That statement made Hailey's expression freeze.
Her breathing suddenly hitched, and a slight, uncontrollable tremor ran through her
body.
But she forced herself to maintain a facade of composure, her voice sharp as she retorted, "My designs are one hundred percent my own work! If you have proof, then show it!"
She was convinced Serena was just bluffing, trying to scare her into spilling the truth herself.
Did she really think she would fall for that?
She had burned the drafts to ashes and flushed them down the toilet ages ago.
There was absolutely no evidence left!
Serena had no way to touch her!
Hearing this, Serena merely curled her lips into a scoff.
The smile was cold and full of mockery.
Seemingly too lazy to waste another word on Hailey, she shifted her gaze and shot Daphne a sidelong glance.
Just one look.
Daphne instantly understood. With a blank expression, she turned and marched briskly back to the judges' panel.
Pulling a flash drive from her pocket, she plugged it into the laptop connected to both the live stream and the venue's massive screen.
"Since Miss Wynn is so insistent that we present the evidence publicly, then... please enjoy an interesting little interlude, everyone," Daphne's voice echoed through the microphone across the silent venue.
Hailey watched Daphne's actions before her head snapped back toward Serena.
A heavy wave of dread washed over her.
She clenched her fists tightly, her entire body swaying slightly.
*No... that's impossible!*
*Serena has to be bluffing!*
*There's no way she has proof!*
*I can't lose my cool...*
Hailey took deep, forceful breaths, desperately trying to calm her racing heart.
The giant screen suddenly flickered.
The image shifted, playing what was clearly security camera footage.
The camera angle overlooked a cluttered storage room.
Under the green tint of night vision, a figure could be seen sneaking in suspiciously.
The person used their phone's
ve
flashlight to illuminate the space, rummaging through the junk. A muttered voice was picked up by the audio The Wynn family is so. loaded. There's bound to be some valuable stuff stashed away in bere. Even if a few things go missing, they probably won't even notice..."
As she spoke, she continued to dig through the boxes.
Whenever she found a trinket, she shoved it straight into her pockets.
She rummaged around for quite a while.
Finally, she pulled a highly inconspicuous stack of papers from a cardboard box.
At first, the person in the footage
didn't think much of them and
to toss them aside,
But when the beam of the phone's flashlight swept across the pages.
Her movements froze.
She immediately held the light steady, examining the papers one by one.
The more she looked, the more ecstatic her expression became.
In the end, her face twisted into an ugly mask of wild ecstasy and sheer greed.
On the screen, the glare of the
flashlight made the contents
papers perfectly
lear
Contonet
They were unmistakably... rough drafts of jewelry designs!
Though the camera only caught a fleeting glimpse.
It was enough to make every industry elite in the audience gasp.
Because every single page...
Even from just a brief look.
Was absolutely breathtaking.
Each design was nothing short of a masterpiece!