Christina’s POV
Dr. DuBois raised her hand. "Let’s discuss this outside. Ms. Vance should get back to her design work."
Before she could finish, a man rushed into the room. He leaned close to her, whispering sothing in her ear.
Dr. DuBois went rigid. Her eyes moved—from to Octavia, then back to .
"Miss Grey, the surveillance footage for this room cut out the mont you entered. It only ca back when you left to find us."
Octavia’s eyes narrowed. "You want to think about what you’re suggesting?"
"We couldn’t see what happened inside. This gives us reason to suspect you two worked together."
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. "You think we hacked your system so I could cheat?"
"Exactly," Dr. DuBois nodded. "We installed caras to ensure fairness. We have staff watching in real-ti. But the feed suddenly went black. We don’t know what happened during that ti."
Octavia slamd her hands on the table. "What kind of amateur setup is this? Broken tablets, missed lunch deliveries, and now you’re blaming technical problems on ? Do I look like a part-ti hacker to you?"
"Please calm down," Dr. DuBois said coldly. "Given your frequent online interactions with Ms. Vance, we’ve noticed your close relationship. We suspect you may have given her outside information—sketches, design ideas—that would compromise the competition."
Octavia let out an angry laugh. "I was in here for less than a minute. If I wanted to cheat, I’d need way more ti than that. This is completely made up. Don’t bla your organizational screwups on ."
I held up the tablet. "These sketches were done before she ca in, tistamped stroke by stroke. She wasn’t here long enough to give anything, let alone for to use it."
"Exactly!" Octavia snapped. "Oh, I get it now. There’s a reason they brought in here. They’ve already decided to pin everything on ."
Everyone turned to look at the tablet in my hand.
The screen showed four complete designs—colored gemstones, detailed settings, precise notes.
Soone by the door whistled softly.
Another person leaned in for a closer look.
Dr. DuBois’s mouth twitched, tightened, then relaxed again.
That flash of surprise, gone in a second.
"Even so, it doesn’t clear you of suspicion. Ms. Vance, you have two choices. First, throw out your existing designs. You’ll redraw everything under strict supervision. No extra ti will be given."
The tablet felt heavier in my hands.
Probably three hours left.
"And the second option?" I asked slowly.
"Imdiate disqualification."
"On what grounds?"
Dr. DuBois shrugged. "My hands are tied. We have to protect the competition’s integrity. Letting you continue when you might have cheated wouldn’t be fair to the other contestants."
"What’s not fair is accusing without proof."
She shook her head with a condescending tone. "This isn’t an accusation, just a suspicion at this point, but it affects the other participants. If you truly care about this craft, you should approach competitions with integrity, not shortcuts."
"Back off. I didn’t take shortcuts or cheat. This competition ans everything to . I wouldn’t screw it up. You know that. You know I haven’t done anything wrong."
Octavia nodded. "Damn right!"
I squared my shoulders and looked directly at Dr. DuBois. "I don’t need to cheat. I could design circles around every other contestant with my eyes closed. What would I possibly gain from it?"
"The footage cuts out the exact mont Ms. Grey enters this room. Just here, nowhere else. Explain that."
"That’s your system screwing up, not mine," I shrugged. "I’m not here to explain your technical problems. You think I cheated? Show proof. Otherwise, stop acting like I owe you answers for being screwed over."
Octavia jumped in, "Exactly. You think we pulled off so elaborate sche in sixty seconds? Then you better tell us what you think happened."
Dr. DuBois’s eyes dropped to the floor for a mont, then she straightened up.
"Fine. We’ll launch a formal investigation. We’ll figure out whether it was equipnt failure or if Ms. Grey used a signal jamr. But—" she gave a smug little smile "—investigations take ti. If you refuse to submit new work now, we’ll consider your application voluntarily withdrawn."
Akira growled in my mind. She’s setting us up. Soone wants you out of this competition.
Octavia pulled aside. "This whole thing reeks of a setup. Let’s just go. Don’t let them treat you like this."
I didn’t move. Walking away now would be handing them the win. It would be like admitting I was guilty.
"You only have three hours. Can you co up with sothing completely new in that ti?" she asked.
"I’ll have to," I said. I didn’t co all this way to give up without a fight.
I turned back to Dr. DuBois.
"I’ll stay. I’ll draw sothing new. But you better investigate this surveillance thing thoroughly. If you can’t co up with solid evidence that we ssed with anything, that’s slander, and I’ll sue you the minute this competition is over."
That’s my girl, Akira purred happily. Hannah will love this case.
Dr. DuBois gave a sharp nod. "Very well, then."
She reached for the tablet in my hand. "This one is compromised. Your original work is void. We’ll get you a new one."
Before she could touch it, Octavia grabbed it away.
"All of Christina’s work is on here. Even if it’s disqualified, it’s still her property. You don’t get to take it."
Dr. DuBois reluctantly stepped back. "Fine, keep it."
Octavia smirked. "If the surveillance cuts out again, then we both know soone on your team is targeting her."
Dr. DuBois’s eyes narrowed. "The signal is fixed. It won’t happen again."
She turned and walked out.
Octavia hugged . "Just focus on your designs. I’ll handle everything else. This isn’t over by a long shot."
"Thank you."
Soone brought a new tablet, still warm from the box, along with a lunch tray I hadn’t touched.
I closed my eyes.
Before, I had two ideas fighting for space in my head.
I’d chosen the safer option.
Now I had the chance to draw the other one.
But ti was against .
I took several deep breaths, holding the last one before opening my eyes.
The stress was still there, but my hand wasn’t shaking around the stylus anymore.
I couldn’t care less what Dr. DuBois thought I’d done.
I’d deal with her later.
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