Chapter 330
Chapter 330:
“So the answer is no,” Ashton cut in. “We’re not getting a result tonight p>
“Normally, no. We release the final rankings online within three business days. That’s always been the practice p>
“This is tedious. The event’s already a mess. I want the result tonight p>
“Right—yes—I understand, but…” Tristan swallowed. “It’s a long-standing protocol. We’ve never announced a winner on the same day p>
“Kian Al-Ahmad said this was under my authority. If I want the process changed, are you planning to stop me p>
“Absolutely not!” Tristan backed up half a step, waving his hands quickly. “Not at all. I’ll inform the committee now. We’ll announce the result immediately.” He didn’t wait for a reply.
He turned and disappeared.
Seven minutes later, the host returned to the mic.
While the host droned on about the change in protocol, I turned to Ashton.
“Octavia told you p>
He nodded. “The Hadley guy works for a friend of mine. I asked him to look into it. Dubois took a payment. Six hundred thousand, wired two days ago. Offshore account. She’s the one who ordered everything. The sabotage, the switch-up— all of it came from her p>
I frowned. “I don’t even know her. Never met her before today p>
“She’s just the hired gun. Hadley only had enough time to find out about the payment but couldn’t trace the sender. It’s buried. Whoever did it knew what they were doing p>
“Huh. I wonder who it could be p>
But there was no time to dig into it at the moment.
The host’s voice boomed, “The final score is in. First place goes to… Miss Mirabelle Vance p>
𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘁
A staff member waved me back onto the stage.
After the award ceremony, we hit another snag.
“Miss Vance, quick question—about the rights to your designs.” A staff member, who’d probably been roped into this against her will, approached me with an apologetic smile.
“What about them p>
“As per the contract, the designs submitted during the competition belong to the organizers. That includes both sets p>
“Wrong.” I shook my head. “I submitted one set. The second one only went in after your colleague sabotaged my original entry. This set’s yours. The first one stays with me p>
“We’d really appreciate your cooperation p>
“Not happening p>
She tried again.
Message from Noa: Have a wonderful day dear readers. God loves you, and Noa wishes you all the best. („• ֊ •„)੭