Chapter 355


    Everyone instantly went quiet.


    The person who suggested cing the work on the shelf, and the first to do so, was Leanna.


    If that was taken into ount when it came to the scoring, then it was logical to expect her to score


    highly on her reaction time and adaptability.


    However, just then, someone softly said, “Who knows? Maybe she knew we had to do that


    beforehand.”


    The staff member on stage continued their announcement. “Since all of you have chosen to participate


    in thispetition, we trust you believe thispetition is extremely important to us. We will be fair


    and just the entire time with no impartiality. If anyone still doubts the fairness of thepetition, we


    would like to offer you the option to withdraw to avoid the contestants’ inability to ept future results.”


    As soon as they said that, the room went silent, and no one spoke again.


    “That is all for today,” dered the staff member. “You are now free to head back and prepare for the


    competition. You have ten days this time. After ten days, please return here with your creations. I will


    be waiting here for you. We are looking forward to seeing the masterpieces you’ll create.”


    The staff member then left the hall. After a few long moments of silence, someone finally gathered the


    courage to whisper to their neighbor.


    “I think they are ying us for fools. Why would they not tell us the rules beforehand? Why must we


    guess? Who could have guessed?”


    “Yeah,” said another person. “I thought we werepeting as designers. Someone else might have


    thought this was an escape room or something. Do the organizers even respect us? They act as if we


    are here because we begged them.”


    “Enough,” said someone else. “Why did none of you speak up when the staff member made the


    announcement? Why are youining now? With the time at hand, should you not be working on


    your submission?”


    The group grumbled and whined as they left the building. As soon as Leanna exited the halls, a young


    woman ran over to her. “Hi, McK. My name is Sofia Evans.”


    When Leanna heard the name, she knew Sofia was the designer who had been quite popr over the


    last two years even though Sofia was only older than Leanna by one year.


    “Hello,” said Leanna.


    Sofia went straight to the point. “Can we talk? I… I drew your lot.”


    Leanna nodded. “Sure.”


    Sofia had not expected Leanna to agree that easily. She nkly stared at Leanna for a few moments


    before smiling. “Let me treat you to a cup of coffee. There is a cafe just nearby.”


    Leanna nced at the time. “Okay.” She had nothing to do anyway.


    Once they sat down with their coffee, Sofia started talking. “I actually really like your work. I even


    bought your First Love series. I never had the chance to get to know you though. When I saw you at


    the opening ceremony, I was too afraid to say hi.”


    Leanna was surprised to hear that. “Why?”


    “Aren’t you the ex-wife of the president of Pearson Group?” Sofia awkwardly replied. “It always feels


    that people like you, who are at the top, are hard to get along with. I don’t think that now though. Last


    time, you could have ced your work on the shelf and left. However, you told us about it. I realized


    you were not as unapproachable as I thought.”


    Leanna smiled. It was not easy to be one of the top percentiles either. Even Aidan went through


    unimaginable pain and suffering.


    “I was just open to trying things out,” she responded.


    “Oh, your mindset is great. You know how the people in our field are; we are easily bound by the rules


    and topics stated. It is why there are so many rules in thispetition. The organizers are encouraging


    us to be innovative.” Sofia sighed. “It is like our work. Every designer has their own unique style that


    matures by the day. However, they are now asking us to draw ording to someone else’s art style. If


    the contestants do not understand why the organizers are doing this, then they would likely end their


    journey here.”


    The organizers designed thepetition this way for two reasons; one, as Sofia said, to encourage


    innovation, and two, to make them break free from previous constraints and boldly try new things.


    “It is quite hard to suddenly change your art style,” said Leanna. “But you just need to find the correct


    direction and the rest will slowlye to you.”


    Sofia nodded as she sipped her coffee. “You are right. Speaking of which, you swapped lots with


    Queenie, right? That means you have to copy her style?”


    “Yes.”


    “It really is a small world,” Sofiamented. “You’re not aware, are you? Queenie used to always bad-


    mouth you atworking events. She said she left Lux Magazine because the boss had a crush on you


    and would give you all the good opportunities while she was left with no chance to develop her career.”


    “While she did not explicitly say all that,” she added. “She kept implying you were sleeping with the


    higher-ups of Lux Magazine. Hriously enough, after she said all that, someone on the Inte said


    you are President Pearson’s ex-wife. I did not get to see her reaction to that, but it must have been


    funny.”


    Leanna did not find the revtion strange. When Queenie was still working with Lux Magazine, she


    would spread false rumors about Leanna. After leaving Lux Magazine, everyone wondered why.


    Naturally, she had to make up an excuse.


    After a few minutes of chatting, Sofia realized Leanna did not hide anything about her designs at all.


    Instead, Leanna would straight-up tell her what she had been thinking as she designed. She was so


    much better as a person than those who called themselves Sofia’s seniors in the field while looking


    down their noses at her.


    Seeing the time, Sofia stood up. “I apologize for taking up so much of your time. How about I treat you


    to a meal after thepetition is over?”


    “Oh, it’s nothing,” replied Leanna. “It is what I should do.”


    The two women then walked out of the cafe.


    In a ck car not far away, Queenie was spying on Leanna. She narrowed her eyes before turning to


    hand the artworks in her hands to the man sitting beside her. “Here are my previous works and drafts.


    You just need to copy them while adding in your usual design ir.”


    Elliot epted the stack and confidently replied, “Leave it to me. I guarantee that everything will go


    smoothly.”This is property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    “Half of the agreed-upon amount has been transferred to your ount,” said Queenie. “Once this is


    done, you will be paid the rest.”


    “No rush. I look forward to working with you,” he said while his hand casually stroked her thigh. She


    frowned and smacked his hand away. “Have some respect!” she eximed.


    Heughed. “I thought we were the same kind of person since you would do something like that. Fine,


    fine. I will be more respectful.”


    He then straightened his tie before getting out of the car with the artworks she handed him.