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Revenge in Diamonds
"Imperial Jewelry's CEO? Why did he come? This man is so handsome and he's making my legs go weak!"
"Imperial is the organizer of the jewelry competition, so does Imperial Jewelry's CEO need a reason to attend his own award ceremony?"
Amidst the screams, Winnie came back to her senses, while Olivia hurriedly pulled her into the venue.
"OMG, it's my idol!"
"Winnie, is it possible that your nemesis has come to support you?"
Winnie was dazzled by the man's radiance and gave Olivia a bitter smile. "How is that possible?"
Olivia smirked. "You're right. But he didn't even attend the preliminary round, so why did he suddenly appear at the award ceremony?"
Winnie was also puzzled, looking at the figure of the man on the podium in a black suit, tall and clean-cut.
He adjusted his tie and elegantly took his seat. Under the lights, his sharply defined face, straight nose, thin lips, and deep-set features became even more stunning with each glance.
Suddenly, his cold gaze swept toward Winnie through the crowd.
Winnie froze. She thought she must have imagined it.
He averted his gaze, picked up his phone, and frowned as he typed a few words.
Winnie's mind was in a daze. Suddenly a staff member brought two chairs and placed them in the middle of the crowd, inviting them to sit.
Olivia was speechless at what happened.
"Winnie, may I ask who is so kind-hearted to give you a seat in the center of the crowd when you are about to be eliminated?"
Winnie was also confused, saying, "It must be a mistake."
She felt the imposing gaze above her head again and looked up, but he was nowhere to be seen now.
Ava caught up in her triumph and did not notice the commotion here.
The host announced, "Next up, we have Imperial Jewelry's CEO to announce the results of the competition!"
The whole room fell silent. Ava's heart raced as she ignored Daniel's handsome face next to her and focused on the handsome and dignified man in the chairman's seat.
"Ava, Imperial Jewelry's CEO is awarding you the first prize. I envy you, and you also have the perfect fiance!"
"Mrs. Davis, you are really lucky to have a talented designer as your daughter-in-law." Mrs. Davis loved to be praised and was very happy to hear this.
Ava proudly said, "Mrs. Davis, when I go on stage to make my winning speech, I want to invite you up there with me!"
This was an opportunity to regain her reputation, and Mrs. Davis happily agreed.
Ava couldn't wait. She stood up and walked out of the seats while glancing at Winnie with a malicious smile.
But Imperial Jewelry's CEO was taking a long time to announce the award.
Ava was almost at the stage, and she was feeling a bit embarrassed.
Then, a deep and powerful voice came from the stage, "Winnie Anderson? Please raise your hand."
Ava was stunned.
Winnie was also stunned as her archenemy suddenly called her name in a magnetic voice. When she looked up, she saw that dazzling man and hesitantly raised her hand.
"Hmm," the man said curtly without any expression.
'What does this mean?'
Ava felt awkward at this moment. Lawrence was a big shot in the business world, and no one could guess his intentions. However, she immediately guessed if the CEO of Imperial Jewelry wanted to disqualify Winnie from the competition first.
The audience was also guessing.
"Is the CEO of Imperial Jewelry going to disqualify Winnie first? After all, there's a black sheep here, tarnishing the award ceremony!"
Seeing everyone guessing like this, Ava regained her composure and sneered at Winnie. Hence, she raised the microphone, and hypocritically said, "Sir, are you going to disqualify the plagiarist first? Can you please give Winnie a chance?"
"Yes, I am going to disqualify the plagiarist," the man said without looking at her, raising his hand coldly to signal his assistant.
The assistant immediately projected something on the large screen, attracting everyone's attention to it.
The assistant spoke, "Our CEO wants to report the list of judges who were bribed. This is the surveillance video from Imperial on 1st October. Triton's CEO, Daniel and contestant, Ava delivered a $26 million painting to the CEO's office at Imperial Jewelry in the morning, aiming to secure first place in the competition. Imperial accepted it, but only as evidence of the bribery."
Ava's face turned pale and stiff. She took a few steps back, unable to react at all.
There was an uproar below, but before it could explode into chaos, the big screen continued to display other materials. "The first prize-winning work of the competition is a retro-style diamond piece. Ava's file was created on 2nd October but our CEO received Winnie's original design on 28th September as recorded in the email."
Now it was Winnie's turn to be shocked as she stared wide-eyed at the screen. She wondered how her archenemy had the exact draft that she had consulted with Lawrence on that day.
The assistant announced the third message, "The chief judge of the competition, Mr. Lee, has been caught accepting bribes and helping Ava cheat. He is now under investigation and will be taken away immediately."
Two uniformed staff members appeared on the stage and apprehended the dumbfounded Mr. Lee on the spot.
Mr. Lee, who was highly respected, was taken away just like that despite his status.
Everyone present gradually understood the situation and their gazes were filled with awe as they looked toward the man in the chairman's seat.
The hall fell into complete silence, and many people were in disbelief at this shocking turn of events.
Ava turned pale, and her mind was now in a mess. She looked at that noble and terrifying man, unable to understand why he had instantly dragged her from heaven to hell with just a few sentences.
She was supposed to shine brightly as the champion today, but as she looked at the irrefutable evidence on the screen, she broke into a cold sweat. She stumbled backward, falling to the ground like she had been thrown into an icy cave.
At this moment, some reporters finally reacted and began their questioning.
"Imperial Jewelry's CEO, are these allegations true? Did Ava bribe you, steal Winnie's work, and then cheat with the help of Mr. Lee to falsely accuse Winnie of plagiarism?!"
The reporters' questions made even the slowest audience members understand the situation.
They gasped and looked at Ava in astonishment.
Ava's disheveled appearance on the ground was a perfect representation of her guilty conscience.
"No, I didn't plagiarize Winnie's work..." Ava stood up, desperately trying to maintain her image.
The reporters surrounded her. "But Imperial Jewelry's CEO presented evidence against you, Ava. How do you explain that?"
Ava looked at Lawrence, not daring to utter a word of denial.
If she offended him again, Triton would definitely go down with her.
The reporters saw her silence and said, "So, Ava, you plagiarized on purpose. Why did you steal Winnie's work? Aren't you a talented designer?"
"Is it even necessary to ask? Oh my, we were all fooled by her innocent appearance! Maybe she has been stealing from Winnie all along," an audience member speculated.
The reporters quickly rushed toward Winnie, "Ms. Winnie, have you been the victim of false accusations all along?"
Olivia tightly squeezed Winnie's hand, her eyes welling up with tears. This was their chance.
Winnie remained calm and coolly glanced at Ava. "The retro-style piece is my original creation, which was fortunately confirmed by Imperial Jewelry's CEO. I have been falsely accused, and I have never plagiarized anyone. On the contrary, it is others who have plagiarized my work."