cut her off calmly,

"What is Gerald to me? Why should I speak up for him?"