Chapter 494: Don’t Worry, There’s Evidence

Liam’s words took everyone aback. Was that not escalating things a bit too far? Only Claire bit her lip hard, the terror in her heart threatening to overflow. She wondered how this was possible when she had spent so much money on hush payments. But then she steeled herself. Right, as long as she denied it to the bitter end, she would be fine!

Nearby, Zion furrowed his brows again. He felt that Evan’s words actually made sense. Estelle claimed to have evidence, but she kept hiding it and refused to make it public. Her words simply lacked credibility. No one would have judged her for being eliminated, yet she chose to slander the judges just to save face. How vicious of her!

Zion took a deep breath. “Second Young Mr. Sloan, please stop spouting nonsense! You can easily present the evidence instead of slinging mud everywhere, especially when that mud is aimed at the Yeats family—”

Before he could finish, Estelle played a video on her phone.

She had recorded the entire process of submitting her competition entry. The video clearly showed the design draft of her work, Cloud Sea Building. The next moment, she showed everyone the advanced entries publicly announced by the competition committee. Astonishingly, this particular Cloud Sea Building entry had Claire’s name written on it!

“What… what is going on?!” someone exclaimed.

“Many people saw Estelle go to submit her work that day,” another chimed in. “We also heard there was a video recording during the submission. This video can’t be faked.”

“But later on, Miss Lockwood was eliminated, and Claire’s name was put on her work?”

Zion’s expression changed drastically. “That’s impossible—this must be a mistake—”

He was cut off as a clear audio recording echoed throughout the Veridian Retreat.

“Mr. Lynch, when it was submitted, this Cloud Sea Building entry already had Miss Claire’s name on it. We don’t know anything beyond that.”

Mr. Lynch? The crowd froze for a moment. Then they realized who it was. The mysterious Mr. Lynch, the man from the charity foundation and the helmsman of the Aethel Group. Furthermore, Mr. Lynch seemed to have an ongoing partnership with the XM Design Competition. It made perfect sense if he was the one investigating the matter.

The recording continued, switching to a different person’s voice.

“Mr. Lynch, please don’t fire me! It was Miss Claire who told me to arrange her and Estelle in the same group. I didn’t want to do it!”

Then came another man’s voice.

“Mr. Yeats gave me a million to eliminate Miss Yeats’ opponent. That’s the Yeats family we’re talking about! I can’t afford to offend them. Please, Mr. Lynch, let me off this one time!”

After that, a woman’s voice pleaded for mercy.

“Miss Yeats demanded to swap her work with her opponent’s. I… I knew it was unfair to Estelle, but Claire has the Yeats family backing her. How could people like us dare to offend them? She said that if I didn’t comply, she would drive me out of Crestfall. I was too scared to refuse…

“Estelle can only blame her own bad luck for not having the Yeats family’s support… Besides, Miss Yeats was the champion of the last competition. It’s a good thing for her to advance…”

The recording ended. Deathly silence fell over the room!

Everyone in the Veridian Retreat was utterly dumbfounded. Instantly, all eyes landed on Claire. How could anyone be so shameless?!

Claire’s breathing grew ragged as tears welled up in her eyes, looking as if she might faint at any moment.

Liam drawled slowly, his expression shifting from a mocking gaze to icy resolve. “Why so quiet, Miss Yeats? Who are you putting on this aggrieved act for? You said there’s always someone better out there, so it’s normal to be eliminated… but you never mentioned it was this kind of elimination.

“Oh, but I suppose buying off the judges does count as being the ‘better someone,’ doesn’t it? If your skills don’t measure up, just compete with family backgrounds instead.

“But speaking of family backgrounds… Old Mr. Yeats, what was it you said earlier? You said that Estelle was simply small-minded and refused to accept defeat. Yet now that Claire has stolen her design, she successfully advanced and was highly favored by the judges. So, who should the judges have actually been favoring all along?

“And another thing. That judge in the recording said Estelle deserved to be eliminated and have her work swapped. After all, she didn’t have the backing of the Yeats family.

“Old Mr. Yeats, you people kept insisting that Estelle is your sister’s long-lost daughter and that you would treat her well once you brought her home. But now, an adopted daughter with no blood ties to the Yeats family can trample all over the true young lady. She even made outsiders claim that the real daughter of the Yeats family has no one to protect her.

“Old Mr. Yeats, is Estelle the one who needs to reflect on her actions, or is it you?”

His words sent a shockwave through the room.

Zion trembled all over, his hand shaking uncontrollably as he pointed a trembling finger at Liam.

The bystanders truly could no longer hold their tongues.

“No wonder the three from the Yeats family took turns interrupting the moment Estelle mentioned having evidence. They were just feeling guilty!”

“On one hand, you claim Estelle’s skills are inferior, but on the other, you steal her design. Oh, so you did know that taking her design would guarantee advancement? In that case, ‘inferior skills’ must not refer to her design ability, but her brown-nosing skills, right?”

“Exactly. Estelle is the legitimate young lady of the Yeats family, officially recognized by Old Mr. Yeats. She never used the family’s power to commit misdeeds.”

“Meanwhile, the fake one is over here showing off.”

“Didn’t you hear the person in charge? Claire insisted on being placed in the same group as Estelle, then swapped their designs to ensure Estelle’s elimination. It was clearly deliberate.”

“How vicious. And she puts on such a weak, pitiful act too…”

“To think Claire even mocked Estelle for not advancing! What a joke. How can someone be so disgusting!”

Ms. Foster was thoroughly shocked. She couldn’t believe that Ember, the champion of the previous competition, was this kind of trash.

“Claire, you cheated?!”

Claire shook violently, tears streaming down her face. She gasped for air as if she were the most innocent victim of them all and shook her head desperately.

“No… I don’t know. I don’t know what Estelle is talking about! I didn’t do any of those things! I didn’t…”

Evan was similarly panicked but refused to admit anything. “These staff members… who knows if they’re telling the truth! I know that Mr. Lynch. He’s always held a grudge over Claire ruining that partnership last time. This might have been done on purpose!”

Zion couldn’t snap out of his daze for a long while either. Seeing the contemptuous glares of everyone around him, he reflexively tried to explain.

“Estelle, this evidence has to be fake. You must be mistaken. Claire isn’t that kind of person. I watched her grow up; she’s pure and kind-hearted… I know! The staff members must have done this on purpose to eliminate our family’s competition and curry favor with Claire!”