Chapter 28: Shocking Reversal! Revealing the Truth

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Shocking Reversal! Revealing the Truth

The host raised his microphone and announced loudly, "Dear friends in the audience, I will now announce that the winner of the Dancing National Style grand finals is..."

But right then, the host suddenly stopped.

The audience below thought the host was just trying to build suspense and craned their necks, waiting for him to announce the results.

But after more than a minute, the host still hadn’t continued.

"You’ve got to be kidding me. There’s building suspense, and then there’s this. Is something wrong with him?" some audience members began to complain.

"Huh? Look, it seems like the host is listening to something in his earpiece."

"Oh, you’re right!"

"What’s going on? What happened?"

The host had stopped mid-announcement because the director’s voice had just come through his earpiece. "Wait! Hold the announcement! We’ve received an audio file..."

The audience was growing impatient. What on earth was going on?

The contestants on stage were equally bewildered, looking at one another in confusion, unsure of what was happening.

Seeing this, Shannon Everett frowned, a guilty feeling stirring within her. ’What’s happening? He was just about to announce me as the winner, so why did he suddenly stop?’

The livestream chat was being flooded with question marks.

[??? Is this some kind of emergency??? A broadcast accident???]

Finally, just as the entire audience was completely baffled, the host spoke again:

"Dear friends in the audience, our Dancing National Style production team received an audio file in our email inbox before the finals began, but we didn’t have a chance to review it."

"Just three minutes ago, a staff member discovered this file. We have now decided to play it publicly for the entire audience to hear!"

After he finished, the host stepped aside to reveal the large screen behind him.

A staff member connected a laptop, mirroring its display onto the large screen.

Everyone in the venue could now see the production team’s email inbox on the screen, which showed an anonymous audio file.

At that moment, Shannon Everett’s heart sank. A terrible premonition struck her. ’That audio file... it couldn’t be...’

’No!’

’Don’t play it!’

Shannon Everett prayed frantically, her eyes filled with anxiety.

However, the staff member had already clicked "play" in front of everyone.

After a burst of crackling static, the voices of middle-aged men in discussion could be heard—

"This Sienna Everett and Shannon Everett are both young ladies of the Everett Family, but their fates are so different. Look at Master Everett, he’s gone to such lengths for Shannon Everett."

The audience instantly recognized the voice. It belonged to one of the judges on Dancing National Style!

And that very judge was on the stage right now!

All eyes immediately snapped toward that judge.

Cold sweat broke out on the judge’s forehead. ’That’s definitely my voice,’ he thought. ’How... how could someone have recorded it?’

The audio continued to play—

"To make sure Shannon Everett takes first place, Master Everett really spared no expense. He paid a hefty sum."

"So for the finals in two days, how should we score Sienna Everett?"

"Do you even have to ask? We give her low scores, of course. We’ve already taken Master Everett’s money, so we have to get the job done."

"I have to say, Master Everett is really generous. A hundred grand each! We’ve hit the jackpot!"

"Actually, Sienna Everett is a really good dancer. But alas, she’s in Shannon Everett’s way. So you can’t blame us for putting money before talent."

"Actually, during the last semi-finals, we already gave Sienna Everett deliberately low scores, but we were surprised when she still took first place."

"So for these finals, we’ll just have to push her score even lower. That’s the only way to guarantee Shannon Everett wins, right?"

Hearing this, the audience understood everything.

The venue erupted into an uproar, and the livestream chat exploded.

[HOLY SHIT! BRIBERY! THE JUDGES TOOK BRIBES!!]

[Master Everett? Did Wyatt Everett bribe them?]

[Absolutely! Master Everett is Wyatt Everett!]

[FUCK, no wonder those sons of bitches were giving Sienna Everett such low scores. They were bought! What happened to professional integrity!]

[Did everyone just hear that? Those bastards were already deliberately lowballing Sienna Everett’s scores during the semi-finals. Thank god Sienna is a fighter and still managed to take first place.]

[HOLY FUCK, Sienna Everett has the worst fucking luck. How did she end up with a family like this? Bribing the judges to keep his own sister from winning, all so a fake heiress can win instead?]

[WTF, what kind of messed-up family is this? They’re worse than animals!]

At this moment, Shannon Everett, still on stage, was in a complete panic. ’How could this have been exposed? How could the fact that Wyatt Everett bribed the judges get out?’

’That useless trash!’

’He couldn’t even handle something as simple as bribing the judges properly!’

Backstage, Wyatt Everett kicked over a nearby chair with a loud BANG. His face was a mask of fury and frustration. ’Dammit, who leaked this!’

Now everyone knew he had bribed the judges!

And it was a live broadcast, streamed directly to the entire internet! How could he ever show his face in public again!

The host turned to the four judges and questioned them on the spot, "To our four judges, do you have anything to say about this?"

The four judges glanced at one another, their faces deathly pale and their bodies trembling with fear. They wanted to make excuses, but the recording was crystal clear. With such blatant evidence staring them in the face, they were completely unable to muster a defense.

Their acceptance of bribes had been exposed in public. Their reputations were in tatters, and their future careers as judges were utterly ruined.

Next, the host turned to Shannon Everett and demanded, "Shannon Everett, were you aware that Wyatt Everett bribed the judges?"

In an instant, all eyes turned to Shannon Everett.

Shannon Everett dug her nails into her palms, so hard it felt like she might crush them. The gazes from the crowd, filled with contempt and disgust, were like sharp swords pinning her to a pillar of shame.