Chapter 484: Insisting on Getting Slapped in the Face

Chapter 484: Chapter 484: Insisting on Getting Slapped in the Face

"Are you saying I should eliminate Miss Ember?"

Albert Ellis felt more justified the more he spoke. He raised his voice. "Should we eliminate Estelle Lockwood, who has never even made it to the qualifiers, or the reigning champion? Tell me!"

The surroundings fell into a dead silence. You could hear a pin drop.

Was this actually Miss Ember’s work?

If they judged solely on the work and not the person, she should indeed be eliminated.

But this was Ember.

Miss Ember, who had stunned the entire audience in the previous competition, receiving unanimous top scores from thirty-five judges to claim the championship crown.

If it was her...

Albert Ellis looked thoroughly smug. "Besides, perhaps Miss Ember just didn’t perform well on this design due to certain external factors. Should we strip her of her qualifications just because of one mistake? If we miss out on a champion, who will take responsibility?"

"This..."

"What twisted logic!" Ms. Riddle sneered. "No matter who it is, they must follow the rules! Even if she is Ember, even if she is Claire Yeats, her performance in the first round was simply subpar, and she deserves to be cut! This is a competition, not a place to show off status or wealth!

"If we treat her opponent unfairly just because of Claire Yeats’s identity, then this design competition will become nothing more than a playground for these rich and powerful young masters and ladies!"

Albert Ellis scoffed disdainfully. "So what?"

Ms. Riddle was furious. "You!"

Albert Ellis sneered. "Yes, if she were just an ordinary champion, a mistake would be a mistake. But she is one of the Yeats.

"The Head of the Yeats has returned to the country, and Mr. Yeats personally called to ask me to look after her. Are you saying I should disregard the Yeats’ pride for the sake of Estelle Lockwood?"

There was one more thing he didn’t mention.

The Yeats Family had bribed him.

A full two million, just to ensure Claire Yeats had a good time. Estelle Lockwood was considered a celebrity too—the chairman of Star and Nathaniel Sloan’s wife—yet she wasn’t willing to offer a single cent. She didn’t even know how to grease some palms. She deserved to be eliminated.

Albert Ellis lifted his chin arrogantly. "Anyway, the list has already been published. Changing it now won’t help. Besides...

"Even if you go out and tell everyone, who would believe you? The reigning champion eliminated by Estelle Lockwood? Haha, people will just treat it as a joke!

"So I advise you all to stop making a fuss. Otherwise, if you offend the Yeats Family, I won’t be able to save you either!"

With that, Albert Ellis turned on his heel and stormed off.

Some judges followed him out, while others remained, shaking their heads in sorrow.

"At the end of the day, we’re just judges. How could we possibly go against the Yeats Family?"

"Sigh..."

Meanwhile, Estelle Lockwood had no idea what was happening online or within the competition committee.

When she woke up and found over thirty missed calls and 99+ unread messages on her phone, a sense of foreboding washed over her.

What was going on?

Before she could figure out what had happened, Henry Kendrick called again.

"Estelle! Have you checked Weibo?"

"I haven’t..."

"If you haven’t, don’t. I’ll just tell you straight." Henry Kendrick seemed furious. He took a deep breath. "You’ve been eliminated from this design competition."

Estelle was speechless. Two literal question marks practically popped over her head. She was eliminated?

Henry Kendrick had seen the design for "Cloud Sea Building," so he naturally knew there must be foul play behind her elimination. Besides, Estelle was the reigning champion. Even if she made a mistake, she wouldn’t be eliminated in the qualifiers—not to mention her design had been absolutely stunning!

"Your name isn’t on the list of two hundred qualifiers. I went to the XM design department, and they said your elimination was completely normal. When I demanded to see the evaluation process, I was kicked out."

Henry Kendrick sneered. "Then I went to another department. Everything was fine at first, but the moment I asked to see the work of the contestant who eliminated you, their expressions instantly changed. What do you think they’re hiding?"

Estelle wasn’t stupid. Her face immediately darkened. "Someone rigged the evaluation."

"Exactly. If things went normally, your work would easily win the championship, let alone pass the qualifiers.

"Yet you were somehow eliminated.

"The XM design competition has always prided itself on fairness. If a contestant is unsatisfied, they can inquire about which round they were eliminated in and see the work that beat them.

"There are other contestants this year who weren’t satisfied and asked to check the evaluation details. The committee agreed to all their requests—

"Except for you. Everyone kept their mouths shut and firmly refused to let anyone investigate. Heh."

That last scoff was filled with absolute mockery.

Estelle narrowed her eyes. "I understand. I can look into it."

After hanging up, she opened Weibo and took a quick glance. Sure enough, Claire Yeats’s fans were already popping champagne to celebrate prematurely, alongside a swarm of internet trolls posing as fake fans to stir up trouble.

Estelle clicked her tongue. Claire Yeats had really paid a steep price this time; she had not only bought trolls to praise herself but also hired them to smear Estelle.

Nathaniel Sloan walked into the room. Seeing her sitting cross-legged on the bed with her brow tightly knitted, he set down his teacup. "I found out."

"Huh?" Estelle looked up, bewildered.

Nathaniel met her gaze and gently smoothed her hair. "I saw the news while you were asleep, so I naturally looked into it."

Estelle blinked. "So..."

"Yes, it’s Claire Yeats."

As expected, her guess was right. There was no surprise at all.

Estelle was confused. "But isn’t Claire Yeats afraid? This is too easy to expose. As long as I publish my design online, I believe the netizens aren’t blind. If everyone demands an investigation, the XM competition committee won’t be able to withstand the pressure."

"Indeed," Nathaniel said quietly. "That’s why the Yeats Family pressured the committee this time."

The Yeats Family, it was the Yeats Family again.

This Yeats Family...

Estelle always found them very strange. The Yeats claimed they missed her mother dearly and felt sorry for her, which was why they had searched for her. And after her mother died, they wanted to find her daughter.

But now that she was found, everyone in the Yeats Family acted so bizarrely.

When Old Mr. Yeats first found her, he truly acted like a good grandfather. He treated her well, defended her at every turn, and gave her plenty of respect.

But later, when Evan Yeats stole her painting, when Old Mrs. Yeats made things difficult for her, and now with Claire Yeats’s blatant targeting, Old Mr. Yeats seemed to have completely vanished.

Whenever asked, the excuse was always that he was handling affairs in the Capital City and had no time to attend to matters here.

But did Old Mr. Yeats really not know her situation? It was impossible for him not to know.

So, back then, when her mother left the Yeats Family, did she really just go missing, or was there some other reason? And had the Yeats stayed tight-lipped just to save face?

Forget it. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on these things.

Estelle looked at Nathaniel Sloan. "Go on."

Nathaniel sneered. "Albert Ellis from the judging panel received two million from the Yeats Family to guarantee Claire Yeats’s advancement. Eliminating you was also Claire Yeats’s idea.

"It’s not that no one on the judging panel supported you. They even had a massive argument over it. But Albert Ellis brought up Old Mr. Yeats, claiming this was Old Mr. Yeats’s intention."

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. "Within today, I will definitely get you justice. You can rest assured."

Estelle naturally trusted Nathaniel, but...

She raised an eyebrow. "I didn’t want to draw blood today, but since Claire Yeats is so desperate to offer her face up for a slap, let’s go.

"I’m going to the Yeats’ villa."