Chapter 1949

"If I told you I have both the determination and the skill to win her over, what

would you say?"

"Mr. Connor, you..."

"Surprised? Didn't expect I'd be the calculating type? Well, who do you think runs this company?" Fiona's eyes narrowed, her gaze cutting straight through her.

The other woman fell silent, lips pressed tight. In this place, only real talent counted. No one cared for little tricks or shortcuts-they just didn't work here.

"I understand, Mr. Connor." The words sounded forced. She turned to leave, but a flash of resentment flickered in her eyes.

She gripped the recorder in her hand even tighter. If Fiona wanted to make things difficult, then fine-she'd just take everyone down with her.

As soon as she left, Fiona set down her coffee and followed the rest of the team toward the competition hall.

They ran into the Country M team in the hallway. Esther tipped her chin up and gave Fiona a smug, knowing smile, like the win was already in her pocket.

Fiona barely glanced at her. If Esther wanted to win, she'd have to actually prove she was good enough.

"Wait-someone's missing," Jean said, scanning the group.

Fiona's eyes swept the team. The one missing was the contestant she'd replaced. "Addison's not here," Jean said, frowning. "Seriously? Right before the final? I'll go find her. What is she thinking, wandering off now?"

"She's probably upset," someone said quietly. "Addison and I both came here ready to compete, but she ended up facing Esther-the famous one—and then Mr. Connor replaced her. Of course she's hurt. She's probably just hiding out in her room."

"Even if she's upset, she should still show up. We're a team. If you can't even have team spirit, what's the point?" Jane snapped.

Jane couldn't stand people who only thought about themselves. How could you expect to win anything that way?

"Mikayla, you've worked with Mr. Connor longer than any of us. You know how she is. If you and Addison hadn't both gotten sick before the second round, I never would've had a shot to compete. If it had just been you, Addison would've gone out there for sure," Jean said, jumping to defend Fiona.

She'd had her share of misunderstandings and resentment about not being chosen, but after watching Jane's performance yesterday, all that bitterness disappeared.

Jane was simply better-her sense of design was just on another level.

So even if there hadn't been a second round, Jean's opinion of Fiona had changed.

"I'll go talk to Addison," Mikayla said, turning to go.

But Fiona caught her by the wrist, gave her a look, and held up her phone for everyone to see the latest headline.

"There's no need."

Everyone paused, their confusion turning to worry as they read the story pinned at the top of the page.

#Exposed! Ugly Secrets Inside International Glam: Contestants Sabotaged and Replaced#

The article laid everything out: how Jean had been swapped out for Jane by Fiona, and how two team members were drugged and forced to withdraw, so Jean had no choice but to compete. It even said that the original finalist had been quietly replaced by Fiona herself. The report made Fiona out to be a ruthless manipulator, too powerful to challenge because of her Stonnell family connections and her position as the head of International Glam.

There it was: the original contestant list, the lineup for every round, and, at the very end-a damning audio recording, all about Fiona.