Chapter 242: Good Strategy
"The theme for this round is 'Reunion in Autumn.' Please create a design that fits this theme."
The host announced the theme.
Daniel's face immediately popped into Emily's mind.
She and he had reunited abroad.
He saved her, his whole being seeming to glow with light, making him look tall and steady.
In that moment, he wasn't the high-and-mighty Daniel, not the Daniel who dominated the business world.
He was a knight, coming against the light.
As if she were a princess he treasured.
Emily suddenly felt inspired.
The pen in her hand seemed to come alive, dancing across the paper.
Soon, a beautiful dress appeared on the page.
Even before the actual design began, just looking at the sketch, one could already imagine a model wearing the dress on stage, shimmering with flowing light, looking as beautiful as a princess, like a fairy—pure, elegant, and wonderful!
When Bianca heard the theme, she instinctively glanced at Emily.
In such a short time, no matter how talented Emily was, she couldn't possibly have good inspiration right away, could she?
But the next moment, she was stunned.
Because Emily thought for barely a minute before starting to draw, and once she began sketching, it was as if she had shut out the entire world.
So focused, and her pen never hesitated for a moment. This made Bianca wonder if Emily had somehow learned the competition theme in advance.
Emily acted all high and mighty, but to get a good ranking in the finals, she actually stooped to selling her body.
It seemed her design talent must have deteriorated, otherwise she wouldn't lack confidence and try to get the competition theme beforehand.
Bianca had Emily's previous Natural Energy design drafts, plus she had help from the judges. She felt confident about her ranking in this design finals!
With that thought, Bianca also started drawing.
She had memorized Emily's draft. The theme didn't actually match Emily's design concept very well.
But Bianca didn't know Emily's true design concept, so naturally she couldn't understand it accurately.
So she barely made any changes and just copied the entire drawing.
Since she didn't need to think much, she drew quickly.
After finishing, she scanned everyone around, her gaze landing on Emily again.
Seeing that Emily still hadn't stopped, Bianca smiled smugly.
So what if Emily knew the competition theme in advance? She still couldn't beat someone as well-prepared as herself.
Emily was nearly finished. Not long after Emily looked over, she also put down her pen.
As if sensing something, Emily looked up toward Bianca's direction.
If it weren't for the reporters already filming, Bianca probably couldn't have resisted rolling her eyes at Emily.
However, when Emily looked over, she smiled with narrowed eyes, looking somewhat meaningful.
Emily calmly looked away.
"Time's up. Contestants, please submit your work. The judges will soon select today's first, second, and third place winners."
Then, everyone's work was collected and taken backstage to the judges' room.
Since everyone's skill level was closer this time, it would take a bit longer.
While waiting, Sophia and Byron immediately rushed over to Emily excitedly.
Seeing Byron, Bianca thought of how he used to be obsessed with her. After thinking it over, she followed them.
"Ms. Johnson!"
"Emily!"
The two greeted Emily with smiles.
Emily was a bit surprised. "When did you get here? I didn't see you."
"We came late and missed the preliminaries, but luckily made it for the finals. By the way, Ms. Johnson, who got first place in the preliminaries? Was their work really better than yours? Sophia suspects there's something fishy going on!"
Byron was always direct in his speech.
Sophia glared at him, but when she saw Emily looking over, she didn't make a fuss and asked honestly, "Ms. Johnson, you're so talented at drawing, I believe you must be the best at design too. How good was the first-place work really?"
Emily happened to see Bianca approaching and gestured with her chin. "There's your first place winner!"
Bianca had gotten close and just heard "first place." She immediately smiled and greeted Byron, "Byron, you came? Did you come to watch my competition? I'm honored. Fortunately, I didn't disappoint you. I did slightly better than Emily and got first place."
She figured Byron used to like her so much because she was excellent, right?
Emily also caught Byron's eye because Emily was good at medicine, and somehow got that project from Isaac. For Byron, who admired Isaac, that naturally meant Emily was impressive.
So while she seemed humble saying she was only slightly better than Emily, her expression was full of pride.
"You, first place?"
Sophia found it hard to believe, and her voice became somewhat sharp.
This immediately drew the attention of people around them.
Sophia belatedly realized she had overreacted.
Bianca took the opportunity to try to discredit Emily, putting on a slightly wronged expression. "Sophia, I know you're close with Emily now and you hate me. For her sake, you're willing to question my first place, which is questioning the fairness of this competition. Do you know who's hosting this competition? It's the Green family..."
How vicious Bianca was—to drag Sophia down with her, she directly used the Green family as a shield.
Emily caught Bianca's intention, her eyes turning cold.
Byron, being hot-tempered, couldn't hold back. "Nonsense! What's your skill level? You think we don't know? Better than Ms. Johnson? Aren't you ashamed? And you dare use the Green family to pressure people. Does the Green family even know? If you ask me, I also doubt your first place is legit. Anyway, this isn't the first time you've done something like this!"
Byron had seen through Bianca's true colors. Thinking about how he was once deceived by her, he wouldn't give her any courtesy.
Especially since she dared to talk about Sophia, he couldn't control his temper when scolding her. He even forgot there were reporters around and said such crude things.
Bianca couldn't stand that a man who used to fawn over her would now say such vulgar things to her.
A cold glint flashed in her eyes.
Since Byron wasn't giving her any face from the past, she wouldn't hold back this time either.
Bianca's eyes immediately reddened, and her voice grew louder.
"Byron, did Emily say something to you? We used to be the closest. You said you'd always protect me. Is it because of Emily's appearance?
If Emily was devoted to you and you were good to her, I would painfully bless you both. But even if you hate me for telling the truth today, I still have to say it—Emily might not be as innocent as you think.
Also, my preliminary design was shown to everyone, and no one questioned it. You came later—did you not even look at it and just start doubting me based on Emily's word alone? I'm really hurt!"
As Bianca spoke, she cried pitifully.
The surrounding audience and reporters hadn't really heard the details of their conflict clearly, but just seeing Emily's group of three with such strong presence, while Bianca was just a weak woman in tears.
Their hearts leaned toward Bianca.
Many people started whispering.
Some who couldn't stand it even walked over.