Unfortunately, he had never once reciprocated their affection. Thus, the affection they had for him morphed into hatred against Natalie over time.
What the heck is wrong with them? Why are they picking on me when Shane’s the one who has turned them down? Aren’t they supposed to pick on Shane instead of me?
Something’s definitely wrong with their brain! Do they think Shane will fall for him as long as they’re able to take me out? Is that a joke?
Shane finally answered her query, “It’s because they don’t have the guts to pick on me.”
“Well, I think that’s not the only reason—they’re reluctant to put you at stake. After all, they’re head over heels in love with you.”
Shane grasped Natalie’s hand and placed it on his chest, announcing intimately, “Well, I’m head over heels in love with you as well.”
She found the man’s cheeky confession hilarious and reprimanded, “Stop pulling my leg.”
Shane glanced at his watch and told Natalie, “Alright, it’s time for you to join the rest back in the hall. I’ll take over and handle the rest from here onwards.”
Natalie nodded and walked out of the organizer’s office. She thought she could leave everything to Shane.
The only thing she had in mind was the upcoming round. However, once she returned to the hall, the rest of the designers surrounded her.
“Natalie, how’s everything? Where’s Jessie?”
“Has she been penalized yet?”
Natalie felt lightheaded as she was bombarded with all sorts of questions by the designers around her.
She beckoned them to stop and asserted once she regained a moment of peace, “Jasmine has been… I mean, Jessie has been brought to somewhere else, but I can’t disclose the precise location. She won’t be taking part in the upcoming rounds anymore. The organizer will get in touch with those from Design Association and stop her from setting foot in the industry ever again.”
I guess Jasmine stands out for a reason, huh? She’s probably the first and the last to be barred by the Design Association for twice.
When the rest of the designers found out Jasmine would be barred from setting foot in the industry, they heaved a sigh of relief as they were afraid she might make her return after being disqualified from the competition.
As the participants were prodigies of different countries who had given their best to climb their way up the ranks, they despised those cheating ones the most.
Shortly after they returned to their respective position, the host took the stage and announced the theme for the upcoming round as well as Jasmine’s penalty.
The designers were thrilled to know things had turned out as Natalie told them.
Meanwhile, those from Design Association had published the news of Jasmine cheating. It took those from the industry by storm as no one had ever resorted to such petty tricks throughout the history of the competition.
Jasmine ended up being the most despised figure in the industry yet again. The first time she was the target of the media witch-hunt was the time she cheated when she was known as Jasmine. She ended up the same in spite of disguising herself as Jessie.
I guess she’s the one at fault for her misery, huh? Why can’t she stop ruining her life when she has the chance to start all over again?
Natalie muttered to herself while perusing the published article, “Ha! She should’ve seen it coming her way!”
As Jasmine was the representative of Koandria, the country was one of the targets of the media witch-hunt. The netizens wouldn’t stop reprimanding Koandria for sending a designer who couldn’t even make the cut to take part in the competition. They started speculating if Koandria was the mastermind behind Jasmine’s effort to cheat in the competition.
As much as the representative from Koandria assured the netizens they had nothing to do with Jasmine’s despicable actions, others had their doubts due to the country’s ruined reputation.
Some of the netizens took Koandria’s side and insisted on having those from Design Association disclose the details of Jasmine’s despicable actions.
Nonetheless, it would take some time for those from Design Association to get their hands on the evidence they needed.
In fact, they hadn’t found Calanda just yet. Things would be a piece of cake as soon as they found Calanda and take her into custody.
In the evening, after wrapping up the upcoming round, Natalie made her way back to the villa with Shane.
Silas had made his way back with Connor and Sharon ahead of them as the little ones would have to make their way to class on Monday.
