Ava knew that she had to stop scratching her face. Otherwise, her face would be ruined before her chin could get better. However, she could not help it. Her wound itched so much that she could almost cry! Elena, that b*tch! Damn it!
“Argh! Miss Garcia, stop scratching!” The lace around her neck got caught between her fingers. It tore and exposed bright red scars on her chin. The videographer for the live stream of the event accidentally turned his camera to focus on Ava, and her wound appeared on the large screen.
“Stop shooting me! Stop it!”
Ava raised her hand hurriedly to block her chin. Fortunately, the videographer reacted quickly and averted the recorder away from her. Nevertheless, that image had already been broadcasted live over the Internet. The damage had been done, and there was no way to recover from that.
“Oh, God! Why is she so ugly?”
“It seems like she is disfigured. No wonder she is wearing such a strange top.”
“I thought that she was supposed to be a beautiful girl. I didn’t expect that it was just on the outside!”
“She looks disgusting. Did you see what was on her chin just now?”
“Don’t remind me. I almost lost my lunch. I can’t believe that I fantasized about her when I saw her this morning.”
“You fantasized about this ugly girl? Eww! That’s disgusting.”
There was a lot of discussion at the audience area, and most of those voices ridiculed Ava.
Ava was so angry that tears trickled down her cheeks, and Amara quickly stood in front of her to block her from the public view. “Miss Garcia, you…”
“I’m leaving. You can be the judge!”
Ava stood up abruptly and hung her head low to cover her chin. She gritted her teeth in great fury and said under her breath, “Don’t let Elena’s team pass this round. Otherwise, I’ll hold you responsible!”
“But…” Amara panicked. It was an impossible task!
Unless Elena’s team performed badly, otherwise, how could she possibly disqualify them without a valid reason? Did she even have the power to do so? They were not the lead judge for the event; that honor belonged to the Sharp Corporation. Amara wondered if she should speak with the representative from the Sharp Corporation before making that decision?
Ava ignored Amara, and as she left the venue, she looked up and saw Elena at the auditorium. Elena looked back at her with a hint of a smile on her lips. What an act! Ava gritted her teeth and squeezed her palm tightly in anger. ‘Elena, how dare you make me lose face in front of everyone! I won’t let you off! I will never let you off that easily!’ She wanted Elena to die! Elena must die! Ava left, and the smile on Elena’s lips gradually waned.
Layla, who sat by Elena’s side, gaped widely. She only felt relief when Ava disappeared from her sight. She patted her chest as if she was still in shock.
“I didn’t expect her scar to be so ugly. I could not even imagine it.”
Elena did not say anything. She did all that to make Ava feel itchy. It was probably a cruel move to try on a girl. However, the target was Ava, and it seemed like nothing would be harsh enough for her.
“Okay, let’s see how Aryan performs next,” she said.
“Hmm.” Layla stared at the stage.
The competition was about to begin. Everyone started to get nervous again. They hoped that Aryan would be able to overcome the stress and outplay even himself! Elena had her eyes locked at the judges’ table. However, Henry was not there. It was a small scale competition, and it was pointless for him to judge the contest himself. So, it was a normal occurrence if he were not to appear that day.
Elena focused on Aryan again. She tried to calm her mind so that she could concentrate on the competition. She knew that Aryan would work hard.
The competition began after the host explained the rules to the audience. The computers unlocked, and the script written by the scriptwriters in the morning appeared again on the screen. The writings were nothing new to the participants. They had seen it on the large screen that morning when the writers typed them out for the artists to use in the afternoon session.
Aryan had definitely seen Elena’s script before that. Hence, when the computer was unlocked, he did not waste time with useless thoughts. He took his sketching pad from the frame and started to draw right away. He began with the thumbnails to define the layout of the storyboard. The pencil in his hand moved like it was alive. Soon, the thumbnails for the storyboard were done, and he did not even need to correct the lines. He was fast, accurate, and tenacious! That was the precise reflection of Aryan’s artwork.
However, Aryan was only halfway into his illustrations for Elena’s script after one hour had passed. It did not look like he could finish in time!
After the thumbnails, the next challenge was the panel compositions. If he only penciled rough lines, then the inker would have a hard time with the corrections the next day. If the outlines were too rough, their team might not be able to get through to the next round the next day.
“Didn’t I say that Elena was too selfish when she developed the storyline in the morning? She had blatantly ignored her team’s interest.”
Amara looked sideways at Ashton and continued to say with a smile, “Kids these days lack team spirit, right?”
Ashton did not offer his opinion, nor did he reply to Amara. He acted as if he did not know that Amara was talking to him. Amara furrowed her brows unhappily. However, Ava had ordered her not to let September Studio get through to the next round, so she had to obey. She had to break the ice with Ashton, no matter how rude he was to her.
“Their storyline was too complicated. It doesn’t look like this student from the September Studio can finish the illustration in time.”
Amara decided to call his name to catch his attention. “Don’t you agree, Mr. Ashton?”
Ashton only offered her a smile when she called his name, so Amara had to carry on with the conversation.
She said, “The competition this afternoon is based on the octal number system, so only eight teams could make it into tomorrow’s round. I guess September Studio would be eliminated first.”
After that, she picked up a pen and was about to strike out September Studio’s name on her list.
Ashton frowned and looked at her with disapproval.
“Why would you score them before the competition is over? Which company are you from, miss?”
“I…”
“The Sharp Corporation is the main judge today, and I have to make sure that the competition is fair. Unfortunately, miss, your behavior is obviously unjust toward them.”
“I…” Amara was stunned. She did not expect that Sharp Corporation would not give her any face at all.
“I’m the representative from the Williams Corporation.” Her expression turned somber.
Williams Corporation was bigger than the Sharp Corporation, so they should give her some respect, should they not?
“It is unfortunate that Williams Corporation had appointed such an unprofessional staff to represent them on the judging panel.”
Wei Si grunted in dissatisfaction. “I hope that you can pass a professional assessment. Otherwise, I will ask the Williams Corporation to send a replacement.”
“You…” Amara glared at him; she almost got herself into a tight spot.
How could he be such a crass and say that to a girl! However, Ashton ignored her and focused on the artists in the arena.
The legendary god-like artist was outstanding, indeed. One could not even begin to measure the value of his hands. September Studio was lucky to have him as their artists. However, Elena’s plot for their storyline was too complicated for an ordinary artist to handle. It even looked as if the god-like artist could not finish the work in time.