After Divorce I Married a Tycoon-Chapter 171: You Bribed the Judges?

At Adrian Sutton’s words, realization dawned on Claire Mercer and the other two women.

They suddenly remembered what Adrian Sutton and Silas Rowan had said two weeks ago: that a bombshell was about to drop on Scarlett Jewel.

Back then, they hadn’t told the women what the bombshell was.

They only said that the time to expose it hadn’t come yet.

Now, hearing what Adrian Sutton was saying, the three of them realized that the time might have finally arrived.

"We’ve been so busy with the competition, we completely forgot about that."

"If you hadn’t mentioned it, we would have completely forgotten."

"But from the way you’re talking, does this mean you’re planning to expose her?"

Adrian Sutton said, "Silas’s plan is to expose it on the day of the finals."

Hearing this, Stella Thorne couldn’t help but ask, "If this bombshell about her gets exposed, won’t it ruin the competition?"

After all, whenever scandals break about celebrities in the entertainment industry, it always affects their projects.

They either get pulled from platforms or are unable to be released at all.

"She’s nothing," Adrian Sutton said, a look of contempt in his eyes as he spoke of Scarlett Jewel.

"How could the entire competition be ruined just because of her?"

"At most, the organizers will just kick her out. The competition will continue."

’If the competition wouldn’t continue, he wouldn’t have chosen the finals to expose Scarlett Jewel.’

’Otherwise, if the competition was really ruined because of her, then all the contestants’ hard work up to this point would be for nothing.’

’Most importantly, his Claire had worked so hard and taken this competition so seriously.’

’He had already asked the professional judges in private.’

’As long as she performed consistently and maintained the standard she’d set in the previous rounds, winning the championship would be a sure thing.’

’He couldn’t let one bad apple ruin his Claire’s championship, could he?’

Seeing how certain he was, Roxanne Peyton couldn’t help but ask, "How do you know all this so clearly?"

"AHEM." Adrian Sutton cleared his throat and countered with a question:

"Have you ever seen a single competition get ruined just because of one contestant?"

Roxanne Peyton thought about it and realized that she hadn’t.

At this point, Claire Mercer spoke up:

"If a contestant is hit with negative press, the worst that happens is they withdraw. The competition still goes on."

’She really didn’t want a bad apple like Scarlett Jewel to ruin the entire competition.’

"But the fact that Scarlett Jewel even made it to the finals really bothers me."

"I feel it’s incredibly unfair to the contestants who were eliminated."

"I never thought a competition organized by CZ Group would have corruption behind the scenes."

When she said that, Adrian Sutton felt a pang of guilt but couldn’t say a word.

’He was the one who had specifically arranged for Scarlett Jewel to advance, so it was indeed corruption.’

’But his goal wasn’t to prop up Scarlett Jewel.’

’It was to let her climb higher so she would have a harder fall.’

’He just hadn’t expected it to provoke such a strong reaction from Claire.’

"I wonder if the Sinclair family has some connection inside CZ Group," Claire Mercer muttered.

"Impossible," Adrian Sutton immediately scoffed in denial. "The Sinclair family isn’t worthy."

"How do you know?" Claire Mercer asked.

Adrian Sutton naturally used Silas Rowan as his cover. "Silas told me."

’Anyway, as far as they were concerned, there was no way for him to get this kind of information.’

’But for Silas Rowan, the scion of Rhonia’s powerful Rowan Family, digging up this kind of inside information wasn’t difficult.’

’Besides, Silas had already told them that he knew the mysterious tycoon behind CZ Group.’

’Blaming it all on Silas was the most logical explanation.’

Sure enough, as soon as Claire Mercer and the other two heard it was from Silas, they no longer had any suspicions.

"Silas said that the big boss of CZ Group completely looks down on the Sinclair family—in fact, he despises them."

"After all, the dirty deeds they’ve done are so insidious and vicious. It just reflects the despicable character of the Sinclair family."

"He hates treacherous, petty people more than anything and wouldn’t stoop to dealing with them."

Hearing this, Claire Mercer nodded.

"It sounds like this tycoon knows right from wrong and has principles."

"He isn’t like most businessmen, who are willing to wallow in the mud for the sake of profit."

"No wonder he was able to create a commercial empire like CZ Group at such a young age."

Roxanne Peyton nodded in agreement. "I like this tycoon’s style."

Hearing Claire Mercer praise him like that, Adrian Sutton felt a wave of sweetness wash over him, as if he’d just eaten candy.

’Claire had praised his cooking plenty of times before, of course.’

’But this was the first time she was praising his *other* identity.’

’If she approved of both of his identities, then when the truth about his hidden identity finally came out, his chances of being forgiven would be much higher.’

’Maybe then, he wouldn’t have to worry every day about his secret identity being suddenly exposed.’

"Claire, just focus on preparing for the competition."

"Don’t let this business with Scarlett Jewel affect your performance."

"After all, she won’t be in the picture for much longer, right?"

Claire Mercer nodded at Adrian Sutton. "You’re right."

"It doesn’t matter if Scarlett Jewel got into the finals by throwing money around."

"The audience’s eyes are sharp."

"They can see her true skill level, and whether she has what it takes to beat the other competitors..."

"Everyone has eyes to see, and they have their own sense of judgment."

"Maybe the higher she places, the louder the online outcry against her will become."

"Sometimes, trying to rig a competition with connections and money can completely backfire in the end."

’And with the bombshell on Scarlett Jewel that Silas is holding, once that gets exposed...’

’She could just imagine how devastated Scarlett Jewel would be.’

’Although she still didn’t know what kind of earth-shattering scandal it was that involved Scarlett Jewel...’

’...since both Silas and Adrian had talked it up so much, it had to be something huge.’

’She was just waiting to see Scarlett Jewel take a hard fall from her high horse—a fall so bad she’d never get back up.’

"Claire’s right," Stella Thorne said. "Scarlett Jewel doesn’t deserve her spot."

"Forcing her way into the finals won’t make her popular. In fact, it will only make the audience resent her."

"People online are already flaming her, saying she bribed the judges and bought her spot in the competition."

"The fans of some of the eliminated contestants have already teamed up online to condemn her."

"She might have made it to the finals, but her actual skill hasn’t been acknowledged at all."

"Instead, it’s just creating a backlash from the audience and fans of other contestants."

「Meanwhile, at the Sinclair family estate.」

Gavin Sinclair saw the public outcry against Scarlett Jewel online, and his face turned livid with rage.

His expression cold and displeased, he questioned Scarlett Jewel. "Did you bribe the judges?"

"No, I didn’t," Scarlett Jewel said, looking utterly innocent.

’She *had* wanted to bribe the judges for higher scores earlier on.’

’But they hadn’t even given her the chance.’

Gavin Sinclair clearly didn’t believe her.

"With your level of skill, do you really think you could’ve made it to the finals on your own?"