Chapter 161 Forcing with Collective Withdrawal
The sharp questioning echoed through the deathly silent venue. Director Saul Pena's face turned ashen, and the master judges frowned deeply.
These words, thrown into the already restless crowd, instantly stirred up a huge uproar.
The contestants below, each with their own thoughts, immediately became agitated.
Yeah, why should she get special treatment?
A female contestant named Daisy, who ranked thirtieth and had just been relieved about barely making it through, instantly turned pale.
If Amelia's score was counted, Daisy would be the one pushed out.
"No! You can't change it!" Daisy blurted out, her voice choking with tears. "I've been preparing for this spot for five years! I only slept four hours a day. The drafts I've drawn could fill an entire room! Why should it be voided just like that!"
Those contestants who had already been eliminated found an outlet for their frustration, their eyes reigniting with fire.
An eliminated male contestant shouted loudly, "Right! The results are already out. How can you just change them?"
A woman next to him immediately chimed in, "Amelia being overlooked was the production team's mistake. Why should we bear the consequences? Where were you guys before?"
"Isadora is right! This isn't fair!"
Voices of protest rose one after another, with the eliminated contestants shouting the loudest and most desperately, as if they were the biggest victims.
Isadora knew exactly how to manipulate people's hearts.
Seeing that she had successfully stirred up the crowd, a cold smile of victory appeared at the corner of her mouth.
She suddenly turned around and precisely pointed at the pale-faced Daisy, her voice suddenly rising.
"Daisy! Tell everyone! How long did you fight to get this spot? Now because of one person's mistake, all your efforts will be wasted. Are you okay with that?"
Called out by name, Daisy trembled all over, and under countless gazes, tears fell from her eyes.
"I'm not okay with it. Of course I'm not. I can't be eliminated."
Isadora withdrew her gaze with satisfaction and once again directed her attack at Saul, pressing aggressively.
"Mr. Pena! Did you hear that? This is what the contestants are saying!"
"Did you hear? Because of an assistant's mistake, you want to void the results that have already been produced? Is that fair to the dozens of other contestants who fought with everything they had to stand here?"
As Isadora spoke, she deliberately pointed at the young assistant who was about to cry.
"He made the mistake, so he should be the one to bear it! Ms. Martinez, if you feel wronged, you can go ask him for compensation and make him take responsibility for you!"
"Instead of dragging all of us down to pay for your production team's mistake!"
Everyone's eyes focused on the young assistant.
Already feeling extremely guilty about his mistake, being publicly pushed out as the scapegoat by Isadora made him tremble all over, his lips turning white, unable to say a complete sentence.
He was just a fresh graduate intern. How could he possibly bear the responsibility for a talented designer being eliminated?
Isadora's words were meant to push him to the breaking point.
"Isadora."
A cool voice rang out, not loud, but clearly cutting through the noise at the scene.
Cecilia finally moved.
She walked slowly to stand in front of Isadora, looking calmly at this seemingly crazed woman.
"Besides manipulating people's hearts and pushing powerless people out to take the blame, what else can you do?"
Cecilia's voice revealed no emotion, yet carried a coldness that saw through everything.
"Or is it that deep down, you know very well that if you competed fairly, you couldn't beat me?"
"You!"
Isadora looked like her sore spot had been stepped on, her face changing dramatically.
She gripped the microphone tightly, her knuckles turning white.
"I can't beat you? Amelia, you think too highly of yourself! You think that with the popularity you got through hype and a pretty face, you can do whatever you want in the professional field?"
"Don't forget, your artwork wasn't judged with your identity completely hidden! Who knows if those judges were also charmed by you? Before the final results are out, what right do you have to say such things?"
Seeing that the emotions she had just stirred up showed signs of falling apart, Isadora steeled herself and completely tore off her disguise.
"Fine, since Ms. Martinez is so confident, let's do this by the rules!"
She sneered and raised the microphone again, speaking loudly.
"The list of those advancing has been confirmed. You, Amelia, have been eliminated! This is the final result!"
"Mr. Pena!" She turned toward the director's seat, her attitude extremely firm. "If you insist on destroying the fairness of the competition for her alone, then I think none of us need to continue competing!"
Isadora looked around the venue, speaking word by word, her voice vicious.
"I, Isadora Penrose, as a member of the Valeria Haute Couture Association, declare that if the production team cannot give us an explanation and doesn't continue the competition according to the already announced list, then all of us advancing contestants will withdraw collectively!"
"I'd like to see how a competition with only the champion left can continue!"
Collective withdrawal!
As soon as these words came out, the whole venue was in an uproar.
Saul's face completely darkened.
He could ignore public opinion, ignore accusations of rigging, but he couldn't ignore the competition itself.
If the contestants really withdrew collectively, this show, which had invested huge amounts of money and effort, would become the biggest joke in the industry.
Isadora had calculated this exactly.
She was using all the contestants' futures to hold the entire production team hostage, just to completely push Cecilia out.
The atmosphere at the scene froze to the breaking point because of Isadora's desperate threat.
Those contestants who had just been going along with the crowd now found themselves in a difficult position.
Many of them didn't want to withdraw, but Isadora had made it clear, tying them all to the same boat.
"Ms. Penrose, isn't withdrawal a bit too extreme?" a top-ranked contestant muttered quietly.
Isadora immediately shot a cold glance at them. "What? Do you want to be the one who gets pushed out? Or do you think your skills can definitely beat that perfect-scoring Amelia?"
That person immediately shut up.
Cecilia watched all this, watched Isadora's face twisted with the certainty of victory. Deep in Cecilia's eyes, everything was frozen like ice.
Cecilia had expected Isadora to be unwilling and to play tricks, but she hadn't expected Isadora could be shameless to this extent.
Just at this tense moment, ready to explode, there was suddenly a commotion from the director's seat.
An assistant, holding a phone and looking pale, rushed to Saul. "Mr. Pena! This is bad. The live stream comments have exploded! That whole segment just now was broadcast! #Isadora threatens collective withdrawal# has already shot to the top of trending!"
Saul's gaze swept over the rapidly scrolling comments and trending topics on the assistant's phone, his face instantly turning pale. He realized this was no longer just a crisis at the scene, but a broadcast accident sweeping across the entire internet.
He grabbed the walkie-talkie, his voice distorted with anger and panic. "Cut it! Cut the live stream now!"
The next second, the live stream screen went black for countless viewers.
Saul threw down the walkie-talkie and growled at the security personnel beside him, "Lock down the venue! No one enters or leaves until this is resolved!"
He turned to another assistant and roared, "Is the PR department hired to watch the show? Get that trending topic taken down now!"