After Divorce I Married a Tycoon-Chapter 163: Claire Mercer, I Advanced. Are You Disappointed?

Chapter 163: Chapter 163: Claire Mercer, I Advanced. Are You Disappointed?

The first round of the competition yielded thirty winners.

The second round was a showdown between those in the winner’s bracket, from which twenty contestants would advance directly.

In the last round, the gown "Elian" had made Stella Thorne look like a fairy descended to earth.

She seemed to float on starlight, ethereal and graceful, with an otherworldly air.

For this round’s showdown, Claire Mercer had her wear "Red Blaze."

With elegant and regal makeup, every gesture she made was like that of a dignified noblewoman destined to rule.

Noble, elegant, and poised, Stella Thorne once again captivated the entire audience.

The judges didn’t hesitate to give her high scores.

Her votes from the live audience also placed her near the top.

Unsurprisingly, Claire Mercer advanced directly.

She became one of the first twenty contestants to advance directly.

When the names of those advancing were announced, Stella Thorne was so excited she couldn’t stop herself from hugging Claire Mercer right there on stage.

"This is amazing, Claire! We advanced!"

Claire Mercer was just as happy.

She hugged Stella Thorne back and chuckled softly.

"Yes, congratulations to us. We made it."

Though she had always been confident, she had been worried the competition might be rigged.

But now, seeing how fair the judges’ scores and the audience’s votes were, with no signs of suppressed scores or vote manipulation, the knot of tension in her chest finally loosened.

Unable to hide her smile, Stella Thorne whispered to Claire Mercer,

"We have to celebrate properly tonight when we get back."

"Can’t you even wait one day? It’s so late. Eating a midnight snack will make you gain weight."

"I don’t care." Stella Thorne pouted like a spoiled child.

"We’re going for a midnight snack later."

To maintain her perfect figure, she hadn’t had a proper, filling meal in ages.

Now, the thought of delicious late-night snacks—crayfish, deep-fried treats, barbecue...—made her mouth water.

’Oh no.’ Stella Thorne could feel herself starting to drool.

Claire Mercer knew, of course, that Stella had been deliberately controlling her diet lately to maintain her perfect figure.

The thought of those delicious snacks, bursting with color, aroma, and flavor, must be making her drool with craving.

And just then, she saw Stella Thorne gulp, clearly unable to resist the craving any longer.

She couldn’t help but tease with a light laugh, "Are you that desperate? You’re practically drooling."

Stella Thorne quickly wiped the corner of her mouth, a look of grievance on her face.

"You know as well as I do that I’ve been strictly controlling my diet ever since the competition started." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"And the diet is one thing, but I also have to make time to work out every day..."

"I’m not even full, and I still have to go work out to maintain my figure. This modeling gig is inhuman."

Claire Mercer’s heart ached for her as she gave Stella Thorne a gentle hug. "You’ve worked so hard, Stella."

"If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have had to go through all this."

"After tonight’s competition is completely over, I’m definitely letting you go all out."

Stella Thorne nodded happily, and Claire Mercer’s smile was genuine too.

’She knew there were still several tough battles ahead.’

’But hey, no use worrying about what hasn’t happened yet.’

’I’ll give the next rounds my all, whether I advance or not.’

’You have to live in the moment and enjoy the happiness it brings.’

’Since I advanced today, that’s a good thing, and it’s worth celebrating.’

Scarlett Jewel watched Claire Mercer’s confident, joyful smile, her hands clenching her sleeves so tightly her knuckles turned white.

’Why wasn’t I the one who advanced directly?’

Seeing Claire Mercer basking in the spotlight on stage, she was so jealous her eyes could have shot flames.

’That bitch really does have some skills.’

’I knew she was talented, but I didn’t expect her to hold back during the preliminaries.’

’Even I was stunned by the two outfits she designed today.’

’If I had gone up against her, I would have been utterly crushed.’

’No!’

’I have to get the Mercer family to deal with Claire Mercer, and quickly.’

’I don’t care if I lose, but I can’t stand seeing Claire Mercer outshine me.’

’If she really wins first place, she’ll get all the glory and have a boundless future, not to mention... Gavan Sinclair’s current wife losing to his ex-wife...’

’How humiliating would that be? What would people think of me? What would they think of the Sinclair family?’

’How could I ever hold my head up in the Sinclair family after that?’

’My life in the Sinclair family is already hard enough as it is.’

’Anyone can win this championship, but not Claire Mercer.’

’But from the looks of her skills, she’s very likely to take the final prize.’

’I absolutely will not let that happen.’

’I will never allow that bitch Claire Mercer to have a better, more glorious life than me.’

With that thought, she decided to call the Mercer family as soon as the competition was over.

If the competition weren’t still in progress, she would have called to urge the Mercer family to act immediately.

Next, the contestants in the loser’s bracket would begin their second round.

Of the thirty contestants in the loser’s bracket, twenty would be eliminated outright.

The contestants in the loser’s bracket would face off in groups of three over ten rounds.

Each round would determine one winner. These winners, along with the ten from the winner’s bracket who had not advanced, would then compete for the night’s final ten spots.

Scarlett Jewel found some small comfort in the fact that her opponent in the first round had only been average. At least her loss hadn’t been utterly humiliating.

Although she hadn’t gone up against Claire Mercer directly, she was still in danger of elimination.

Because she had lost to her opponent in the first round’s matchup, she was now in the loser’s bracket.

Now, she had to compete against the other twenty-nine contestants in the loser’s bracket for a chance at one of the last ten spots.

Fortunately, most of the stronger contestants had already advanced directly.

The ones left were likely around her own skill level.

Plus, her designs had been based on the reference images Lily Dalton had given her.

Now, it seemed her designs had a good chance of winning.

Sure enough, Scarlett Jewel won her round in the loser’s bracket.

Then, in the final round, she narrowly defeated an opponent from the winner’s bracket, securing her spot in the top thirty.

Scarlett Jewel was ecstatic, her heart pounding with excitement.

When she had advanced from the preliminaries, the Sinclair family’s attitude toward her hadn’t been as cold and dismissive as before.

’Now that I’ve managed to advance to the top thirty in the semifinals, the Sinclair family is sure to be even more impressed with me.’

’I can finally hold my head high and feel a sense of vindication.’

Stella Thorne was very surprised to learn that Scarlett Jewel had also advanced.

"Scarlett Jewel actually advanced?"

Because Scarlett Jewel had targeted Claire Mercer time and time again, Stella Thorne had been keeping a close eye on her.

Her designs weren’t terrible, but they weren’t particularly good either.

"They were certainly a far cry from Claire’s, at least."

’I can’t believe she actually advanced.’

Claire Mercer said, "Her three competition outfits today weren’t completely terrible."

"You could just say she got lucky. The opponents she faced were a bit amateurish in their design skills."

"Plus, some of the other contestants were trying too hard for a luxurious look. Their designs were overly complicated, just gilding the lily."

Just as she said that, she saw a triumphant-looking Scarlett Jewel striding toward them from a distance.

Scarlett Jewel stood before Claire Mercer with a smug smile, preening like a peacock.

"So, Claire Mercer, I advanced. You must be so disappointed, aren’t you?"