Free Web NovelChapter 191: Chapter 191 The Verdict
Christina’s POV
A woman sitting next to Octavia leaned forward in her seat.
"Miss Vance makes an excellent point," she said, her voice cutting through the chaos. "If the results are being questioned, let the people decide. I’d personally give her work a ten. It’s truly exceptional."
Her gaze locked directly on me, intense and appraising.
I met her eyes and nodded slightly. Akira stirred inside me, alert and proud. "She knows quality when she sees it."
The chat exploded again:
[Who is that woman? She’s making sense!]
[Is she a judge too?] freewebnøvel.com
[Someone ID her, she’s stunning]
[That’s Rowan Hale! My idol! When did she get back from overseas?]
Dr. DuBois was sweating heavily. Moisture soaked through her silk blouse, beading above her upper lip. She got up from her seat, walked over to me, and whispered:
"If you stop this circus now, I’ll re-score your pieces and give you better marks. Just... stop making a scene."
I raised my microphone. "No, I didn’t start this. You did. And we haven’t even talked about what you pulled backstage. You want to trash me? Say it out loud. Tell them what happened behind closed doors."
Someone in the audience yelled, "There’s backstage drama we need to know!"
Another voice: "She definitely took money!"
DuBois looked like she wanted to either run or pass out. Maybe both. She covered my microphone with her hand.
"Think carefully," she hissed. "This isn’t some local talent show. This is the national premier design competition with industry backing. If you want any future in this field, stop stirring up trouble."
"You’re threatening me," I said flatly.
"Yes, I am." Her nostrils flared. "If you don’t shut up and play along, you’ll never work again."
Halfway through her sentence, I pulled out the second microphone I’d kept hidden behind my back and held it near her mouth.
"Sorry, you were mumbling. Could you say that into the microphone?"
Her threat echoed through every speaker in the room.
I saw her jaw clench, and for a second, I thought she might bite her own tongue off.
"Did everyone hear that?" I asked. "She just threatened to blacklist me."
The audience responded immediately:
"We heard it!"
"Unbelievable!"
"She thinks she runs the industry!"
"She should blacklist herself first!"
DuBois stood frozen next to me, fists clenched so tight her knuckles went white. After a long moment, she turned and ran from the stage, nearly tripping over cables.
But she didn’t get to just vanish because she felt like it.
A man blocked her path. They had a heated exchange before he walked onto the stage.
He gave me an awkwardly apologetic smile before turning to the audience.
"Good evening, everyone. I’m Tristan Hadley, Executive Director of this competition. We’ve confirmed that Dr. Arieno DuBois took bribes to deliberately sabotage the scoring and manipulate the results. We’ve called the authorities who will investigate her and whoever was behind this."
Gasps and whispers swept through the room.
DuBois looked like the ground had been ripped out from under her. Her knees wobbled, and she grabbed a speaker to keep from falling.
Before she could deny anything, two officers appeared from the back of the room. They walked straight to her, clicked handcuffs around her wrists, and led her out without a word.
Whispers filled the room. Several phones stayed up, still recording.
I looked at Tristan. I was pretty sure I’d never seen him before today.
I turned to scan the audience until I found Hudson. When our eyes met, he gave me a knowing smile and nod.
The noise slowly died down as Tristan motioned to the crew. The screen behind me flickered and lit up, showing my original designs.
Tristan cleared his throat. "These designs are also Miss Vance’s work. Because of Dr. DuBois’s interference, she was forced to submit two sets under extreme time pressure. Even so, both submissions are complete and technically perfect. Her skill clearly goes beyond what we expect for this competition."
The audience clapped loudly.
"If she’d been given proper time," he continued, "the results would have been even more incredible. It would be a shame if this collection went unnoticed."
More applause broke out. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
"As they say, one bad apple spoils the bunch. Dr. DuBois’s actions have damaged this competition, but I hope everyone knows that her behavior doesn’t represent the whole event."
He turned to the judges. "We will re-score Miss Vance’s submission. I trust this will be fair and accurate."
This set off another wave of comments:
[That’s more like it.]
[Don’t even need scoring. Just give the trophy to @CVanceJewels now.]
[Give her both first AND second place. Her designs blow away everything else here.]
[Stop wasting time and announce it already.]
Tristan stepped aside and signaled the staff to continue judging.
"Miss, would you like to join me?" he asked quietly, leaning closer.
He pointed toward the front of the stage.
Hudson’s seat was empty.
I followed him backstage where Hudson was waiting.
Tristan walked over. "Alpha Hudson, I just wanted to make sure you’re happy with these arrangements."
Hudson stared at the big monitor for three more seconds before asking, "When is the award ceremony?"
Tristan hesitated. "The judges are scoring live now. After that, they’ll meet privately to finalize rankings. It’s a weighted scoring system. Both rounds of scoring combine for the final result—"
"So that’s a no," Hudson cut him off, "we won’t have results tonight."
"Not usually. We post final rankings online within three business days. That’s our standard process."
"Inefficient. This situation is already a disaster. I want results tonight."
"Yes—of course—I understand, but..." Tristan swallowed hard. "It’s a long-standing tradition. We’ve never announced winners the same day—"
"Kian Ahmed says this is my call. If I want to change the process, are you going to fight me?" Hudson’s voice carried that unmistakable Alpha authority that made people automatically respond.
"Absolutely not!" Tristan backed away, waving his hands. "Not at all. I’ll tell the committee right away. We’ll announce results immediately."
He didn’t wait for an answer.
He turned and hurried off.
Seven minutes later, the host picked up the microphone again.
