Chapter 515: It Was Claire Yeats Who Bribed the Judges

Chapter 515: Chapter 515: It Was Claire Yeats Who Bribed the Judges

Estelle Lockwood still had evidence... What other evidence could she possibly have? Where on earth did she get so much of it?!

Claire Yeats desperately forced herself to calm down, taking a deep breath. Estelle had said so much, yet she still hadn’t produced any substantial proof. This could only mean she was putting up a desperate fight, bluffing her way through. So she had nothing to fear. Nothing to fear...

"You’d better just lie down and behave. If you offend me and the Yeats family, you can forget about ever finding a foothold in this design competition. Mark my words—if you don’t obey, there’s no way I’ll let you advance!"

"Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me, ahhh..."

Suddenly, Benjamin Carter’s pleas for mercy echoed through the room once again!

The crowd instinctively looked up, suddenly realizing that the video from earlier... hadn’t finished playing?

Claire’s expression stiffened as a strong sense of foreboding washed over her.

"Estelle Lockwood, how dare you hit me! The Yeats family won’t let you get away with this... AARGH! The Yeats family won’t spare you!"

"The Yeats family? Which Yeats family? Mr. Carter, you can’t just target me and then pin the blame on the Yeats family."

"What a joke! Miss Yeats was the one who sent me here. Otherwise, why do you think I’d even look twice at you?!"

The entire venue was stunned. Everyone instinctively turned their heads to stare at Claire!

What did that mean? Which Yeats family was Benjamin Carter talking about?!

This "Miss Yeats"... combined with "the Yeats family"... Everyone already had an answer in their minds. The way they looked at the Yeats family and Claire grew increasingly suspicious.

Claire gritted her teeth so hard her jaw ached. Her body went rigid as a bone-deep chill swept through her. She silently cursed Benjamin Carter for being an idiot. How could he tell Estelle?! Didn’t he know how ruthless Estelle was, that she would record a video of the whole thing?!

"Nonsense... Nonsense!!" Old Mrs. Yeats stood up furiously, a trembling finger pointing at Estelle. "Rumors, slander... This is all fake! Fake!"

But no matter how much Old Mrs. Yeats raved, the video continued to play.

"Benjamin Carter, you need evidence when you speak," Estelle’s voice rang out in the recording. "You’re the one who showed up in my room. As long as I report you, you’re finished too. Do you really think I’d believe you if you try to pin everything on the Yeats family?"

"What a joke. Who do you think you are?" Benjamin sneered. "If the Yeats family wants you dead, they can crush you like a bug. That’s the Yeats family! Miss Yeats has Old Mrs. Yeats and the Head of the Yeats backing her!

"Report? You’re going to report me? Hahaha! Let me tell you the truth—there’s security footage of me entering your room. When the time comes, it’s hard to say who will be reporting who! ’Seducing a judge’—how does that charge sound to you?"

His tone turned sinister. "Just you wait! Miss Yeats won’t let you off the hook. I advise you to behave, Estelle Lockwood, otherwise I won’t let you have a good—AARGH!"

Another cry of pain echoed out as the room’s door was violently kicked open by a man.

The crowd instinctively looked toward Mr. Lynch... Wait, the man who suddenly appeared in the video was undoubtedly Mr. Lynch, right? Why would Mr. Lynch appear in Estelle’s room?

Estelle chuckled in the video. "Sorry about that, Mr. Carter. You came at a bad time... I was just on a video call with Mr. Lynch.

"So, I guess the charge of me seducing a judge won’t hold up. But as for you, Mr. Carter, helping the Yeats family threaten other contestants... the evidence for that is rock solid. Oh, wait, who says it’s definitely the Yeats family? Maybe you’re just trying to drag others down with you. For all we know, the Yeats family is completely innocent."

In the video, the moment Benjamin saw Mr. Lynch, he panicked. His legs gave out, and he fell to his knees with a heavy THUD. "No, no... Mr. Lynch, no, it wasn’t me! It really was the Yeats family! It really was! Claire Yeats ordered me to do this!!"

Then, in order to prove his innocence to Mr. Lynch, Benjamin pulled up his phone, revealing Claire’s bank transfers and ambiguously suggestive text messages.

The entire venue was in an uproar!

Earlier, they might have argued that the mention of the "Yeats family" was too vague. Could it have been some other Yeats family? But now, Benjamin had explicitly stated Claire’s name!

Unless there was another contestant named Claire Yeats... Unless there was another Yeats family that simultaneously had an Old Mrs. Yeats, a Head of the Yeats, and a Claire, while also possessing the power to meddle in the XM Design Competition...

Otherwise, the person who bribed the judge and spread rumors about other contestants was unquestionably Claire Yeats herself!

She was the champion of the previous competition! How could she be so vicious?!

"No!! Impossible!!! This is slander!!" Old Mrs. Yeats roared in agitation. She furiously pointed at Benjamin’s nose. "You lowly wretch! Who put you up to framing Claire?! Speak! Tell us! Do you even know Claire’s status? How dare you! I’ll see you dead!"

Old Mrs. Yeats’ shrewish behavior made everyone’s expressions turn ugly.

Wasn’t Benjamin’s evidence clear enough? One only had to look at Claire’s pale face to know he was telling the truth!

Benjamin knew he was finished. He usually relied on the Yeats family, but now that Claire was about to be utterly ruined and was still hurling abuse at him, why should he swallow it?

"Old Mrs. Yeats, I’d advise you to keep your mouth shut! Otherwise, I’ll release even more evidence of you bribing me to target other contestants. Let’s see who loses face then!" Benjamin snapped back.

"Haha, I’ll just tell you the truth! The championship has already been rigged in Claire’s favor!

"Because Old Mrs. Yeats bought me off—and naturally, she bought off the other judges too! She demanded that we eliminate any contestant who might threaten Claire’s position as champion. If you don’t believe me, ask them one by one!"

The thirty judges all looked grim. Some appeared righteously indignant, while others looked extremely guilty.

An uproar erupted instantly.

"Old Mrs. Yeats bribed other judges too? To guarantee Claire the championship?"

"Fine, even if Claire has the skills to be champion, what gives them the right?! This is a competition! Do they really think the Yeats family dictates everything?!"

"You pack of lowly wretches!! You were meant to be stepping stones for Claire anyway! So what if I ensured she wins the championship?!" Old Mrs. Yeats screamed hoarsely. Suddenly thinking of something, she whipped her head around in fury.

"Estelle Lockwood! Claire didn’t bribe any judges. You’re just jealous of her! You’re spreading lies! You little slut, why don’t you just die?! Why didn’t I kill you back then?! AAAAAAH!"

As she screamed, she suddenly broke free from Zion Yeats’ grasp. She rushed onto the stage and swung her hand viciously toward Estelle’s cheek—

Estelle effortlessly caught her wrist, offering a light smile.

"No wonder Evan Yeats dared to steal my father’s artworks, and Claire Yeats can run rampant in a design competition with a rigged championship. It’s all because they have you and the Yeats family backing them up.

"So, do the rest of us just deserve to suffer?"

Everyone glared angrily at Old Mrs. Yeats.

Zion’s body trembled as he looked at Estelle in disbelief. He wondered how she could say such a thing. Was she truly that disappointed in the Yeats family?

But then again, he hadn’t expected this from Claire... No, no, Claire must have had her reasons for doing this. It had to be a lack of proper communication between the two sisters that had brought things to this point.

But before Zion could speak, a contestant had already let out a cold laugh.