Chapter 263

Chapter 263

Under the eager anticipation of the entire audience, the competition finally came to an end, and the contestants revealed their works one by one.

Below the stage, the judges whispered amongst themselves, simultaneously evaluating and scoring the ten contestants' pieces.

Alexander's face visibly tensed with anxiety.

Whether the Forbes Group would sink or swim, whether it could finally surpass Zenith Enterprises Group—everything hinged on this moment.

In contrast, Landon beside him appeared completely relaxed, wearing an expression of absolute confidence.

Soon, the judges reached their initial results.

Five contestants were eliminated, leaving five finalists to advance to the last round—an on-site design challenge.

Charlotte and Sabrina both advanced to the final round, just as everyone had expected.

The final challenge would be a prompt given live by Nicholas, with contestants creating on the spot within a thirty-minute time limit.

The time was short, and the demands on the contestants increasingly strict.

The moment Nicholas announced the prompt, all five contestants immediately plunged into frantic work.

Sabrina occasionally paused her brush, her gaze involuntarily drifting toward Charlotte.

Before the competition, knowing there would be an on-site challenge in the finals, she had felt supremely confident.

In her mind, no matter how talented Charlotte was, without formal training or competition experience, she would surely fall short in live performance.

More importantly, after learning that Nicholas would be the head judge for the finals, she had used every channel available to research his preferences. She and Quentin had analyzed the information thoroughly, eventually narrowing it down to two likely prompt categories.

To her absolute delight, they had guessed correctly!

So she had picked up her pen and started sketching almost without hesitation.

But somehow, she still felt unsettled.

During a brief pause, she stole a glance at Charlotte. Though she couldn't clearly see what Charlotte was drawing, watching her complete absorption made Sabrina's chest tighten with discomfort.

Immediately, she snapped her gaze back and forced herself to pour all her concentration into her own work.

With a sharp sound, time was up.

The five contestants took their works and lined up on stage in sequence.

The judges launched into another round of intense discussion and evaluation.

Ten minutes later, Nicholas stepped to center stage with the results.

"I announce that the third-place winner of this design competition is David!"

A male designer in his early forties stepped forward excitedly, receiving the third-place trophy and certificate from Nicholas's hands.

After David finished his acceptance speech and returned to his position, Nicholas began announcing the second-place winner.

"I announce that the second-place winner of this design competition is—"

Before Nicholas could finish the name, Sabrina's heart suddenly clenched.

She desperately hoped Charlotte wouldn't win any award! Yet at the same time, she hoped the runner-up would be Charlotte.

As long as Charlotte took second place, then no one could possibly compete with her for first.

Just as Sabrina's thoughts spiraled, she suddenly heard her own name from Nicholas's lips!

"Second-place winner—Sabrina!"

She had only placed second!

Sabrina froze.

Then who was the champion? Charlotte?

No, she couldn't lose! Especially not to Charlotte!

At that moment, the contestant beside her, seeing Sabrina's complete lack of response, gently nudged her with an elbow: "Ms. Spencer, Ms. Spencer—"

Even the competition host walked over to remind her: "Ms. Spencer, congratulations! Please go up and accept your award."

Sabrina finally had to accept the reality—she had only won second place.

Her legs felt nailed to the floor as she dragged herself step by step, walking slowly toward Nicholas.

She couldn't even hear what Nicholas was saying. She mechanically accepted the trophy and certificate from his hands.

Then mechanically bowed to the judges and audience below.

Even after returning to her position, her mind remained completely blank.

Meanwhile, below the stage.

Alexander's expression had turned terribly dark.

He had firmly believed Sabrina would win first place. Especially the moment he heard Nicholas announce the prompt, he had felt certain the competition was in the bag!

Even Quentin, seated nearby, couldn't help but shoot him a smug, credit-seeking glance.

But just as his confidence peaked, just as he anticipated watching Landon's composure crack, Nicholas's casual words completely shattered his fantasy.

Still, having weathered years in the business world, Alexander managed to hold himself together, preventing those nearby from detecting any abnormality.

But his darkened expression betrayed him nonetheless.

At that moment, Calvin tugged at his sleeve indignantly: "Alexander, Sabrina only got second place? Did they make some kind of mistake?"

Before Alexander could respond, Landon from the other side let out a soft laugh: "Confidence is a good thing."

"But overconfidence is another matter entirely."

Seeing Calvin still bristling with resentment, Alexander could no longer suppress his inner irritation and snapped in a low growl: "Shut up."

At this moment, Alexander could only pray internally that the champion—please, please—wasn't Charlotte!

Otherwise, the Forbes Group would be utterly defeated by Zenith Enterprises Group.

Just then, the stage finally reached its climactic moment.

Nicholas opened the envelope containing the champion's name: "Now, I solemnly announce that the champion of this design competition is—"

Sabrina's heart lurched violently!

"The champion is Charlotte!"

Thunderous applause erupted below the stage.

Among the applause, Tina, Emily, Lauren, and others who had rushed over to support Charlotte literally jumped up cheering!

As for Maurice, Amanda, and Debra—who had made a special trip to back Charlotte—they all gazed at Charlotte holding her trophy aloft with expressions of deep satisfaction, as if looking at their own child.

Quentin and his group sat ashen-faced, not daring to make a sound.

And the person suffering most was naturally Sabrina on stage.

She stared fixedly at the champion's trophy in Charlotte's hands, her eyes already tinged with a dark crimson.

She refused to accept it. She couldn't accept it.

Just over two months ago, Charlotte had been nothing but a housewife everyone looked down on. How could she transform so quickly into the champion of a design competition!

No—there had to be some explanation.

Sabrina felt as if she'd suddenly found her anchor, rapidly regaining her composure.

At the same time, her gaze stabbed like a knife toward Charlotte's work displayed on stage!

The next moment, her eyes suddenly lit up!

Just as she thought.

Nicholas was conversing with Charlotte with an expression of appreciation when a voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

"Mr. Lewis, I want to file a complaint!"

"Someone plagiarized!"