Lisa was not a stupid woman. She already knew something was wrong when she saw Patricia had done comparing their proposals in less than 10 minutes. If she was in Patricia's position, it is certain that she would spend at least half an hour. Lisa is willing to bet that Patricia must have been bribed by Maria to work with her, to bring her down in this company.
If Maria and Patricia had agreed to cooperate with each other, Lisa's efforts to defend herself would have been in vain. Even if she defended herself until she foamed, they wouldn't change their minds.
Lisa ignored Maria's insistence and looked at Patricia, "Hey, you have a brain, right? Don't try to accuse people baselessly! I worked on my proposal alone, I'm not plagiarizing anyone's work!"
"Why do you think I plagiarized Patricia's proposal, huh? I think it's you," Lisa pointed at Patricia, "You plagiarized my proposal, not the other way around!"