CEO's Regret After I Divorced Chapter 157 She should withdraw from the competition

Serena’s POV

I nodded slightly when Ethan approached about the news. "Yes, I saw it. You’re aware of it too, Mr. Quinn?"

Ethan settled into the seat beside , his face clouded with displeasure. God, he seed genuinely bothered by this whole ss.

"It’s ridiculous how these people fabricate stories," he grumbled. "You’re clearly not that type of person. I’ve already ordered an investigation."

I raised an eyebrow, surprised he cared so much. We’d only just t, yet here he was, rushing to defend my honor. "Thank you for your concern, Mr. Quinn."

"It’s the least I can do. This is San Francisco—practically my territory. Anyone pulling stunts like this won’t get away with it." His jaw tightened as he spoke.

I waved dismissively. "Don’t get worked up. I’m used to baseless gossip by now." Reaching over, I handed him the participant list a staff mber had given earlier. "Here’s the lineup for the first half. Take a look."

Ethan accepted the paper, scanning it briefly before setting it down. His eyes returned to , studying with an intensity that made slightly uncomfortable.

"Once the semifinals are over, the competition will be wrapping up soon. Are you planning to return to New York imdiately after?"

I shook my head. "I haven’t decided yet."

"About our potential collaboration," he leaned forward slightly, "why don’t we put that on the agenda? After the competition ends, we could sit down and discuss details properly."

His eagerness caught off guard. I studied his face, trying to read his motivations. "Mr. Quinn, we’ve only just t. Why do you trust so readily?"

Ethan seed startled by my directness. He glanced away montarily, looking almost... embarrassed?

"These past few days, I’ve gotten the sense that you’re genuinely talented. I’ve heard about Dreamland Jewelry’s reputation. A partnership between us actually makes perfect business sense."

He t my eyes again. "And regarding collaboration, I trust your abilities and your character."

His complints ward more than I expected. There was sothing about Ethan that felt comfortable, natural—like we’d known each other much longer than a few days.

So connections form instantly, while others never develop despite years of trying. Perhaps this was one of those rare, imdiate bonds.

The atmosphere at the semifinals was noticeably tenser than the preliminaries. I found myself being more cautious with my evaluations, weighing each word carefully.

The livestream chat quickly filled with trolls.

[Who does Lazuli think she is? Just a sowhat famous designer—what qualifies her to judge others?]

[It’s all about connections! Didn’t you see yesterday’s news? It got suppressed within hours. If that’s not having powerful backing, what is?]

[Her sugar daddy must have paid to kill those negative stories. How charming!]

[Listen to her critiques—nothing but empty words.]

So comnts with sensitive words got filtered, which only fueled more outrage from the trolls. My fans jumped in to defend , and the chat devolved into utter chaos.

But what I didn’t know at the ti,Georgina watched the disorder unfold on her screen, unable to contain her glee.

"You did well with this. What a delightful ss," she told her assistant, who pressed her lips together without responding.

Georgina shot her a glare. "Go check on my work. My presentation’s this afternoon. Stop looking so miserable—you’re ruining my mood!"

The assistant nodded and hurried off to ensure everything was ready.

anwhile, Georgina kept her eyes fixed on the screen, occasionally adding fuel to the fire with comnts from her alternate account.

What started as targeted attacks soon erupted into full-scale argunts as legitimate competition viewers beca irritated and joined the fray.

By the ti the first half of the livestream ended, nobody cared about the results—they were too busy tearing apart.

The viewership numbers had increased dramatically, but not in the way the organizers had hoped.

Mr. Brook stared at his screen, his face rigid with dismay. "How did this happen?" he sighed heavily. "Control the comnts imdiately! If this continues, we’ll have to cancel the afternoon broadcast."

He’d wanted publicity, sure, but not this toxic kind that threatened the competition’s reputation.

Unaware of the online drama, I massaged my stiff neck after leaving the stage.

Checking my phone, I saw Ryan had ssaged just minutes ago saying he’d arrive soon.

I decided to wait in the green room, letting my mind wander as I replayed the morning’s events.

The contestants had shown promise, but sothing felt off about the whole competition atmosphere.

I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but tensions seed to be brewing beneath the surface—and sohow, I suspected I was at the center of whatever storm was coming.

---

Author’s POV

Ethan Quinn had intended to approach her for a chat but suddenly recalled what his assistant had ntioned earlier that morning.

As he made his way back to the break room, he glanced at the livestream replay on his phone, his expression darkening considerably.

These attacks matched Georgina’s style perfectly. Could she also be behind yesterday’s incident?

"Excuse , coming through."

"Mr. Quinn, I’ve brought lunch for you. You must be tired after this morning’s session," Georgina’s assistant announced, placing a bag on the table and unpacking neatly packaged als.

Georgina was busy fawning over Ethan, completely ignoring Serena who sat nearby.

Serena didn’t particularly mind the snub. She couldn’t understand where Georgina’s hostility ca from in the first place.

Was it really just because of those few comnts during the preliminaries? Talk about petty.

Serena ntally rolled her eyes while quietly sliding farther down the bench, giving Georgina more space to perform her little show. She was honestly amused by the display.

To her surprise, Georgina didn’t completely ignore her after all. The woman suddenly turned toward her.

"Miss Serena, today’s livestream was quite fascinating. I suppose you haven’t seen it yet?" Georgina pulled out her phone and thrust it in Serena’s face. "So of the comnts weren’t very pleasant. Would you like to take a look?"

Serena hesitated, reaching out for the phone when Ethan abruptly intercepted.

"Out," he commanded coldly.

Georgina’s smile froze on her face, clearly confused by Ethan’s sudden anger.

"Mr. Quinn, what—"

"Co with . Now." Ethan’s expression was ice-cold as he strode toward the door.

Serena settled back in her seat and flashed Georgina a cool smile. "You’d better hurry. Mr. Quinn is waiting for you."

Georgina shot Serena a venomous glare before finally exiting the room.

"What did you need, Mr. Quinn?" she asked once outside.

"Those comnts on the livestream—that was your doing, wasn’t it?" Ethan didn’t bother with niceties, going straight to the point, catching Georgina completely off guard.

"Mr. Quinn, what are you talking about? I... I don’t understand."

"So you’re saying you don’t know anything about it?" His voice had taken on a dangerous edge, his expression darkening further.

"Mr. Quinn, you’re being unfair. I have no grudge against Miss Serena. Why would I do sothing like that?"

"That’s exactly what I’m curious about—why would you?"

As Georgina prepared to defend herself further, Ethan held his phone out for her to see.

On the screen were clear chat logs between her assistant and a tabloid reporter, including explicit instructions on spreading the malicious comnts. Georgina’s body stiffened, her smile crumbling.

"This... this wasn’t !"

"It appears... it was my assistant," Georgina recovered quickly, imdiately shifting bla. "Mr. Quinn, please don’t accuse unfairly. This was clearly her doing alone!"

Ethan drew a deep breath, his patience clearly wearing thinner by the second.

"Wait here, Mr. Quinn. I’ll call my assistant right over and find out why she did this."

Georgina turned and hurried to find her assistant, who was waiting in the car. She imdiately grabbed the young woman’s arm and twisted it viciously.

The assistant nearly cried out in pain. "Miss Georgina, what’s wrong? What did I do?"

"They found out about everything. How could you be so careless?" Georgina hissed through gritted teeth.

The assistant froze. "How is that possible..."

"When we go back, you’ll take full responsibility for everything. Understood?"

anwhile, Ethan had returned to the break room and sat down next to Serena.

"What happened? You looked pretty angry," Serena said with a slight smile, unable to resist her curiosity.

Ethan nodded and explained the whole situation, showing her the evidence his assistant had just uncovered.

"So all this was Georgina’s doing?" Serena looked puzzled. "I don’t understand—what beef does she have with ?"

"How do you want to handle it?"

Serena raised an eyebrow. "Georgina works for LUXE Jewelry. It doesn’t seem appropriate for to decide her fate, does it?"

"There’s nothing inappropriate about it. Soone like her won’t be working for LUXE anymore, I assure you," Ethan said with righteous indignation that seed entirely genuine.

"In that case, I think she should publicly clarify the truth, and then..."

Serena paused, seemingly weighing her options.

The door to the break room swung open as Ryan Blackwood arrived.

"And then she should withdraw from the competition," he finished her sentence decisively.