Someone translated the phrase into English, smirking at Luke Lawrence. "You don't even have the basic ability to tell right from wrong, yet you dare question her?"
"Yeah, exactly! That's what I heard too, but I just couldn't process it in time, haha."
"Well, at least you caught on quick enough!"
A few industry professionals chimed in, their tones brimming with admiration.
"Ms. Avery, did you study in France? Your accent is absolutely flawless."
"Just from the pronunciation of that single sentence, anyone can tell you've dedicated years to mastering the language. That wasn't just some phrase you memorized last minute."
"..."
The murmurs of praise rippled through the crowd, and soon, almost every eye in the room was fixed on Quinn Avery. The overlapping layers of admiration drifted straight into Jade Winter's ears.
She froze in place, the fragile, victimized mask she had so carefully constructed beginning to crack.
Her hands trembled slightly at her sides as a sickening mix of jealousy and guilt flared up, her eyes hiding a deeply buried, sinister coldness.
That shameless bitch!
She probably just used some translation app to memorize one line of French, and now these idiots were praising her as if she were a native speaker?
Jade quickly masked the dark resentment in her eyes with a look of innocent grievance, her voice dropping to a soft, hesitant whisper.
"Quinn, where did you learn that phrase? Did your friend Yara Chase teach it to you? I know she teaches foreign languages at a tutoring center. You've asked her to ghostwrite for you before because you wanted to compete for the translation award, but... this competition doesn't tolerate fraud or plagiarism!"
With a few carefully chosen words, she effortlessly hijacked the crowd's attention, implying that Quinn had used her friend as a ghostwriter to enter the competition.

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