Chapter 609 The Troublemaker Comes Out to Apologize

Chapter 609 The Troublemaker Comes Out to Apologize

Asher's voice had barely faded when the students started to line up on stage to draw their number cards. With so many participants, the whole process took about twenty minutes.

As the host, Asher grabbed the mic and went over the competition rules and procedures again. Then he announced, "Alright, folks, our pre-competition ceremony is officially over! Let's give a big round of applause for our contestants and judges as they come up for a group photo!"

The contestants who had just drawn their numbers returned to the stage, getting into position for the photo with the judges.

Asher then invited the judges to join them. But when he looked over at the judges' table, he hesitated.

There were only four judges seated; Flora was missing.

Asher was puzzled. He glanced at Jerry and Grace before focusing on the empty seat, muttering, "Where did Ms. Adams go?"

He forgot he was still holding the microphone, and his muttering was heard by everyone in the audience.

Instantly, everyone turned to look at the judges' table, curiosity written all over their faces.

Grace also turned to look at the empty seat, her expression indifferent. She glanced at it briefly before looking away.

The elderly artist sitting next to her spoke up, "I haven't seen her since she left the stage earlier. No idea where she went."

The room fell silent. Miguel and the students who had previously given Grace a hard time all kept quiet, not even daring to lift their heads, lips pressed together in silence.

Jeffrey, seated in the front row, furrowed his brow slightly, tightening his grip on his cane.

On stage, Asher was a bit displeased, frowning as he said, "Ms. Adams might have had an urgent matter. Let's have the remaining four judges come up for the group photo with the contestants."

Grace and Jerry exchanged a glance, then slowly stood up, following the two elderly artists onto the stage.

The four judges stood at the front, posed, and smiled at the camera. With a click, the group photo of the judges and contestants was taken.

After the photo, Asher smiled and announced that the pre-competition ceremony had successfully concluded.

As soon as Asher announced the end, Grace immediately stepped off the stage, heading towards Charles and the three children.

She smiled slightly, holding Bianca's hand with one hand and Jasper's with the other, then looked up at Charles, "It's over. We can leave now."

Charles hugged Yosef tightly and nodded with a smile, "Alright, let's go."

They followed the crowd towards the exit of the venue, but as soon as they stepped outside, they were stopped by a few students who looked like contestants.

Grace sized them up and realized they were the same students who had given her a hard time earlier.

However, facing Grace now, they no longer had the arrogance and mockery from before. Their eyes kept darting around, avoiding Grace's gaze, their faces full of guilt.

Grace asked in confusion, "Why are you stopping me? Is there something you need?"

Seeing Grace speak to them first, one of the students stepped forward with his head down, apologetically saying, "Ms. Windsor, we're here to apologize. We're really sorry, Ms. Windsor. We shouldn't have held onto past issues and listened to others to doubt your skills, almost causing you to lose your position as a judge."

Grace took a deep breath and replied calmly, "My previous ink painting was indeed not good, just like you said, it was no better than trash. It's okay."

Grace's words made the students feel even more guilty and uneasy.

Seeing them still standing with their heads down, Grace curiously asked, "I said it's okay. Is there something else?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the students simultaneously turned to look at the tall, thin boy standing at the back.

Grace squinted slightly, recognizing the tall, thin boy as the first one to stand up and question her!

Grace's calm gaze fell on him as he walked up to her, head still down, saying, "Ms. Windsor, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted your skills. Actually, we were instructed by someone! Someone told us to say those things!"

Grace raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise flashing across her face.

Charles, standing beside her, was also taken aback, his expression instantly turning colder.

Grace scanned them briefly and asked in a low voice, "Who instructed you?"

Before the students could respond, a man's voice came from afar, getting closer, "What are you all doing here? The pre-competition ceremony is over. Why are you stopping Ms. Windsor? Let her go rest!"

The speaker was Miguel, who suddenly seemed to be speaking up for Grace, as if he genuinely cared about her.

Seeing Miguel approach, the students immediately became a bit flustered, even scared.

The tall, thin boy standing in front of Grace looked up angrily at Miguel, then directly said to Grace, "Ms. Windsor, it was Miguel! He instructed us. He told us you were only a judge because of Mr. Montague's connections. He also said your internationally renowned works were actually painted by others hired by Mr. Montague!"

As soon as he finished, the other students who had their heads down also looked up, echoing, "Yes! He told us all of this!"

"Ms. Windsor, you don't know how bad he is. While you were painting, he was on his phone, urging us to use withdrawal to protest you being the head judge!"

Grace frowned, showing a bit of displeasure.

Bianca and Jasper, standing beside her, also looked up angrily at him. If Grace wasn't holding their hands, they would have rushed over to beat Miguel.

Charles also looked at him coldly.

With his scheme exposed, Miguel panicked, stumbling back a few steps, then pointed at the students who exposed him, angrily shouting, "Stop lying! Don't slander me! When did I say those things? You're always up to no good, spreading falsehoods! Get out of here!"

Miguel's denial and shameless behavior infuriated the students. One of them immediately opened his phone, showing their chat records to Grace, "Ms. Windsor, look, this group chat was created by him... Damn, he just left the group!"

Another student quickly said, "Leaving the group doesn't matter. The messages he sent are still there!"

"Yes, Ms. Windsor, look, he instructed us!"

To prove they were coerced by Miguel, the students all took out their phones, showing the chat records to Grace.

With the evidence right in front of her, Miguel panicked, retreating continuously, wishing he could find a hole to hide in.

The truth was clear, and Grace didn't need to look at the chat records. She believed the students.

She turned coldly to Miguel, questioning him in a stern voice, "Miguel, what grudge do you have against me to treat me like this? You helped Mrs. Adams plot against me before, and today you instructed these students to mock me. What are you trying to achieve?"

They hadn't even spoken much, and Grace didn't know him!

Miguel, being questioned in public, was extremely flustered, stammering without being able to form a complete sentence.

Seeing the situation turn against him, he decided to run.

But the students seemed to anticipate his move, and as he turned, they surrounded him, blocking his escape.

Miguel, with nowhere to run, angrily shouted at the students, "What do you want? Move aside! Do you still want to participate in the competition?"

His threats didn't make the students back down; instead, they glared at him more firmly, refusing to budge.

Grace stepped in front of him, coldly saying, "Since when do you decide who can participate in the competition? Stop with the threats! If you keep talking to them like this, I'll go to President Brown and have him sort this out!"

Miguel's face changed drastically, defiantly shouting at her, "What's so great about you? You're only relying on Mr. Montague! Without him, you're nothing. The head judge for this competition should be Miss Adams!"

Grace frowned in displeasure, not responding.

The students surrounding Miguel couldn't stand it anymore, questioning him, "Miguel, you're a somewhat famous painter. You saw their paintings today. Do you really think Ms. Windsor's work is inferior to Miss Adams'?"