Chapter 171
Aside from the vocal praise for Cordy living up to her reputation, everyone was saluting Noel for
showing grace in defeat.
After all, Noel had been indisputably leading in both points and popularity, and there were many who
could not accept her defeat.
And yet, Noel seemed to be earnestly congratulating Cordy.
[I thought they were on bad terms, but I guess I was wrong. Sisters would never turn against each
other over a man!]
[I didn’t think that Noel was so understanding. She’s even happier than Cordy, who just won.]
[I just looked through the previous episodes. Noel looked so nervous just before they announced Cordy
results. She was even more nervous than Cordy.]
[Maybe we misunderstood her. Maybe she is truly in love with Kyle Jessop.]
Meanwhile, John was frowning over the fact that Noel was getting all the praise when it was Cordy who
won.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtNew messages were arriving from Bob in the WhatsApp chat group at the same time.
[Did Noel have a change of heart or something? Or did she bribe the production team to clear her
name? @johnlevine]
[But to be honest, Cordy’s prowess as a fashion designer is astounding. Should I ask her to design
something for me? @johnlevine]
Sam retorted: [You’re so fat no one can design anything for you. Don’t make things hard for Mrs.
Levine now.]
With that, Bob and Sam started to argue while John ignored them.
John’s eyes were glued to the screen since the show would soon be over.
However, just as Cordy was about to give her winner’s speech, a member of the audience suddenly
yelled, “Cordy’s winning design was plagiarized!”
The voice resonated over the studio that went silent for Cordy’s speech, and everyone could hear
1.
“I noticed it too! That design was plagiarized from Lovely’s work! Lovely is an internationally renowned
fashion designer, and that design was published in a fashion magazine last year!”
“Yeah! I knew it looked familiar too, so it really was plagiarized! I’ve been following Lovely’s activities
after she won first prize in that international competition!”
The audience was only getting louder, even restless.
The host’s many attempts to calm things down failed too!
“This is not fair! Cordy should be disqualified!”
“Yeah! We can’t accept this! Do over, do over!”
The studio erupted into chaos, with audience members throwing bottles at Cordy, and security had to
step up immediately to stop them from getting violent.
Even so, this was certainly unprecedented.
This had not happened at the very end of the reality show program for years, though the viewership
was skyrocketing with the incident.
[The production team must give us something. They can’t cut the feed now.]
[Yes! They can’t go off air or we would have to boycott North City Channel’s variety shows from now
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmon!]
[Give us something right now! We won’t accept any manipulation behind the scenes!]
After the production crew members asked their executives for instructions, they decided to keep the
program on air.
The host returned then, attempting damage control. “To everyone here at the studio and behind your
TV, our management has unanimously agreed on several matters in the past few minutes. First and
foremost, everyone can rest assured that we will be staying on air and continuing the show, with
everyone as our witness. Secondly, we must ask the studio audience to stay calm and observe order.
There is no need to cause an unnecessary stampede that endangers yourself or others. Last but not
least, it is with our reputation that we promise a fair selection of the winner in this competition to offer
our wonderful audience a perfect ending.”
The audience did quiet down from the host’s words, and soon, the judges returned to their seats.
The presiding judge then spoke, “We have appraised Cordy Sachs’ design again, this time by
comparing it to Lovely’s ‘Eternity’ from last year. It is virtually identical, and we therefore deem it
plagiarism.”
There was a cathartic roar from the crowd at those words.