“You guys have all misunderstood!” She suddenly roared.
“Indeed, this is not my work, but I didn’t copy other people’s work! What you guys are looking at right now is actually the work of the 12th contestant, Eveline Montgomery!”
She tried all means to argue. “Because… Because I’m somehow related to Eveline. Earlier, we used to stay together, so my work and hers got mixed up! I didn’t look at it properly earlier but now that I’ve looked at it closely, I realize this isn’t my work. It’s Eveline’s!
“If it involves any copying, then it’s Eveline who has copied other people’s work! If you guys don’t believe it, you can look at the work that she has submitted for this contest. You’ll all believe that I’m stating the truth then!”
Niamh got up, her crystal clear voice that was like a soothing wind traveling into the ears of everyone present. “Then please display my work in advance to address the lies being spouted by this cunning lady who’s trying all means to defend herself.”
Yvonne’s eyes got wider as she stared at Niamh who was sauntering before her.
Under the lights above the stage, Niamh’s elegant presence and her gorgeous looks made everyone held on to their breaths.
Yvonne took in a deep, cold breath. She was speechless when faced with the pressure given out by Niamh.
The technicians behind the scenes quickly displayed Niamh’s work, and it was a fine piece of work that no one had ever seen before.
The sight of the picture made Yvonne and Karen dumbfounded.
“How… How is this possible?” Yvonne’s eyes were gigantic when she stared at the design, unable to accept what she was seeing.
It turned out that it was a completely different design from Yvonne’s.
Niamh put on a smirk as if she had seen through all the schemes plotted. “Why is it not possible? Do you think I’m as stupid as your aunty?”
‘What?!’
Karen never expected that Niamh would so boldly call her foolish on such an occasion.
Even though her status was not the same as previously, most people in Glendale knew Niamh was Kendrick’s wife. As such, they would also know that the mother-in-law Niamh mentioned was no one other than Karen!
A commotion broke out at the scene as the crowd started heatedly discussing.
Kendrick was sitting not far away. His face was covered with a thin layer of ice even though he was not speaking.
Eloise and Sean, who were sitting in front of Karen, spun around. “Karen, did you do something to harm my daughter again? What’s with those statements blurted by your niece?!” Eloise questioned.
With Eloise’s comment, everyone came to realize that Karen was the foolish mother-in-law who Niamh mentioned.
Facing so many suspicious gazes, Karen immediately stood up. “Niamh, what are you blabbering in this kind of situation? I still want to conserve my dignity even if you plan to discard yours!”
Niamh raised her brows. “If you want to preserve your dignity, you wouldn’t have planned this entire act with your beloved niece in the very first place.”
Karen’s expression froze up as her cheeks gradually turned scarlet. “You… What gibberish are you talking about?! Since when did I plan this whole thing with Yvonne?”
Yvonne also quickly denied it. “Niamh, you shouldn’t blame others! It’s you who copied other people’s work and submitted it. I’m the one being wronged thanks to you!”
“Being wronged?” Niamh said with her eyes giving off an icy stare.
“Yvonne, do you think I’m an idiot?”
…
Niamh forced her glare upon Yvonne, making the latter take in a deep, chilly breath subconsciously.
“You and your aunt planned this to cause me trouble. You want to taint my pride as the designer of Miss L.ady and ruin my life. Do you think I’m not aware of it?”
It turned out that Niamh was fully aware of their scheme!
This left Karen and Yvonne dumbfounded.
Niamh shifted her critical gaze to Karen. “I knew you wanted to steal my design since a long time ago. That’s why I purposely let you do so and even allowed you to enter my study and use my laptop. I even let you in on which design I’ve decided to submit on purpose.”
…
“You thought that sending Yvonne a copy of my design would make her the original designer, and when I display the exact design, it’ll make me the copycat. Isn’t that what you both have been planning all this while?”
Without a single error, Niamh pointed out Karen and Yvonne’s plot.
They both thought they had planned a flawless trap for Niamh. However, it turned out that they were just two chess pieces in Niamh’s eyes.
Yvonne was apoplectic with rage. “You’re such a b*tch, Niamh! How dare you plot a scheme against me?!”
“Shut your crap.” Kendrick went up the stage and yanked Niamh to his side. His sharp gaze was fixed on Yvonne. “Who’s the one plotting a scheme against others? How dare you question Nia?”
Feeling unsatisfied, Yvonne bit her lip and said, “It’s as plain as the sky that she’s the one setting up a trap for me!”
“Yeah, I set up a trap. My plot was to use your scheme against you two. If you both didn’t have any ill intentions, thinking about using such an underhanded method to set me up, things wouldn’t have ended like this.”
“Don’t you wish to see my life ruined? Well, I’m sorry to let you down. The one whose life is now ruined is you, Yvonne.” Niamh gave her last comment, which was like blades stabbing right into Yvonne’s body.
The obedient mask she was wearing slowly crumbled as her true cunning self was revealed. She fixed her pair of eyes that were filled with hatred on Niamh.
“I can’t believe there’s such a person.”
“Well, nowadays, people will go through all means just to be famous.”
“No wonder Young Master Waldburg’s business has dropped drastically. Perhaps it’s because of having such a mother!”
“However, Young Master Waldburg has such a capable wife. I’m sure it’ll be an easy task to start all over again.”
After hearing the comments from the crowd, Karen picked up her purse while feeling embarrassed and fled from the scene.
She had no choice but to escape from the scene to prevent further humiliation.
“Security, please take this lowly person out of here. Let’s carry on with the contest.” The judges glared at Yvonne.
Yvonne clenched both her fists, feeling dissatisfied from the bottom of her heart.
“Don’t touch me. I’ll walk on my own!”
She threw a temper and shoved the security aside. It was only after glaring at Niamh that she was willing to leave the scene.
Kendrick lowered his gaze and held onto Niamh’s hand. “Nia, why didn’t you let me know that they were plotting against you behind your back?”
Niamh let out a smile and said with a faint tone, “Women shouldn’t always depend on their man, especially someone who had once harmed them so many times. I’ll never depend on those men.”
After blurting out her comment, Niamh retrieved her hand from Kendrick’s grasp.
His expression went icy all of a sudden as he felt his heartbeat skip a few beats. “Nia?”
He called out to her, but Niamh ignored him and spun around to leave.
The crowd felt curious and looked at Kendrick who was standing on the stage as if his soul had left his body.
‘What’s going on?’
‘Are they having a fight?’
After some time, Kendrick snapped out of it. In the meantime, Niamh had already returned to her seat in the contestants’ area.
Kendrick headed down the stage, not conscious of his actions at all as his mind was all jumbled up.
‘Did Nia change her personality again?
‘No way.
‘If she had, she wouldn’t have returned to the contestants’ area and continued with the contest.’
This threw Kendrick for a loop and this went on until all the designs were displayed and the result of the contest was out. Niamh emerged as the victor with a huge lead. At that split second, Kendrick managed to regain his regular breathing and heartbeat.
He glanced at Niamh going up the stage, along with the runner-up and the second runner-up.
She stood at the center of the stage. Under the lights, she appeared like a sparkling star, demonstrating the most gorgeous side of hers.
The uprising young lad was the one to present Niamh with the trophy, and this was followed by Niamh giving a speech of gratitude.
Kendrick listened to the speech absentmindedly as Niamh’s crystal clear voice tickled his ears.
“I’m grateful for the acknowledgment given by all the judges and most grateful for those who made the effort to vote for me. I’m able to emerge as the winner thanks to everyone’s support. However, among all the supporters, there’s one person I would like to express my gratitude for specifically.”
Her gorgeous eyes then fell on Kendrick.
“This person once used to rub salt against my wound when I was at my most helpless moment in life, and that’s my ex-husband, Kendrick Waldburg.”
Kendrick never expected he would be named in such a situation.
He felt his heart skip a beat.
‘Could it be possible that she has recovered her memories?’
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.