With Sophia Shepherd’s question, more guests noticed Serena Jennings’s hands.
Claire Shaw saw that Serena’s hands were still wrapped in bandages and laughed coldly to herself.
It seems like Serena already found an excuse for her defeat.
Serena instinctively glanced at Claire Shaw.
Though Claire Shaw almost arrived late today, she exuded an aura of facing death with equanimity, a determination to succeed or die trying.
In fact, Claire Shaw was determined to win this live competition.
She no longer had an escape route.
No matter what, she must defeat Serena Jennings in front of Caleb Lockwood and let him see that she is the exceptional and sophisticated woman worthy of him.
In this onsite competition, Museum X provided high-quality replicas of two antique jewels to Serena and Claire, with damage identical to the real pieces, testing their craftsmanship and repair skills.
The one who stands out will have the privilege to repair the actual antique jewels.
Quickly, the staff at Museum X handed the two scepters separately to Serena and Claire.
Though they were replicas, they faithfully reproduced the craftsmanship of the ti, especially the curved surfaces around the main stone; the embedding technology back then was not mature, making the curved cluster setting quite remarkable.
However, the problem lies within these curves.
Due to immature and unstable embedding technology, the gems have fallen off extensively, making the repair challenging but not impossible.
The real difficulty is ensuring the gems set within these curved surfaces do not loosen and fall off again.
Museum X provided Serena and Claire with identical scepter replicas, even the fallen gems were the sa.
The competition solely tested embedding and repairing skills.
If their skills were comparable, the speed would decide the winner.
Thus, this was a contest that valued both quality and speed.
Serena asked Ethan White to help her remove the bandages from her ten fingers.
Caleb Lockwood watched nearby, his brows furrowed like a knotted rope.
Serena’s hands were clearly still injured, yet she insisted on competing.
Caleb Lockwood’s gaze fell on Ethan White’s hands.
Ethan carefully removed Serena’s bandages, treating her hands as if they were fragile items.
Caleb Lockwood’s brows furrowed even more.
Claire Shaw, seeing that Serena couldn’t even remove her own bandages and needed Ethan White’s help, almost couldn’t hold back her laughter.
Serena, today is your last day in gem setting.
After today, your reputation will be ruined.
Thinking of Serena leaving the jewelry design field in disgrace made Claire feel she should have hard Serena’s hands sooner.
With the staff’s cue, the repair competition began.
As most expected, Claire Shaw was ahead of Serena, her repair speed noticeably faster.
Among the guests, Sophia Shepherd couldn’t help but worry for Serena.
She had always admired Serena during her ti at FY.
She had planned for Serena to work at FY longer, build so experience and connections, and then take over when her taste failed to keep up as she aged.
Unexpectedly, Serena resigned quickly, though hearing that Serena started her own studio later made Sophia proud.
When Serena’s studio closed, she couldn’t help but lant.
Sophia admired those with real talent, hence she supported Serena in the competition against Claire Shaw.
She never believed Serena would lose.
After all, Claire Shaw was diocre in her view.
But this ti was different.
"I don’t understand, why did Serena accept this live repair competition before industry insiders, even when her hand was injured?"
Sophia asked Peter.
Peter was silent.
As ti ticked by, the venue beca increasingly silent.
Everyone seed engrossed in the repair competition, the air filled with tension.
Eventually, Claire Shaw finished repairing the scepter in one hour, twenty-six minutes, and fifteen seconds.
Looking at Serena, she was only halfway finished.
Claire Shaw smiled slightly but said nothing more.
In the presence of so many industry insiders, the results spoke for themselves.
Serena would find it hard to accept defeat.
Claire Shaw picked up a chair, sat next to her, and rested.
She casually glanced at Caleb Lockwood.
Caleb Lockwood’s eyes were like falcons, fixed on Serena, his expression sowhat heavy and displeased.
Claire Shaw curled a faint cold smile.
It seed Caleb Lockwood also felt Serena was being reckless by repairing with injuries, dood to lose, and asking for disgrace.
Claire Shaw lazily yawned.
At Serena’s repair speed, she might not be finished even after Claire sleeps and wakes.
Even so staff mbers at Museum X began to grow impatient.
"Director, Serena’s hand is injured, and her repair speed is much slower than Claire Shaw’s... perhaps we should just declare Claire Shaw the winner?"
"Yeah! Since the result’s the sa, we might as well..."
The two staff mbers fell silent, noticing Simon Coleman’s gaze.
Everyone was waiting for Serena.
Claire Shaw grew so bored waiting that she nearly fell asleep.
Finally, Serena took three hours, fifty-seven minutes, and eighteen seconds to complete the scepter repair.
The long and tedious competition was finally over, Claire Shaw stood up, head held high, ready to embrace her mont of glory.
As the director of Museum X, Simon Coleman was naturally the judge of the repair competition.
He invited two others.
One was artifact repair expert Wayne Dunn, the other was Cartier’s jewelry repair specialist Catherine.
The three first carefully examined Claire Shaw’s repaired scepter.
"Hmm... the craftsmanship is quite impressive."
"Didn’t expect Miss Shaw to possess such excellent embedding skills at a young age."
"Indeed, the newer generation surpassing the old!"
"Absolutely, Miss Shaw’s skills could qualify her as a senior designer at any dostic jewelry brand."
Hearing the judges’ praise, Claire Shaw felt as if she was standing on clouds, feeling elated.
So guests whispered among themselves, couldn’t help but praise Claire Shaw.
Claire Shaw looked at Caleb Lockwood and blushed with a charming smile.
Caleb smiled back lightly at Claire Shaw’s smile.
That slight smile made Claire’s heartbeat accelerate with excitent.
Yes, she was going to show Caleb Lockwood her remarkable talent and reclaim everything that rightfully belonged to her!
Next, Simon Coleman, Wayne Dunn, and Catherine moved to review Serena’s repaired scepter.
The three said nothing, silently exchanged glances.
Claire Shaw knew what this ant.
rely looking at the judges’ attitude, she knew—
Serena was destined to lose!
Simon Coleman cleared his throat and spoke: "Next, I will announce the winner of the antique scepter repair qualification..."
With a confident smile, Claire Shaw stepped forward.
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