Chapter 505: Seducing the Judges? Just Wait to Be Slapped in the Face

Chapter 505: Chapter 505: Seducing the Judges? Just Wait to Be Slapped in the Face

Apologizing was out of the question for Claire Yeats. Old Mrs. Yeats simply couldn’t swallow her pride enough to allow it.

She firmly believed that everything was Estelle Lockwood’s fault. Glaring furiously, it wasn’t until she noticed the contemptuous looks from the surrounding crowd that she allowed Zion Yeats to pull her away.

Old Mrs. Rhodes Senior shook her head and didn’t follow them. She decided it would be best to keep her distance from the Yeats family from now on. It was somewhat understandable for the old lady to be a bit muddled in her old age, but for Old Mr. Yeats to be so incapable of telling right from wrong... the Yeats family was likely doomed.

"Did she seriously just glare at Miss Lockwood?"

"Does she actually think she’s in the right?"

"Old hags who act so entitled just because of their age are the most disgusting."

"Is there something wrong with the Yeats family? Miss Lockwood had absolutely nothing to do with them, yet they were so desperate to acknowledge her as family, only to turn around and deliberately make things difficult for her. Are they doing this on purpose?"

"The Yeats family really is no good..."

"If this keeps up, the reputation of their century-old prominent family will be completely ruined..."

"Why did you pull me away?!" Old Mrs. Yeats fumed.

Zion’s face flushed red. "Mom, with so many people watching, if this blew up, the Yeats family’s reputation..."

"Claire has already lost all her dignity, and you’re still talking to me about the family’s reputation?!"

Old Mrs. Yeats screamed hoarsely, "How could Claire possibly offend anyone? It must be Estelle Lockwood trying to frame her! And you still won’t stand up for Claire—how can you be so heartless?!"

But no matter how much Old Mrs. Yeats roared, no one else took her seriously.

After the Yeats family was denied entry to Veridian Retreat, a rumor began to circulate throughout high society.

It was said that Claire had thrown dramatic tantrums at Veridian Retreat—faking illness and a stomachache—all just to humiliate Miss Lockwood.

The owner of Veridian Retreat had stated that whatever grudge existed between Claire and Miss Lockwood was none of his business.

However, since Claire had the audacity to use Veridian Retreat for her scheme, causing many to mistakenly believe that their food was unsanitary and responsible for her stomachache, they had been left in a position where they couldn’t even defend themselves.

As a result, they simply barred Claire from the premises. Along with her, the entire Yeats family was forbidden from entering.

When others thought about it, it made perfect sense. Claire had faked her illness to intentionally set up Estelle. Zion had clearly been in on the scheme, knowing exactly why Veridian Retreat had shut the Yeats family out, yet he had feigned ignorance and joined Old Mrs. Yeats in publicly condemning Estelle.

From top to bottom, the Yeats family was rotten to the core.

This time, it was a fake stomachache that had forced Veridian Retreat to issue multiple clarifications. What if they claimed the food was poisoned next time? How was the restaurant supposed to stay in business?

After finishing her portion of the competition, Claire was out at a gathering, showing off to a few socialite friends.

Among these friends, some knew her true character but voluntarily sucked up to her for her family background, while others only attended out of obligation to the Yeats family’s prestige.

As it happened, the granddaughter of Old Mrs. Rhodes Senior was also present at this gathering.

When someone casually mentioned that the dishes at Veridian Retreat were quite good and suggested they go try them sometime, Claire’s eyes instantly reddened. She opened her mouth, ready to recount how Estelle had supposedly bullied her at the restaurant.

She was abruptly cut off by Miss Rhodes. "Claire, I heard you offended the owner of Veridian Retreat?"

The other wealthy heiresses all looked over.

Claire’s expression stiffened. "I didn’t—"

"The owner made it very clear," Miss Rhodes said. "You wanted to put Estelle in her place, so you deliberately faked a stomachache at Veridian Retreat to make Old Mr. Yeats pity you. But because of what you did, a lot of people thought Veridian Retreat’s food was unsanitary.

"Now the owner is saying you’re petty and vindictive. It’s one thing to scheme against your own sister, but to ruin Veridian Retreat’s reputation in the process was crossing the line. He’s blacklisted you and the entire Yeats family.

"Is that true?"

As Miss Rhodes finished speaking with a pleasant smile, Claire’s face turned deathly pale, and she looked as though she might collapse.

Hearing this, the other ladies fell silent, each coming to their own conclusions.

She had just arrived in Crestfall and already managed to offend Zane Grant? Was she out of her mind? And the root cause of all this was simply her desire to show off to Estelle just how much the Yeats family doted on her?

She was completely clueless and brainless.

One by one, the heiresses stood up and took their leave. In the blink of an eye, Claire was the only one left in the private dining room.

Claire gnashed her teeth in fury. Estelle Lockwood!

Since Estelle had used her reputation as a stepping stone, she would make sure Estelle’s reputation was utterly destroyed!

Once it was exposed that Estelle had to seduce a judge to advance... it would certainly make for a spectacular show, wouldn’t it?

Ten days later, the list of candidates advancing in the design competition was released.

Out of two hundred participants, twenty were chosen. These top twenty were not ranked, but those who placed after the twentieth spot were.

Those who advanced still had to compete further, making rankings unnecessary at this stage, while the rankings for those eliminated helped them gauge their own skill levels.

Estelle was not surprised to see that she had advanced. She prepared to head to the hotel to continue the competition the next day.

However, when she woke up the next morning, the internet was in an uproar!

[Estelle Lockwood seduced a judge?!]

[Is this real or fake? She actually has talent, so why would she seduce a judge? There’s no need for that, right?]

[The video has already been released. If Estelle didn’t seduce the judge, why did he go to her room, and why did she open the door for him?]

[Exactly. The judge even admitted it himself and said he knew he was wrong.]

[Estelle must be disqualified!]

[Last time, Estelle said that anyone who cheats should be punished, even if they have talent. Now that it’s her turn, she won’t be a hypocrite, will she?]

[Exactly. My heart aches for Claire.]

[The contestant who placed twenty-first has spoken out! She hopes the design competition will give her justice. If Estelle hadn’t seduced a judge, the twenty-first place contestant should have been the one to advance!]

Penelope Sullivan was frantic. "Estelle, Benjamin Carter confessed that you seduced him, which is why he guaranteed you would advance. And the other judges said that before the scoring even began, Benjamin singled out your work and insisted it had to be passed.

"The other judges thought your work was genuinely excellent, so they didn’t say much. But now they believe Benjamin only looked upon you favorably because you seduced him. Bah! What a load of garbage! Can you believe he’s pulling this act on you?!"

Estelle tilted her head. "So, they just took Benjamin at his word?"

"There’s also surveillance footage showing Benjamin entering your room as proof. Oh, right, this whole thing only blew up because someone reported it."

"Reported it..." Estelle mused softly.

"Estelle, what are you going to do now?" Penelope wasn’t aware that Benjamin had been beaten up. She was worried that Estelle would be in a tough spot with no way to clear her name. "Anyone could guess that the person who reported this was definitely Claire Yeats. If you get disqualified, not only will it play right into Claire’s hands, but you’ll also be permanently stained with a scandal..."

"Don’t worry," Estelle said, the corners of her lips curling up.

"How can I not worry..."

"I recorded a video." Estelle tilted her head again. "From the moment Benjamin entered the room, I was on a video call with Nathaniel. The call was recorded, so...

"Whether I seduced Benjamin, or if he was acting on someone else’s orders to frame me, will be crystal clear."

Only then did Penelope relax.

After hanging up the phone, Estelle opened the official website for the XM design competition and took a glance at the so-called "evidence," her expression perfectly calm.