After Divorce I Married a Tycoon-Chapter 170: She Won’t Be Smug for Long

The second round of the competition began soon after.

Unsurprisingly, Claire Mercer and Stella Thorne’s team, "Jupiter," successfully advanced once again.

Thanks to their exceptionally strong design foundations and consistently stable on-stage performances, the pair once again attracted a huge wave of fans, quickly gaining popularity and breaking out into the mainstream.

What Scarlett Jewel didn’t expect, however, was that she had advanced as well.

She had originally thought she would be eliminated in the second round.

Who would have thought she’d actually manage to secure a spot in the top twenty.

For her, this was an absolutely wonderful surprise.

What surprised her even more was the next round, where the top twenty would be narrowed down to ten.

She actually managed to advance through that one as well.

Although she barely scraped by each time, just making the cut.

But somehow, she had successfully fought her way into the grand finals.

In the grand finals, the top ten contestants in the country would compete for first, second, and third place, as well as a "Most Popular" award.

For any contestant in any competition, making it to the grand finals is a great honor.

Regardless of her actual skill, she now had her own online fanbase.

The number of followers on her personal social media accounts had also grown.

Although her growth rate was nothing compared to Claire Mercer and Stella Thorne’s, it was still something.

Still, she could finally hold her head high.

She was even gradually gaining status within the Sinclair family because of it.

When facing the Sinclairs, she could finally stand tall.

The Sinclair family was, naturally, delighted to see her make it to the grand finals.

At least outsiders would no longer mock the Sinclair family for marrying a woman who was utterly useless—not even pretty enough to be a trophy wife.

If Claire Mercer had made it to the grand finals while the daughter-in-law they married after her was eliminated early on...

It wouldn’t just be embarrassing for Scarlett Jewel; the entire Sinclair family would be disgraced.

After all, the former daughter-in-law they had plotted against and cast aside had made it to the grand finals.

She might even win the championship.

Meanwhile, the new one they’d brought in had been eliminated early.

Outsiders would have surely said the Sinclair family was blind for casting aside a pearl for a pebble.

Now, Scarlett Jewel had at least saved the Sinclair family some face.

With both the former and the current daughter-in-law in the grand finals...

The Sinclair family even became a topic of discussion among the other elite families.

After all, both of their daughters-in-law, past and present, were talented individuals.

This proved that the Sinclairs had a keen eye for people.

At a Sinclair family dinner, Felix Sinclair asked Scarlett Jewel, seemingly offhandedly.

"I heard you made it to the top twenty in that design competition hosted by CZ Group?"

The weariness he usually carried was finally gone, replaced by an unconcealable look of pride.

"Yes, Father." Scarlett Jewel appeared modest and demure, meek and obedient.

In truth, the smug satisfaction in her eyes was impossible to hide.

"I told you to stay home and focus on your pregnancy, but you just had to go and enter some competition."

"Look at you, you’ve gotten so thin recently because of this competition."

"Here, this is your favorite. Eat up. We can’t let my precious grandson go hungry."

As she spoke, Rose Gable placed a piece of fish in Scarlett Jewel’s bowl.

She was still living at the Sinclair residence, waiting to hold her grandson.

Although her relationship with Felix Sinclair remained strained.

In reality, Felix Sinclair had long since taken action to suppress the scandalous news stories.

After all, Rose Gable having an affair and keeping a male model on the side was a disgrace to him as well.

So he’d simply spent the money to make the whole embarrassing affair go away.

Now, the two of them merely maintained a façade of harmony for the sake of outsiders.

In private, Felix Sinclair couldn’t even be bothered to give her a second glance.

He saw her as a haggard old crone with a figure that had gone to seed, sagging skin, and a face covered in spots. The fact that she had also kept a male model on the side was something he could never forgive.

Watching the first-branch family flaunt their success, the second-branch family felt a sour pang of jealousy.

If the family matriarch weren’t still lying on her deathbed instead of having already passed on...

...they wouldn’t have even bothered to show up for this so-called family dinner.

The meal was tasteless to them. They hastily shoveled down a few bites before making an excuse to leave.

Seeing the second-branch family scurry away from the dining room in disgrace, both Felix Sinclair and Rose Gable felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

’There has always been an order between the eldest and the younger. For a second son to dream of seizing control of the Sinclair family business...’

’...it was nothing more than a fool’s dream.’

’Once their precious grandson is born, they’ll have even more leverage in the fight for the Sinclair family fortune.’

’And now Scarlett Jewel was proving her worth, not only by carrying their precious grandson...’

’...but also by bringing great honor to their branch of the family in the competition.’

As a result, Felix Sinclair and Rose Gable had finally started to find Scarlett Jewel more agreeable.

"Don’t just focus on the competition. The baby is what’s most important," Felix Sinclair said, his expression pleasant and his tone gentle.

"I know, Father."

Rose Gable also urged her in a soft tone, "Although you’ve made it to the grand finals and brought honor to our branch of the family..."

"...it would be even better if you could win the championship."

"That way, you’ll completely crush that little bitch, Claire Mercer."

"You’d not only redeem yourself, but you’d also bring honor to our family."

"If you do, you’ll be the greatest contributor to our family’s success, and we’ll be sure to reward you handsomely."

Scarlett Jewel nodded obediently. "I’ll do my best, Mother."

’Defeating Claire Mercer is a certainty.’

’The stage of the national finals will be Claire Mercer’s personal hell.’

’She and Joel Jennings have already planned everything. They’re going to deal her a devastating blow.’

Meanwhile, Scarlett Jewel was already coordinating with Joel Jennings.

The two of them decided to go after Claire Mercer directly during the grand finals.

As for Claire Mercer...

After Scarlett Jewel made it to the finals, Roxanne Peyton and Stella Thorne became convinced something was wrong with the competition.

"Claire, I knew it! This competition is rigged, isn’t it?"

"Someone with designs like Scarlett Jewel’s actually made it to the grand finals?"

"Every single one of the contestants who were recently eliminated is better than her!"

"I bet she used the Sinclair family’s ’superpower’—money—to buy off the judges."

"Exactly," Stella Thorne added, her face full of indignation.

"Her skills are nowhere near good enough to get her to the grand finals."

"Making it past the preliminary rounds should have been her limit. I can’t believe she’s had a smooth, unobstructed path right into the grand finals."

"Even though she’s barely scraped by each time, anyone with eyes can see that it’s absolutely rigged."

"Claire, even though I have one hundred percent faith in your abilities..."

"...in the face of corruption, skill means nothing."

"What I’m most worried about now is that she’ll continue her under-the-table dealings and shamelessly buy the award."

Roxanne Peyton said indignantly, "And here I thought a competition hosted by CZ Group would be above this kind of disgusting, rigged nonsense."

"I can’t believe they let such a mediocre hack make it to the grand finals."

"If that’s the case, the prestige of this competition isn’t all it’s cracked up to be."

"If I’d known, I would’ve entered the competition myself and just bought the championship title."

Roxanne Peyton and Stella Thorne grew more and more agitated as they spoke, their faces masks of indignation.

They thought about how long and hard Claire Mercer had worked for this competition...

...only to potentially lose to Scarlett Jewel’s "money power." They couldn’t stand the injustice of it.

Claire Mercer had also noticed that the competition seemed fair to every other contestant.

But for Scarlett Jewel, it was as if she’d been given a green light the entire way.

Just as Roxanne and Stella had said, the eliminated contestants were all more talented than Scarlett.

Yet she remained in the competition while those with more skill had been tragically cut.

Claire Mercer fell silent, not wanting to say anything.

She didn’t even have a single idea for the gown she needed to design for the finals.

Just then, Adrian Sutton spoke up.

"She won’t be gloating for much longer. Have you all forgotten about the ticking time bomb Scarlett Jewel is sitting on?"