Chapter 167 What I Am Going to Write Next Is Also Poppy
The audience below whispered among themselves, while the judges on stage looked somewhat at a loss.
"Cillian, how do you think we should investigate this?" one of them asked.
Without hesitation, Cillian gave a direct order: "Bring paper and ink!"
As soon as he said this, the judges immediately understood.
He wanted Isabella to write on the spot. If what she wrote was different from what had been submitted, it would prove she was telling the truth.
Soon, staff members brought the ink and paper as instructed.
Cillian looked at Isabella. "Isabella, I want you to rewrite exactly what you wrote before."
"If you can write something completely different from what's on the screen, then I'll believe what you're saying is true."
Isabella nodded, walked to the table, picked up the brush, and prepared to write.
Seeing this, the audience below became restless, their faces full of excitement at the drama unfolding.
"Wait."
Cillian stopped her just as Isabella was about to put brush to paper.
He turned to look at Alaric. "That calligraphy piece on your office wall—did you really write it yourself?"
Alaric froze.
This was the third time Cillian had asked him this question.
The other judges also looked at Cillian with confusion, not understanding why he would suddenly ask this question at such a moment. What did it have to do with a contestant's work being switched?
Alaric grew more puzzled, but still answered, "I wrote it."
Cillian sneered. "If I remember correctly, the poem you wrote was Shakespeare's Sonnet 18."
Hearing "Sonnet," Isabella paused and blurted out, "Sonnet?"
Cillian turned to look at her, asking knowingly, "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"It's just a bit of a coincidence," Isabella said. "Because what I'm about to write is also from the Sonnets."
Alaric raised an eyebrow.
That was indeed quite a coincidence.
He looked at Cillian and explained, "Shakespeare is my favorite poet, so I used his work to practice my calligraphy."
Cillian said nothing more and gestured to Isabella. "Isabella, you can begin."
"No rush, I'll give you plenty of time. Take it slow," he added, worried that Isabella might get nervous in front of so many people and it would affect her performance.
There were microphones at the judges' table, so their conversation was clearly transmitted to the audience below.
But no one paid much attention to the conversation, assuming the judges were just chatting.
Everyone was more focused on whether Isabella could prove that the calligraphy work on the screen wasn't hers, so they stood on tiptoe and craned their necks, wishing they could rush onto the stage to see.
Sonnet 18 had only four lines in total.
Isabella finished writing quickly and gently set down her brush.
Alaric hadn't taken this little incident seriously. Although Cillian's lecture earlier had made him lose some face, the feeling passed quickly.
Seeing Isabella put down her brush, Alaric stood up expressionlessly and walked over to look.
But the next second, his face froze.
With just one glance, his whole body stiffened, as if he'd turned to stone.
The calligraphy Isabella had written was exactly the same as the piece Bianca had given him!
Could it be that the calligraphy Bianca gave him... was actually written by Isabella?
Realizing this possibility, Alaric's heart sank.
The judges all noticed Alaric's unusual reaction, and so did those in the front rows below.
"What did Alaric see? Why does he look like that?"
"Is it as bad as before?"
"What did Isabella write? I'm super curious."
Alaric stared at the calligraphy paper before him, his face pale.
Familiar paper, familiar content, familiar... handwriting.
The whole world seemed to flip upside down before his eyes, leaving only a ringing in his ears.
Cillian gave Alaric a cold glance. He didn't even need to ask why he was so shocked. He simply instructed the staff: "Project Isabella's work onto the screen."
"Yes, sir."
The staff made some quick adjustments, and soon a complete Sonnet 18 appeared before everyone, placed next to the previous crooked writing.
In an instant, the audience below was stunned.
From left to right, it was like going from hell to heaven.
The left side showed tilted, crooked, ugly writing, while the right side showed powerful yet beautiful strokes.
They couldn't possibly have been written by the same person!
Bianca had been comforting herself that even if the judges made Isabella rewrite it, Isabella couldn't beat her. If Isabella really had the skills, why would she buy someone else's calligraphy?
But when she looked up, all the color drained from her face in an instant.
All the sounds around her disappeared.
She only felt a chill rising from the soles of her feet.
After a moment of silence, the audience below erupted into heated discussion.
"This calligraphy... it's beautiful!"
"If Isabella's calligraphy is this good, why wouldn't she submit this piece? It really was switched out, and replaced with something so ugly. Obviously someone was sabotaging her!"
"What Isabella said was actually true. She really is innocent. Someone switched out her submitted work!"
"Who did this? How awful!"
"I feel terrible. I shouldn't have doubted Isabella. Thank goodness Cillian was fair, otherwise Isabella would have been wrongly accused."
"Find out who did this quickly. This is outrageous—playing tricks at a calligraphy competition."
Suddenly, almost everyone focused on the fact that Isabella's competition entry had been switched.
"Isabella is representing our school in the competition, and something like this happened. Isn't that bullying our entire Stellar High School?"
"Find out who did this quickly!"
"We request that the judges immediately investigate and give Isabella justice!"
The crowd was in an uproar.
Bianca was submerged in the noise and shouting, her expression frightened, her limbs cold.
How could this happen?
It was Alaric who said high school students couldn't possibly write like that, which made her believe Isabella's entry was bought.
She never imagined Isabella's calligraphy was actually written by her own hand.
Isabella had never taken calligraphy classes or had a professional teacher! How could her calligraphy be so strong? What went wrong? Where was the problem?
"Bianca, what's wrong with you?"
Abigail looked at Bianca curiously and saw that her lips had turned pale.
"Bianca?"
"Bianca, say something!"
Abigail called out several times before Bianca responded, though she still seemed dazed. "What?"
"Didn't you expect Isabella could write calligraphy like this either?" Abigail looked at the stage with a dark expression. "I thought Isabella would embarrass herself today, but she ended up stealing the spotlight!"
She just couldn't understand how many secrets Isabella, someone from the countryside, was hiding. Her grades were so good, and now her calligraphy was better than Bianca's too.
Abigail felt very worried for Bianca.
If this continued, Bianca would really be outshone by Isabella in every way.
Alaric was still in shock.