Chapter 99
But gradually, the murmuring died down and eventually disappeared altogether.
At some point, everyone found themselves staring at the stage in a daze.
Actually, most people in the audience had already seen Charlotte before. The recent video incident was so dramatic that it captured widespread attention, leaving few people unaware of the situation.
So in their minds, Charlotte—a woman with no background, no education, who had married into a wealthy family through scheming—was just a housewife with nothing but looks and no substance.
And in the eyes of elite families, beauty was the least impressive thing.
They dismissed Charlotte as a superficial figure, possessing a striking face but a tedious personality.
However, the woman standing on stage at this moment completely overturned their expectations, as if she had transformed into an entirely different person.
Her eyes, her focus, and her tree-spirit-like appearance—everything about her was stunning.
The audience was most captivated by the ingenious use of green hues, which seamlessly morphed the performers into ethereal spirits of nature.
A beautiful and great mother tree was lovingly guiding a tender sapling through the harsh winter and natural disasters, finally welcoming the arrival of vibrant spring.
The enchanting melody seemed to radiate from Charlotte’s fingertips, weaving those vibrant threads of green directly into the audience's vision.
In that instant, everything fell silent.
Everyone seemed frozen, staring at Charlotte and her partner on stage, their eyes full of shock and disbelief.
Even Calvin, who had just declared he would make Charlotte fail, now stood motionless, uncontrollably absorbed in the performance.
Jenna happened to catch this scene and couldn't help but gloat: "Your phone's about to drop."
Calvin jolted back to his senses.
But he quickly became furious.
To make Charlotte go viral for all the wrong reasons again, he had specially started a livestream to broadcast Charlotte's embarrassing performance on stage.
He was caught completely off guard when he realized the livestream had exploded during his brief lapse in focus.
His followers had jumped from a few dozen to over a million!
And the number was still climbing rapidly. Many people were even tipping Calvin just to learn the performer's name.
[Host, what's the beautiful woman's name? Please DM me.]
[Host, can you connect with her? I'll pay.]
[Host, please follow back.]
Watching the endless stream of tips in the livestream, Calvin was so angry his temples throbbed—he nearly fainted!
His purpose in starting the livestream was to humiliate Charlotte online, not to promote her!
Calvin tried to shut it down, but with the stream going viral and tips flooding in, his phone simply couldn't handle the load and froze.
Finally losing his patience, Calvin cursed while repeatedly clicking to close it.
After much effort, he finally exited the livestream.
By then, the performance on stage had ended.
When Sabrina finished her performance earlier, thunderous applause had immediately erupted from the audience.
But when it was Charlotte's turn, the audience was eerily quiet.
After a full minute, applause finally started from somewhere in the audience—sudden but rhythmic.
Hearing the applause beside her, Jenna snapped out of her trance.
She couldn't help jumping up excitedly, clapping and cheering with all her might: "Charlotte, Philip, you were amazing!"
"I love you guys!"
No sooner had Jenna stopped speaking than the audience broke into a deafening ovation, far surpassing the enthusiasm they had shown during Sabrina's curtain call.
If not for maintaining their dignity, they would have jumped up like Jenna to cheer for Charlotte.
Because this performance was truly shocking and perfect.
It was an unprecedented visual feast.
This feast completely shattered everyone's previous perception of Charlotte.
Because only now did everyone realize that beauty—which they had considered the least valuable thing—could actually be so dazzling, radiant, and moving.
The two judges had also just recovered from their shock, so moved their eyes were moist and their faces flushed.
They had thought that even at River City's top kindergarten, encountering Aurora College graduate Sabrina was already extremely rare.
And as Vice President Quentin had said, Sabrina would undoubtedly be the champion.
But they never expected Charlotte's performance to be so spectacular!
The two exchanged glances and, without even discussing it, simultaneously held up perfect score cards!
But Quentin, the vice president, hadn't raised his card yet.
The other two judges couldn't help urging him: "Quentin, what's wrong?"
Quentin was hesitating.
Undeniably, Charlotte's design surpassed Sabrina's in both visual impact and performance.
But Sabrina wasn't just an Aurora College graduate—she was also the Forbes Group's design director, the person Alexander valued most right now.
And Charlotte was just a housewife with no status. Even he, an outsider, could see that Alexander was extremely cold toward her.
So logic told him he must let Sabrina win to strengthen his relationship with the Forbes Group.
Looking at the score cards, Quentin was about to pick one up when he heard the audience discussing behind him.
"The other two judges' arms must be tired from holding them up. Why hasn't Quentin scored yet?"
"Who knows? Probably shocked by Charlotte's design."
"True. Anyone can see Charlotte's group was way better than the previous one."
"Exactly! I thought Sabrina was impressive enough, but she can't compare to Charlotte."
"The child in Charlotte's group also performed wonderfully—so natural and innocent. Made me want a son like that."
"You're right! Their interaction on stage was so heartwarming. If I didn't already know their relationship, I'd have thought they were real mother and son."
"Charlotte deserves a perfect score! Perfect score!"
"Absolutely perfect score!"
Hearing wave after wave of voices behind him, Quentin's hand froze as he was about to raise the card.
One judge finally grew impatient and quietly urged: "Quentin, Quentin!"
Meanwhile, Cynthia and Elara were also so shocked they could barely speak.
From the moment they learned Charlotte would accompany Philip in the competition, they hadn't stopped mocking and scorning her.
Even when Charlotte took the stage, they were still dismissively putting her down.
But at some point, they forgot to mock and criticize, simply staring dumbfounded at that graceful figure on stage.
Still, Elara was somewhat unwilling to accept it.
She tugged at Alexander's sleeve: "Alexander, didn't you say Charlotte didn't know anything? Then how did she design these clothes?"