“Why?” Olivia was stunned.
Everything was going so well. She had assumed that AE, like the other judges, would give her a high score. But instead, she received the lowest score of all–the absolute lowest!
Humiliating!
Olivia’s face was burning with anger, but she bit her tongue. That 3.8 score would be discarded anyway, so it wouldn’t affect her final result.
She clenched her teeth and decided to endure for now.
At that moment, Pearl reached up and removed her hat.
“Pearl!” The moment Olivia saw her face, her expression twisted as if she had seen a ghost.
Not only was Pearl really one of the judges, but she was also AE’s legendary designer!
Impossible. Impossible!
The series of blows left her reeling, momentarily forgetting she was even in a competition. All she could think about was tearing Pearl apart!
“Pearl, you’re abusing your power for personal revenge!” Olivia shrieked.
Seated on the judging panel, Pearl gazed at her coolly, the corner of her lips curling with satisfaction.
This was exactly the reaction she wanted.
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B
“You designed this piece?” Pearl tilted her head slightly.
“You know damn well I did!” Olivia was fuming. “I’ll report you to the committee!”
How dare she give her a 3.8? Pearl better be prepared for total ruin! Even if she was AE’s designer, she would still go down!
Yet, Pearl remained unshaken, her face eerily calm. “Honestly, I think even 3.8 is too generous for this piece.”
“You-!”
How dare she humiliate her like this? She wanted to kill her!
Olivia clenched her fists, already fantasizing about making Pearl suffer–deeply, completely.
Pearl slowly stood up. “Contestant, can you redraw this design right here, in front of everyone?”
Bringing her original design to the competition? Only Olivia could be this foolish.
“Why should I?” Olivia snapped, but inside, she was panicking. She didn’t dare pick up the pencil.
The moment she started drawing, people would notice the inconsistencies. Then, there would be no hiding the fact that she had stolen someone else’s work.
But Pearl couldn’t possibly know she had found the design, so as long as she stayed firm, she’d be fine.
“There’s no rule requiring that, is there? Isn’t this an unreasonable demand from a judge?” Olivia put on a look of righteous indignation, feigning grievance.
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“Unreasonable?” Pearl murmured, repeating the word under her breath.
She thought back to that night at the old Mr. Rhodes‘ birthday banquet, when Olivia had shamelessly pinned the blame for a stolen photo on her.
She didn’t press further. Instead, she enlarged Olivia’s design on the big screen.
“Everyone, take a look at this.” Pearl’s voice was clear, unwavering. “The dress’s body, hem, and neckline are all meticulously designed. However, the cuffs both in linework and technique–are completely different. The style shift is blatant.”
At normal scale, it was barely noticeable, but under magnification, the discrepancy became glaringly obvious.
“She’s right. The sleeve details are significantly rougher.”
“It’s like two entirely different people worked on this piece.”
“The sleeves completely ruin the design.”
The judges nodded in agreement.
The audience murmured among themselves, their initial confusion about Pearl’s low score giving way to understanding.
Exposed in front of everyone, Olivia’s rage burned hotter. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought Pearl would catch such a tiny detail!
“I–I worked on it with someone else! What’s wrong with that? The committee never said group submissions weren’t allowed!”
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It took her a while to come up with an excuse, and her tone was as aggressive as ever.
She couldn’t afford to lose.
Losing to this nobody, this person she had trampled on for years? She might as well be dead!
“If that were the case, you should have disclosed it beforehand. Without prior approval, it’s considered fraud.” Pearl lifted a booklet from the table and flipped through it. “The competition guidelines state this clearly. You even signed your name on them.”
“I”
“More importantly,” Pearl continued, “you couldn’t have drawn this design, because…”
She pulled out another sketch–a menswear piece–and placed it over Olivia’s design.
At the seam where the two designs met, a faintly sketched signature—AE’s unmistakable mark–aligned perfectly between them.
The moment Olivia saw it, her face went deathly pale.
She had never noticed that signature. She had never considered that the design might actually belong to AE!
When she found it, she had assumed it was just some student’s lost work. She had added a few strokes and submitted it as her own.
The first–place trophy that had seemed within her grasp
was gone.
Because of Pearl’s revelation, her entry was disqualified.
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Furious, Olivia let out a guttural scream. “Pearl, I’ll kill you! I swear I’ll kill you!”
Later, Pearl arrived at Sophia’s company.
Sitting in the office, she held the recovered design sketch in her hands.
It was the women’s piece from a matching couples‘ set she had once created.
It had been for the old Mr. Rhodes‘ 99th birthday banquet.
That night had been the first time Caleb had allowed her to attend. She had been so excited that she had designed an entire matching ensemble–one for each of them hoping they would wear it together at the event.
She had wanted to show him her talent.
She had wanted to see admiration in his eyes.
She had believed that his invitation meant he was finally willing to accept her.
But before she could complete the set, the design had gone missing.
And that night, her marriage had shattered beyond repair.
Pearl picked up a lighter from the table and flicked it on.
A small flame danced at the tip.
Slowly, she brought it to the edge of the sketch, watching as the paper curled, blackened, and turned to ash.
< Chapter 7: She No Longe…
