Chapter 510: Video, Benjamin Carter Gets Beaten!

Chapter 510: Chapter 510: Video, Benjamin Carter Gets Beaten!

In the video, Benjamin Carter used every trick in the book—threats, coercion, and bribery—confident that a lowly contestant wouldn’t dare defy him.

Estelle Lockwood hesitated for two seconds before opening the door.

[Look at her playing the victim. Didn’t she still open the door and let Benjamin inside?]

[Do Claire Yeats’s fans have no brains?? Estelle Lockwood could win the championship without seducing a judge. Why on earth would she go out of her way to do it??]

[Taking a huge step back, even if Estelle made a mistake, it’s still Benjamin’s and that Miss Yeats’s fault! Benjamin threatened her with expulsion if she didn’t agree. What could she do?]

[Then just drop out! Why couldn’t she drop out! What’s wrong with dropping out for the sake of her innocence? If she dropped out, our Claire would be the undisputed champion!]

Pausing the video there, Estelle sighed. "Mr. Carter, if you admit the truth right now, I can give you one last chance. You know better than anyone whether or not I seduced you."

The crowd froze, wondering why she had paused the playback.

Benjamin was also stunned. He subconsciously met Claire’s gaze. Seeing the suspicion in her eyes, he realized that since he had already been fired from the design competition, he absolutely could not afford to offend Claire now.

Besides, he figured the only reason Estelle paused the video was because she didn’t have the rest of the recording. That had to be it. Otherwise, why would she deliberately stop when she could prove her innocence right away? The recording must end right there.

He scoffed to himself, thinking Estelle really was an idiot for believing she could trick him into telling the truth. Stopping the video here would only nail the coffin shut on the rumor that she seduced a judge. What a fool!

Benjamin frowned, putting on a self-righteous front. "Estelle, I’ve said it countless times—you seduced me! Yes, I admit I had ulterior motives and threatened you with expulsion, but if you weren’t interested, you could have just reported me. Yet you didn’t. Instead, you opened the door for me. Do I really need to spell out to everyone what we did in that room afterward?"

[Well... doesn’t that just prove even more that she seduced the judge!]

[That’s a wake-up call! If Estelle had no such intentions, couldn’t she just report him with the recording? She got his face and his words on camera. If she reported it, the organizing committee wouldn’t just ignore it.]

[But she opened the door. It’s solid proof!]

Evan Yeats roared, "What else is there to say? Shameless!"

Zion Yeats closed his eyes in disappointment, swaying slightly. "Estelle, stop causing a scene. It’s not too late to turn back."

Benjamin sighed dramatically. "Miss Lockwood, things have come to this. I’ve already confessed, so you should too. You have to take responsibility for your mistakes. You’re still young, so you’ll have other chances in the future. Even if you can’t participate in the XM design competition, there will still be..."

"Alright, Mr. Carter. Come on in."

The screen recording continued playing.

Benjamin’s face instantly drained of color. He panicked, wondering what Estelle was doing and if she actually had the rest of the recording.

For some reason, an inexplicable panic gripped Zion’s heart.

Claire’s heart raced, her pupils contracting sharply. She refused to believe it. She convinced herself that Estelle definitely seduced the judge, and that was the absolute truth—

"Hehe, Miss Lockwood, you sure know what’s good for you... ARGH!"

The crowd jerked their heads up, absolutely dumbfounded.

In the video, Benjamin walked in and was just about to lunge at Estelle when she sent him crashing to the floor with a single punch!

The crowd was speechless.

The video kept playing. As Benjamin was beaten, he hurled a barrage of curses. He yelled at her for not appreciating his favor, scolded her for standing in someone else’s way, and shouted that this was just her fate.

Five minutes later, Benjamin was crying and begging for mercy. He pleaded with Estelle to let him go and be the bigger person. After exchanging a few words, she scoffed, hoisted him up by his collar, and tossed him out the door.

The video ended, leaving everyone utterly stunned.

Was... was this a seduction?

[Huh?]

[You call this seducing a judge?]

[Has anyone asked Benjamin if he even wanted to be seduced?]

[Uh... wait... Benjamin got beaten to a pulp, and he can still put on an act now and claim Estelle seduced him?]

A deathly silence hung over the venue, broken only by Estelle lazily raising an eyebrow. "So Mr. Carter thinks that me beating you up means I’m seducing you... That’s quite a unique kink you’ve got there."

"Hahahaha..."

"This is hilarious, hahahaha..."

The stands were filled with the fan clubs of other contestants. Having no reason to give face to a fired judge, they erupted into roaring laughter.

Zion’s mind buzzed. Recalling how Estelle had called him ’Uncle Zion’ earlier, he grew flustered and stumbled back in disbelief. "No, no, Estelle..."

Benjamin’s legs turned to jelly. Cold sweat drenched his forehead as he instinctively looked toward Claire.

Claire clenched her fists tightly, forcing down her resentment and anger. "Estelle, I’m sorry. I really didn’t expect..."

"Zion, does your heart ache for this little tramp?!" Old Mrs. Yeats shrieked recklessly. "She deserves to die! She deserves to die! She got in Claire’s way! Why did she have to prove her innocence! Who helped her?! Bitch, bitch, go to hell! Claire! Don’t apologize to her! She doesn’t deserve it! She doesn’t!"

Claire’s words were abruptly cut off, and her expression instantly soured. She cursed the old hag in her mind, wondering if she was an idiot for causing more trouble at a time like this.

Sure enough, an uproar instantly erupted both at the venue and online.

"This is enough to prove that Estelle didn’t seduce the judge. Even Claire was planning to apologize—regardless of whether it’s sincere or not, she at least put on a show. But what about this Old Mrs. Yeats?"

"Estelle is also a member of the Yeats family, recognized personally by Old Mr. Yeats. Yet this old bat actually said she deserves to die? And she questioned why Estelle had to prove her innocence?"

"Don’t you get it yet? Because Estelle proved her innocence, Claire’s position as the champion would be threatened. So the Yeats family was desperate for Estelle to be plagued by scandal and forced out."

"Are they even family... Seeing how Old Mr. Yeats was putting on an act, he definitely knew about it too. So cruel."

"Now that you mention it, I strongly believe that the ’Miss Yeats’ who bribed Benjamin is Claire. Just look—after Estelle’s innocence was proven, the ones losing their minds the most are the Yeats family..."

Old Mrs. Yeats was furious and wanted to hurl more insults, but Claire hastily stopped her. "Grandma!"

Zion gritted his teeth as well. "Mom!"

Old Mrs. Yeats snapped back to her senses, her face turning pale as she suddenly realized what she had just said. She was just so used to cursing Eleanor Yeats and Estelle at home. In her mind, those two lowly wretches could be insulted at will. Regardless of right or wrong, they deserved to die, and it was their honor to be framed by Claire.

In a moment of unbridled anger, she had actually forgotten that she was out in public...

Estelle shot a meaningful look at the judges’ panel. "You all seem very surprised. But... wasn’t this video sent to your phones a long time ago?"