The Rebirth of a Scorned Heiress

“These are the teams that made it to the next stage; a round of applause for their beautiful performance, please,” the host announced with an excited tone as all the qualifying teams stood to the side.

“Leading the team are the representatives from Wilson Fashion School, and currently they are leading with a total of 60 points!” The host announced, and the audience cheered as Shannon and Xavier bowed their heads.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

“Following them is the black ship of this competition, the Lily’ fashion. A group that only started less than six months ago. They first showed their prowess in the Paris show, and even now they continue to break ground!” The host announced, his voice raising as the audience’s cheering increased.

“I know you all are excited. I am, too. Lily’s fashion has 59. 9, marking just a 0. 1 difference between them and the leading place. The competition is quite fierce, despite both groups having varying opinions on fashion.”

“The next group is the representative from the Fairies fashion school, with 55. points. Following them is the representative from the Yellow Hill Fashion School with 50 points, and lastly, we have the Funray Fashion Academy,” the host continued as the cheering from the audience continued.

“These groups are qualified to join the next stage of the competition. As usual, the leading group, which is Wilson Fashion School, will be given the privilege to skip directly to the finals.” The hostess began.

“Leaving the four other groups to compete amongst themselves. The groups will have to be grouped using the number selection method,” the host chimed in with a smile.

“Now each group from two to four will send out a representative to pick a number. You’ll be facing off with the group that picked the same number as you in the next round. The winner from that group will face off with the winner of the next group.” The hostess explained carefully.

“And then for the finals, whichever groups win amongst the last two groups will go against Wilson Fashion School to determine the winner for this competition! I’m excited, and I know you all are!” She continued.

The representative from each group stepped forward, with Alana representing their group and Calvin representing Merissa’s group with the other group. Each representative picked a paper, and upon opening it, they were asked to call out their numbers.

Fairies Fashion Academy and Funray Fashion were paired into a group, leaving Lily and Yellow Hill Academy to face off against each other.

“What a unique combination!” The hostess announced, “The teams in each group have such a unique sense of creativity that it will be a tough time judging the winner.” She continued.

“I’m also thinking the same. What will happen with Yellow Hills and Lily’s in the same group? Such fierce competition between the students of the same academy!” The host chimed in.

“This just shows the expertise at each academy, doesn’t it? I’m truly looking forward to the next stage,” the hostess added with a subtle hint, making the audience cheer in anticipation.

“As usual, starting from this stage, Your creativity and originality are the most important. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating will not be allowed. Having said that, this round has come to an end.”

“Congratulations! To all the teams that qualified for the next stage!”

As the team walked off the stage, Merissa purposely bumped into Lily, almost throwing her off the high platform. However, before she could fall, Alana and Calvin held her, “What do you think you are doing?” Calvin demanded coldly as he stood protectively beside Lily while glaring at Merissa.

Merissa bit her lip with a clenched fist, seeing how she had drawn attention. Her eyes welled up with tears as her lower lip trembled, giving off a pitiful and wronged expression. “I’m so sorry,” she stammered, her voice quivering with a convincing display of remorse. “I didn’t mean to… I just lost my balance.”

Calvin eyed her suspiciously. “You should be more careful,” he cautioned, his voice laced with icy disdain. “Lily could have been seriously hurt. And our team would have been blamed for playing dirty to win. How can you be so careless?” He reprimanded coldly, making Merissa’s anger flare.

“I already apologise. Do you have to be so hard on me? I’m your teammate; shouldn’t you be taking my side here?” Her voice wavered, her pitiful act convincing to those around them as the other group representative began to whisper.

‘Indeed, they don’t get along in the Yellow Hill group, but shouldn’t he be taking her side against other people?’

‘It’s probably just an act to get attention. It’s their problem; they’ll solve it.’

‘I did see Merissa rushing forward like she had a mission.’

‘I’m surprised this has been delayed to this extent. The tension between those two can be cut with a knife,’

Seeing people talking, Alana stepped up with an awkward smile. “Yes, Calvin, I think she understands the gravity of her mistake,” she interjected, hoping to diffuse the tension.

She gave Lily a concerned glance before addressing Merissa with a measured tone. “Just be more mindful in the future. We wouldn’t want any unnecessary accidents to befall any of the competitors.”

Lily, still shaken from the near-fall, took a deep breath, her brow furrowed in thought. While Merissa’s act seemed genuine to the others, Lily was not one to be easily bought over by some cheap acting skills.

The push was done on purpose; it was just like back then in the academy, when the original owner was pushed down the stairs.

‘Is she not afraid of being caught if things get more complicated than she planned?’ Lily thought to herself and sighed.

With a polite nod to Merissa and the rest of the people gathered, she turned to her friends and said, “Come on. We have lots to get done,” she encouraged, and the group walked away.

Seeing the protagonist of the fight left, the rest of the group dispersed, leaving behind a livid Merissa and an annoyed Calvin. “Are you really that childish to push your competitors off the stage?” Calvin asked as the two entered their quarters.

“I told you it was a mistake!” Merissa bit back coldly, glaring at him with eyes full of hatred. “Yeah right. I’ll believe you the day pigs start to fight. Lily is not one to be messed with, and I’m sure you already know that,” he warned.

“What do you want?” Merissa breathed out.

“I want to survive this competition with my head and my reputation intact. Not that I care about the latter, though. What I’m saying is that using underhanded methods to deal with her will bring you to ruins,” he warned genuinely.

“You are talking as if she’s capable of anything else but manipulating online opinions, tch.”

“You think? Then let me ask you, How is your father’s company fairing?” Calvin asked with an amused smile, and Merissa’s eyes widened in shock.

“How did you know?”

“What do you mean? How do I know? It’s all over the news, and if you think it’s a coincidence that it happened, I think you are too naive and overly sheltered,” he explained as he opened a can of beer that he managed to sneak into the competition venue.

“How are you so sure she’s the one behind all this?” Merissa asked sceptically, and Calvin shrugged.

“Intuition. The same intuition tells me that the next stage of this competition is going to be nothing but a nightmare for you.”