"She’s so beautiful, and she can write! I’m a total sucker for pretty faces, so I have no resistance at all. I want to be her fan so bad, what do I do?"

"Haha... Lily Yariel looks so tragic. Mrs. Quincy is totally crushing her, from her hair down to her shoes!"

"Hahaha, I hadn’t even noticed until you said that. Now that you mention it, Lily Yariel looks like a matronly woman, while Mrs. Quincy’s white dress has reached a new height of beauty!"

...

While a commotion erupted below, it was an entirely different scene on the stage.

The moment Lily Yariel saw Claire Sinclair take the stage, the phony smile on her face froze solid, and her expression instantly darkened.

’So this was the woman—the little rookie who’d snatched her multi-million-dollar copyright deal!’

’Damn it!’

’She had dominated the web novel scene for years. She’d finally managed to line up a sale for the film and television rights to one of her novels, and it had even attracted interest from several production companies. To drive up the price, she’d stubbornly held onto the rights, refusing to sell them right away.’

’But then, out of nowhere, a rookie named Mrs. Quincy had shown up. With her debut novel, *Senluo, Senluo, Please Don’t Say Goodnight to the World*, she’d snatched up all those production companies.’

’In the end, her novel, *A Splendid Billion Years*, was rejected by those companies, and she’d been forced to sell it to one of them for a dirt-cheap price.’

’Going from a potential multi-million-dollar deal to less than a million... How could she possibly swallow that humiliation!’

So, in a fit of rage, Lily Yariel had taken the main plot of *Senluo* and repurposed it for a side couple in her own book. Her readers loved it; their popularity even surpassed that of the main hero and heroine.

’This detestable rookie... and now she dared to come up on stage and steal her spotlight? Did she not want to survive in the web novel industry anymore?’

’Heh...’

When Lily Yariel remembered her status as the queen of the web novel scene, her composure quickly returned.

’Once this ceremony is over, she’ll show this little rookie who’s boss!’

While Lily was lost in thought, Claire Sinclair reached the center of the stage.

The host smiled and said, "Mrs. Quincy, why did you choose that particular pen name?"

Claire Sinclair spouted nonsense with a straight face. "I just picked it randomly using an online name generator."

The host gave an awkward laugh and didn’t dare ask any more unscripted questions. Returning to the topic at hand, he said, "Mrs. Quincy, you certainly are an interesting person. Could you share with us how you came to write such a beautiful and moving love story like *Senluo*?"

Claire Sinclair fell silent for a moment before answering earnestly, "Actually, my initial goal for this piece wasn’t to write about love. I wanted to write about environmental pollution and the extinction of species. But young people today aren’t very interested in reading something so heavy-handed, so I framed it as a love story to introduce the issues I wanted to express from a different angle."

The host was deeply impressed, giving her a thumbs-up. "Environmental issues are certainly severe. Well done, Mrs. Quincy! Thank you for writing such a brilliant story for us. And now, I have one more question for you."

Claire Sinclair nodded, indicating she was all ears.

The host was actually just trying to introduce the next speaker and create a perfect transition. And so, he asked a question he would regret for the rest of his life—

"Have you read any of Lily Yariel’s novels?"

Claire Sinclair shot a meaningful glance at Lily Yariel, who was waiting to speak, and a faint chill gradually crept into the depths of her eyes.

She calmly took the microphone from the host’s hand and spoke slowly. "To the great author, Lily Yariel... I hear you’ve taken my story and used it for a side couple in your book. Did you ever ask for my opinion?"

The moment those words left her mouth, the host was completely flabbergasted.

Lily Yariel hadn’t expected Claire Sinclair to say such a thing in a setting like this, and for a moment, she was too stunned to react.