After Divorce I Married a Tycoon-Chapter 172: Filled with Hatred

Because of Claire Mercer, Gavin Sinclair was also keeping an eye on the competition.

With every round of the competition, Claire’s talent stunned him all over again.

He’d never realized her talent for design was so exceptional.

Even among a field of powerful contestants, her talent stood head and shoulders above the rest.

Even a layman like him, who knew nothing about design or fashion, could see the beauty in her creations.

It was no wonder she consistently ranked at the top and was so popular online.

Scarlett Jewel’s designs, on the other hand, struck him as utterly unremarkable, even as an amateur.

And yet, those very same unremarkable designs had somehow beaten out other contestants, landing her a spot in the finals.

He found it suspicious, too. That, combined with the online accusations against Scarlett, led him to confront her directly.

Hearing Gavin Sinclair’s dismissive words, Scarlett Jewel felt a fire of rage ignite in her chest.

"Gavin Sinclair, what is that supposed to mean?"

"I made it to the finals. Shouldn’t that be something to celebrate?"

"What, in your precious opinion, am I just that terrible?"

"Why don’t you accuse Claire Mercer of bribing the judges? But no, you come running to question me instead."

"Can your skills even compare to Claire’s?" Gavin Sinclair sneered.

"Everyone has eyes. You think they can’t see the massive gap between you and her?"

Scarlett choked on her anger. "You..."

"You just asked why I’m not accusing Claire of bribing the judges."

"Well, why are people online questioning you instead of her?"

"Why do you think that is? Don’t you have a clue?"

Scarlett’s good mood was completely destroyed by Gavin’s accusations.

’Even now, all this man can think about is his ex-wife.’

"Gavin Sinclair, get your head straight. We’re the married couple now."

"Our interests are tied together. Me making it to the finals reflects well on you, too."

"Besides, do you really think I have the money to bribe the judges?"

"I made it to the finals on my own merit."

Gavin considered this. It was true that Scarlett didn’t have much money of her own.

While he had bought her plenty of luxury goods and transferred a fair amount of cash to her back when they were having their affair, the money he’d given her wasn’t nearly enough to bribe the judges of a major competition like this.

He narrowed his eyes, warning her, "Scarlett Jewel, you’d better not be pulling any shady stunts behind my back."

With that, Gavin, whose legs had now fully healed, turned and left the room.

Scarlett’s eyes blazed with fury as she stared in the direction he’d gone.

’Claire, Claire...’

’All he ever thinks about is Claire.’

’I’ve been pregnant for so long, and he’s never once shown any concern for our child.’

’All he can think about is that bitch, Claire.’

The more Scarlett thought about it, the angrier she became, until she wished Claire would just drop dead.

Now, all she could do was look forward to the day of the final competition.

’Once Claire is accused of plagiarism and framing another contestant, we’ll see how smug she can be.’

Outside the room, Lily Dalton heard their argument the moment she arrived.

Naturally, she didn’t dare go in, so she could only wait outside.

She had been to the Sinclair estate many times, but this was the first time she had ever seen Gavin Sinclair, the young master of the country’s wealthiest family.

Lily’s heart pounded with nervousness. She quickly straightened her clothes and fixed her hair.

When she glimpsed Gavin storming out of the room through a window, she hesitated, wondering if she should go up and stage an "accidental" collision.

But the moment his tall, handsome figure came into view, her mind went blank.

As he slammed the door behind him and started walking toward the garden, she quickly pulled out her phone.

She immediately feigned being engrossed in her phone, setting the stage to "accidentally" bump into Gavin Sinclair.

She managed to bump into him, all right, but Gavin was already in a foul mood.

Getting bumped into like that made his temper flare instantly.

His face remained taut, radiating anger. "Don’t you have eyes?"

Lily was genuinely taken aback by his expression.

She had planned on playing the part of a startled, innocent girl, but now, Gavin’s demeanor had genuinely frightened her.

"I’m sorry, I... I didn’t mean to."

Gavin heard her voice and thought it sounded a little familiar.

He glanced down at Lily. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"You’re Scarlett Jewel’s modeling partner?"

Lily was thrilled. He actually recognized her.

’Does this mean he’s been paying attention to me, too?’

She was ecstatic, but she didn’t let it show on her face, simply giving a proper nod.

"Yes."

"Watch where you’re going next time." With that, Gavin walked past her and continued on his way.

But this brief exchange was seen by none other than Scarlett, who was standing at the window.

She bit her lip so hard it nearly bled, her hands clenched into tight fists...

Her eyes, blazing with rage, were fixed malevolently on Lily.

’I wish I could rush out there and slap her right now.’

’I knew that woman was up to no good. And today, I caught her red-handed.’

Even though they hadn’t said much to each other and there was no further physical contact, as far as she was concerned, that woman Lily was harboring ill intentions.

The moment Lily entered the room, she felt Scarlett’s chilling stare.

"Young Madam... why are you looking at me like that?"

Scarlett stared her down. "You bumped into Gavin Sinclair on purpose just now, didn’t you?"

Exposed on the spot, Lily’s heart skipped a beat.

But she quickly composed herself and shook her head at Scarlett. "No."

Scarlett snorted coldly and advanced slowly on Lily.

"These little tricks of yours? They’re nothing but my leftovers."

"Didn’t I warn you not to get any funny ideas?"

"It seems you didn’t take my warning to heart."

Lily tried to explain, "Young Madam, you’ve misunderstood. I really did just accidentally bump into Sinclair..."

Before she could finish, Scarlett raised her hand.

And brought it down hard across Lily’s pale cheek.

Lily clutched her cheek, which was now bleeding from a scratch left by Scarlett’s wedding ring, and stared wide-eyed at her.

"Young Madam, why did you hit me?"

’Hitting me is one thing, but she even used her ring to scratch my face...’

’That vicious woman, Scarlett, is trying to ruin my face!’

She could feel hot blood trickling down her cheek and onto her collar.

In that moment, Lily hated Scarlett with every fiber of her being.

Scarlett, however, ignored the intense hatred in Lily’s eyes. Her own gaze was dark and venomous.

"Still claiming you didn’t bump into Gavin on purpose? Hah!"

"Have you forgotten? You told me before that you didn’t know him at all, that you’d never even seen him."

"If you don’t know Gavin Sinclair, then how did you know that was Sinclair the first time you met...?"

At these words, Lily realized she had slipped up.

"I..."

Scarlett looked at the bloody scratch on Lily’s cheek and warned her.

"Lily Dalton, you’d better behave yourself."

"If I catch you pulling something like this again, I’ll make you pay once this competition is over."

Lily was in no position to confront Scarlett head-on right now.

Nor could she manipulate her by feigning weakness to gain an advantage.

They had made it to the finals, after all. Only a fool would drop out now.

Feeling the fiery sting on her cheek, Lily’s heart seethed with hatred for Scarlett.

She knew Scarlett had used that ring to scratch her face on purpose.

She had been putting up with Scarlett’s abuse this entire time they had been working together.

For the sake of the competition, and for the chance to get close to Gavin Sinclair, she had gritted her teeth and endured it all.

She had put up with it for so long. She wasn’t going to take it anymore.

’Once the competition is over, I’m going to expose every single cruel thing Scarlett has done to me online.’

Lily stared at Scarlett in silence for a long moment. Without another word, she covered her face and went to the bathroom.

She took out her phone and snapped a picture of the gash on her face, evidence of Scarlett’s assault.