I Walked Away And He Lost His Mind (Zephyra and Steven) novel Chapter 244

I chuckled softly. “You’re not making any sense. How can you be so sure I’d win with special treatment instead of actual skill? Are you that confident in yourself?”

Linda’s face darkened, and she laughed derisively. “With you? The only thing you’re good at is being sneaky. If you manage to beat me, I’ll stay out of your way for the rest of my life. I’ll never appear in front of you again! But if you lose, you resign!”

I finished my yogurt, biting down on the straw. “That’s not a fair bet. How about this: if you lose, you leave. If I lose, I leave. Deal?”

“Fine, it’s a deal!”

I bit the straw again, a playful glint in my eye. “Good. Now, you can go.”

Seeing my nonchalant and dismissive attitude, she seethed, her heart pounding with rage. “Zephyra, don’t get too cocky. I will beat you!”

She tried to slam her shoulder into mine, but I sidestepped her neatly. She stumbled, nearly falling, and shot me a venomous glare before spinning on her heels and storming away.

York looked even more worried. “Director, she’s the one Mr. Taylor has his eye on. He was impressed with her before, and it seems like he’s even more so now. Why did you have to argue with her? What if…”

His unfinished sentence was clear enough: as someone who had supposedly gotten her position through connections, I could be arrogant, but in a place where skill was everything, it was better to lie low.

I simply smiled without a word. Who ever said that someone who used connections couldn't also have talent?

Soon, it was my turn. My creation was a brooch: a single withered branch connecting a soaring bird to a delicate hibiscus flower. The bird was encrusted with diamonds, and for its wings, I had used a unique, three-hundred-dollar pearl I’d hand-selected myself at the market. At the top of the branch, the hibiscus bloomed, its stamen crafted from pink conch pearls.

Suddenly, Mr. Lee, dressed in traditional-style robes, took a microphone. “Everyone, if I may interrupt. I came here today specifically to find a protégé. The first-place winner will be my student. After the ceremony, I hope you’ll do an old man a favor and stay behind for a chat.”

The crowd buzzed with anticipation and excitement.

Mr. Taylor, in his suit, grumbled something under his breath and snatched the microphone, looking directly at our group. “I’m here to find a student, too! My final one. And whether she’s in first place or not, she is going to be my protégé. No one is going to compete with me for her. After this, stay behind and talk to me. And don’t listen to a word Mr. Lee says; he’s a grumpy old man.”

A wave of gasps and murmurs went through the audience, and all eyes turned to Linda. Jonas beamed, congratulating her under his breath. It was an open secret that she was the one Mr. Taylor wanted. The rumors had been half-believed before, but now, after he had praised only her and made this announcement while looking in her direction, it was all but confirmed.

The winners hadn’t even been announced, yet the two masters were already fighting over a student. Today was destined to be a momentous day.