Qian Qian

Qian Qian sat outside the office of the Director of the Photography Association with her hands clasped in front of her. Though her expression remained calm, her hands were clasped together to stop them from trembling. This was her only chance to prove that the work she had submitted was not plagiarized. She had not stolen the work of another photographer and taken credit for another's hard work. If this accusation stuck to her then her hard earned reputation over the years would be ruined. She would be ruined. Getting out of that small town had been difficult enough a decade ago but if she had to go now with a smeared reputation then she would not even be able to live.

She did not understand how someone could submit the same photograph as her for the "Photographer Of The Year" Competition! And the fact that the photo had submitted before her was another black mark against her!

No. She shook her head. She knew how this had happened. She was only unwilling to accept it. Because accepting that your own sister and your fiance had conspired against you was not something that one could easily believe. But she could think of no other person that would have done so. She was lucky that the Director and the judges had seen her work in the past and she was informed quietly of this. If this matter had been exposed to the public then even if she had been able to prove her innocence, she would not have escaped the humiliation of this. When she had been asked to come here, she had been a little excited that maybe she would be able to bag this award again this year, resulting in her breaking a world record as being the only photographer with three consecutive awards. She had almost called Shawn to tell him about this meeting tonight but something had stopped her at the end moment. She had wanted to get a confirmation before she could proudly show this to him. And thank the fates that she had done this. She still wanted to believe that these two people were innocent but other than them no one else could have done this. And they had both been handling this together so she could not believe that only one of them had betrayed her. And now, if she was not given a chance to prove this, not just this year but there would be questions over the previous year's awards too.

Just then the door opened and the old Director walked out. She stood up immediately looking up at him, her fingers crossed. Finally the grim looking director sighed and said," Xue Qian. There are many people who would not be happy with your success. There would be those who are jealous and those who want you to fall. The only way we can succeed is if we don't give them a chance to attack us by remaining alert. That includes those judges inside who are not immune to these feelings. This time you have exposed a weakness and naturally they will not let you go unscathed. But for now, I have suppressed them. They are all bound by the confidentiality agreement so you are safe for now. There is one week to the result being announced. If in this one week you can prove your innocence, then we will consider your entry. If however you fail to do that, not only will you be disqualified, all your previous awards will be cancelled and you will be blacklisted by the entire community. I hope that you are able to do this."

Xue Qian was about to open her mouth to ask the identity of the person who had made the same submission as her but the director raised his hand and stopped her, "I cannot tell you what you want to know. That would be against the rules. But, heed a word of advice, start looking for the culprit from within your own circle."

Xue Qian nodded and breathed deeply before collapsing on the bench. Her eyes glittered as she was forced to look at the truth. She had been a victim of a conspiracy. Qian Qian looked at the fading light outside and the girl who always saw beauty everywhere could now only feel the darkness that lumbered ahead, threatening to drown her.