It was finally the long-awaited presentation night for the first sound, where half of the participants would be disqualified. According to the arrangement, the models representing each group will walk the runway, after which the judges will judge them accordingly, grading them with a pass or a disqualification."She did use the blue dress design you mentioned," Alana pointed out as she walked into the dressing room assigned to their team."That's too much to expect. She's lazy and not creative enough to be here, so the only option she has while trying to make a name for herself is to use underhanded methods," Lily replied while making sure nothing had gone wrong with the clothing. "Are you nervous?" She asked, and Gary shook his head. "I'm not as nervous as I was the first time I did a photoshoot. And I don't have that much work; I just have to walk down the runway," he shrugged. "While making sure I don't trip," he added with a smile, and Lily chuckled. "Right! You have to make sur
As Merissa browsed through designs, she frowned and called Diana's number, only to realise she had been blocked. "Ahhhh!" She screamed out in frustration and anger. Stomping her feet she pulled her hair in frustration and glared at the wall, "I was played by the likes of that garbage piece?" Taking a deep breath, she relaxed and pushed her rage to the back of her mind. "I can't lose my temper if I want to win against Lily. I'll just have to browse and see which one of these designs hasn't been used yet. There is no big deal and no need to get angry," She muttered and returned to browsing through the designs.Unknown to her, she has successfully attracted the negative and watchful gazes of the audience to herself after the first round. Meanwhile, Lily and her group became the talk of the competition alongside the top teams of the competition. Praises were showered on their team. Despite Gary's face being covered with the mask, he was able to successfully win the hearts of the young
"What's going on? Is everything okay at home?" Merissa asked, her hands trembling as she listened to her mother sobbing over the phone."The company is facing a huge crisis. Someone posted a review of one of our latest products, which caught the government's attention. Now, our investors are pulling out to avoid losing money since our stock is crashing," Mrs. Smith explained, her voice strained."What do you mean by crashing? How can the stock crash from a single review?" Merissa questioned, her anxiety increasing as she clenched her fists."It's not just one review. Initially, it was only one, but that one served as a catalyst, and there were several others too. The reviews shifted between the products and the employee treatments. And in just three days, we've lost ten million. If this continues, the company will go bankrupt within a month," Mrs Smith sniffled."Your dad hasn't been home in days; he's desperately trying to find a solution. But without investors, there's only so much
"Lily Turner, right?" Her words were interrupted by a thick French accent. Looking up, she noticed a man dressed in a black designer tuxedo with an intimidating aura that matched his cold, dark eyes.Lily stepped back with a frown as she reached for her phone, her hands hovering on the first number that popped up, ready to press in case of a sudden attack."Who are you?" Lily asked, her voice cold and guarded as she glared up at the man standing before him."Why not look closely? Don't I look familiar?" He asked while pointing to his face. Following the movement of his hand, Lily's eyes traced his face, the familiar, unique spring green eyes, the soft-looking light brown hair, and the accent. Although this man's accent feels and sounds thicker than the one she hears regularly, She could not mistake the other resemblance for a coincidence. "Bryan Roux?" She carefully nodded, and the man nodded."Can we talk somewhere more private?" He asked while pointing to his car. Lily looked from
'I'm working on a big project. If it succeeds, then the technology in this world will be changed. It's going to be revolutionary, and things will be easier because everyone will be able to live like geniuses!' 'What's this project? Will you let me in on it? Can I also partake? I want to be a pioneer!' A younger Victoria replied excitedly, jumping up and down while looking up at her mother with starry eyes full of respect and hope. 'You are still too young to be part of it, and besides, I told you that you are free to choose your path. You don't have to be a tech enthusiast like I am,' the older woman chuckled, giving Victoria a gentle pat on the head. Victoria let out a huff and pouted as she crossed her hands on her chest. "I want to be like you! I want to be so cool when I programme and develop something too!''Alright, Alright. You are free to do whatever makes you happy. Just know that when you don't feel like it anymore, you can stop and start all over again.' Her mother encou
"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. "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 fashi
The hall erupted into whispers as Yellow Hill's model and Funray Fashion's model walked onto the stage, both dressed in the same attire with a slight difference in colour matching and embroidery placements. The attire looked so similar that it would have been mistaken to have been made by the same designer if they were not in the opposing team.Just one glance at the model and the audience, along with the judges, could tell that one of the contestants had copied the other."Do they think in the same direction to make the same design?""Obviously, one of them cheated! This thing happens a lot in the world of fashion, so I'm not surprised.""Is this a coincidence or someone played a foul?""I'm finding it hard to believe this is a coincidence! They have the same design, the same patterns, and just some minor changes. It's obvious one of them plagiarised!""They are really bold! Even if you want to plagiarise a work, how can you go for one that is going to be displayed at the same time
Sinful: Whatcha up to? Got some minutes to spare?Mark read the message over and over while looking from his computer to the mountain of files he had to work on, courtesy of Federick and his father who had begun stirring troubles in the group after their one-time success.After their last meeting at the tea house, Mark was able to confirm one of his suspicions. And that is that Sinful is a lady hiding under the disguise of a man. Having an understanding of how their business world works, he could understand why she needed to hide her identity, especially her gender. Females are easily ostracised in the kind of work she does.However, one thing he could find an answer to, no matter how much he asked, is why his mind randomly drifts to her as of late. ‘I am indeed in awe of her intelligence but why do I get curious about her personal life?’ That's been one of the questions bugging him without anyone to answer.His hands hovered over the keyboard as he thought about the response to giv
"Given the report received about Frederick Watson's involvement with both Anderson and Hamilton family. An investigation has been launched against him. However, our latest report says he is currently in hiding and possibly out of the country." "Search parties will be sent out to go after him, and the local authorities will be collaborating with international authorities to bring him to justice.""In the meantime, after the case with the Andersons had been settled, the internet users speculated about how Mark had gotten close to Roseline for his revenge.""And although there has been no statement agreeing or disagreeing with the people's speculations, Mark had officially proposed to the beautiful, raiding star in the business sector, Lily Turner—a lady who has been an enigmatic figure since her first appearance in the fashion competition. And has further spread her wings.""To commemorate their beautiful engagement, Lily and Mark had announced a new product they worked together on. Th
Destroy It From The Inside Out"You know?" Lily muttered as she stood by the large window of her bedroom, looking down at the bustling city night. "I never really figured out how my mum was able to know I would be reborn." "I had hoped that gathering all her work in one place would provide me some answer. I thought she would leave an explanation behind," she said while swirling the wine in her hand. "With everything she left behind, she was sure I would be reborn as Lily Turner. Yet, I can't figure out how she know and how she did it." {...} The system remained silent as it listened to Lily's rant. "There has to be something I'm missing right? She's never one to leave me this confused and lost about anything," she continued. "I mean, since you are involved in this you should know better right?" {That was your goal from the beginning wasn't it?} The system asked with a knowing sigh. {You want to know how I came to be?}"Yes." {I already told you when we first met. I'm not from th
Lily sat at the dessert store, her fingers lightly drumming against the table as she stared out of the window. The bustling streets outside felt distant, a blur compared to the storm in her chest. The message from Mark replayed in her mind."Can we meet up?""I'm an idiot, I know, but we really need to talk."She had almost ignored it. Almost.She wanted to make him desperate, but somehow, she found herself picking the most sexy dress in her closet and dressing up to meet up with him.The sound of a chair scraping across the floor snapped her out of her thoughts. Mark stood there, hesitating, his usual confident demeanour replaced by uncertainty.“Hey,” he said softly.Lily didn’t respond immediately, her gaze steady and unreadable. “You’re late,” she said finally, her tone flat.“I know,” Mark admitted as he sat down. “Thank you for coming.”She crossed her arms, leaning back slightly. “What do you want, Mark?”"You didn't tell me anything; I found out through the news, and then you
"We received a tip from an anonymous sender," the news anchor announced. "Evidence of crimes committed by a certain family whose name has recently been on the internet where a certain banquet video was uploaded." "This evidence includes the cause of both Mabel and Victoria Hamilton's untimely deaths. As well as many other criminal cases that would ultimately lead to the downfall of the prestigious family." "At the same time, we got news that the leadership position of the corporation owned by this family has changed hands. For now, this particular news has not been confirmed." The following morning, chaos erupted. News outlets were flooded with breaking stories about Henry and Kate’s crimes. Social media exploded with outrage as videos and documents went viral. Law enforcement agencies were forced to respond, launching immediate investigations."Oh goodness! Why are all the big corporations and names getting exposed this year?""Is justice finally coming out into the open?! My moth
"It's turned on," Lily reported to Bryan over the phone as the other asked about the computer that was delivered to him. "And I've confirmed that it really was the one that has been sending those messages to Hamilton.""It's connected to that AI-powered robot in the vault." She continued. "And to top it off, all evidence of Henry's misdeeds was recorded in it. Including notes written by my mother." "Are they enough to send Henry out?" Bryan asked "Yes, and his wife too." Lily replied. "There are several videos of Kate poisoning my mother while she was still pretending to be a housekeeper. And also a clear video from my last moment as Victoria." Bryan's voice grew tense. "Lily, if we release this information, it won't just end Henry and Kate's hold on the Hamilton family. It could ruin Hamilton completely.""It won't," Lily breathed out. "At first I just wanted to ruin everything and get it over with, but now I want to cherish my mother's hard work and the legacy she left behind."
"Is that Mark's private car?" Lily asked with a frown as she watched the video gotten from the camera close to the factory address sent to her.{The plate number index matches that of Mark's private car. However, this video was made about three weeks ago.}Frowning, Lily replayed the video again. It was a car driving on a highway in the middle of the night. Seeing the date, she recalled she had a date with Mark that night and after he had hurried off. All through their time together, it was even more restless than usual. "Is this all you found?" {There is a similar video of him returning back to the city. But he hasn't gone back to the factory after that.}She jumped off her chair, got changed into a comfortable sweatshirt and pants, and a black sneaker. She picked a small hiking backpack from the closet and her wallet as she exited her apartment.{You are going to the factory?}"Yes," Lily replied calmly. "I at least need to figure out why they sent the note even if I don't know w
"Can you arrange a meeting with Annabelle Wilson?" As she sent the message, Bryan replied almost immediately. Lily glanced at Bryan's text and smirked. "De Ox tonight, between 8 PM and 9 PM. Perfect."She quickly tapped out a reply: Thanks. It's such perfect timing.Bryan: Need help?Lily: I'll be fine on my own. With her plan in motion, Lily pulled up the files containing Henry's promiscuity, one she had meticulously prepared for Henry’s misdeeds. Photos, text messages, and financial transactions—everything she needed to plant the seed of doubt in Annabelle’s mind was compiled neatly in a folder.At exactly 8:15, Lily walked into the dimly lit lounge, her heels clicking softly against the marble floor. She gave off an air of confidence, dressed in a sleek black dress that hinted at authority and poise. Her eyes scanned the room until they landed on Annabelle Wilson—a striking woman in her early forties, elegantly dressed in a champagne-coloured gown.Annabelle looked up as Lily a
"I think now is the perfect time to get the computer," Lily announced over the phone. "Given the news about his wife's scandal, Henry and William will be too busy to guard the company like a guard dog." "You want me to send people in there pretending to be electricians to retrieve the computer?" Bryan asked, and Lily hummed. "It will be a bit difficult for me to retrieve it at the moment." Lily replied. "Heard you've not been out of your apartment since the announcement. That's a week ago; that's unhealthy." Bryan sighed. "I'll come pick you up later today, and then we can discuss whatever your plans are." "There won't be a need for that," Lily gritted out as she worked away on her laptop. "I can't afford to be distracted right now.""Is this about Mark's engagement to Roseline?" Bryan asked, making Lily pause as her eyes narrowed at the screen of her laptop. "This has nothing to do with Mark or his engagement." She breathed out, massaging her forehead as she felt her eyes stingi
Lily walked into the living room with an extra sway in her hips as she remembered the event from the previous night. A small smile played on her lips, feeling giddy and excited about the news from the previous night's banquet. She picked up the remote and turned on the TV while waiting for the news with a warm cup of tea in hand. However, instead of the scandal she was expecting, she was met with Mark and Roseline's red carpet photos. Frowning, she turned up the volume just in time for the reporter to announce:"Next on the line of news is Mark Watson, the newly appointed CEO of the Watson Group. The genius businessman has finally announced his engagement with Roseline Anderson, the popular A-list actress."Lily’s smile froze, the warmth from her tea doing little to quell the chill that spread through her chest. Her hand tightened around the cup as she stared at the screen, unable to believe what she was hearing.“Engaged?” She whispered, her voice shaky. “That’s not possible.”The