Chapter 405: Chapter 407: You’re No Match for Me

The tour guide walked over, script in hand. He stopped in front of the guests, his expression turning serious.

“Next, I will announce the scores from our panel of judges. Let me explain: there are ten judges in total. The final score is calculated by taking the average after removing the highest and lowest scores.”

“Let’s not waste any time. We’ll start by revealing the ranking everyone’s been waiting for. The first-place winner is Ian’s family, with a high score of ninety-eight!” He held up the script and began to applaud. “Congratulations to you all! Congratulations, Ian! Congratulations, Ms. Kenway and Mr. Shaw!”

A smile spread across Ian Shaw’s face. He excitedly threw himself into Naomi Kenway’s arms, then high-fived Ethan Shaw.

“Yay! Mom, Dad, we’re number one!”

Naomi Kenway hugged him with a smile. “That’s right. It means Ian’s drawing was excellent.”

“Ian’s drawing was good, and Mom and Dad’s was good too!” Ian’s little face flushed slightly as he blinked his big, bright eyes. “I can’t believe we won first place. I’m so happy.”

While some celebrated, others were disappointed. Upon hearing the news, Jeanette Kensington’s brow furrowed for a moment before she quickly regained her composure, a faint smile on her face as if nothing had happened. Beside her, Caleb Bishop was also a bit surprised. He knew the level of Jeanette’s artistic skill. While she wasn’t a master, winning first place in a variety show like this should have been a sure thing.

Caleb Bishop couldn’t help but glance in Naomi Kenway’s direction. Seeing her family looking so happy and harmonious, he couldn’t help but lower his eyes, a sense of melancholy washing over him.

The tour guide’s voice continued, “In second place is Penny’s family, also with a very high score of ninety-five! Congratulations!”

Hearing the applause from all around, Jeanette Kensington feigned a surprised smile.

Third place went to Carina Sanders’s family with a score of ninety-two. Fourth place was Simon Sawyer’s family with ninety, and fifth place was Jared Woods’s family with eighty-nine.

Jeanette Kensington quietly stepped forward to look at the competition entries before they were collected. After asking a nearby staff member, she located the piece made by Naomi Kenway’s family.

The picture was colorful and full. Judging by the style, it was clearly the work of a child. It depicted a family eating a meal together, and with just one glance, you could feel the joy and warmth radiating from the image.

’Is this what Naomi Kenway’s son understands as love?’

The tour guide happened to walk over. Noticing the doubt in Jeanette Kensington’s eyes, he explained, “Actually, the judges debated for a long time between your work and Ian’s family’s. Jeanette, your painting is certainly exquisite. But this competition is meant for the whole family to participate in. After much consideration, they felt Ian’s family’s piece better fit the theme and was more child-like.”

The guide added comfortingly, “You seem quite disappointed. Don’t overthink it. It’s just a competition.”

“Thank you.”

Jeanette Kensington walked back to her spot just as Naomi Kenway’s family happened to be passing by.

Jeanette Kensington offered a faint smile, her gaze toward Naomi Kenway soft. “Your skill level truly surprised me, Nicole. I’d almost forgotten how you were worse than me at everything when we were little. I’m genuinely happy to see you’ve grown. I’m perfectly content to lose to you.”

“Don’t try to take credit for it. If you were so ’perfectly content,’ why didn’t you just forfeit the competition? Every time you lose, you put on this act like you let me win. It’s hilarious.” Naomi Kenway shot her a sidelong glance. “I saw you crystal clear just now, going to argue with the tour guide. You didn’t get the first place you wanted, so you must be fuming, right? Too bad. No matter what, you’ll never be better than me.”

Hearing such a provocation, Jeanette Kensington’s face turned cold. She said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “It was just a fluke one or two times. Are you really taking that as a sign of your true ability? I’m not saying this to put you down…” She switched back to her gentle demeanor. “Nicole, sometimes being too full of yourself isn’t a good thing. It’s one thing for you to spout nonsense at me; I don’t care about that, because we are…”

She lowered her gaze slightly. “Forget it. Since you don’t like hearing it, I won’t say any more. But you should know, out in the real world, no one is going to indulge you like this.”

“Once or twice might be a fluke,” Naomi Kenway said nonchalantly, stating a fact. “But I’ve beaten you three times. Are you calling that a fluke, too? Who’s the one who’s really arrogant and full of herself?”

The smile on Jeanette Kensington’s lips froze slightly.

Naomi Kenway leaned in closer, a slight smile playing on her red lips. “Aren’t you curious why you always used to beat me when we were kids? I’ll tell you. It’s because I was letting you win. If I hadn’t been intentionally avoiding the spotlight, do you really think you could have paraded around like a showy peacock, stealing all the attention?”

“You’re lying,” Jeanette Kensington said instinctively.

Part of her sense of superiority came from the feeling of being above Naomi Kenway. Naomi had been inferior to her since they were children; she had even gotten into the academy through connections.

Naomi was arrogant and looked down on everyone. Nothing she did was ever a fraction as good as what Jeanette could do. How could a person like that possibly be better than her? It was a fool’s dream!

“You don’t believe me?” Naomi Kenway blinked, seeming completely unfazed. “It’s fine if you don’t. You’ll soon find out that no matter what you do, you’ll always be the one who loses to me.”

Jeanette Kensington’s eyes darkened as she warned, “You shouldn’t be so sure of yourself.”

Naomi Kenway gave her a smiling glance, having no desire to argue further, and turned to leave.

“She’s really something else… always acting so childish. How long will it take for her to realize this world isn’t some game of house she’s playing…” Jeanette Kensington scoffed. She turned her head, only to find that Caleb Bishop didn’t seem to be listening. His eyes were lowered, lost in thought.

“Caleb, what’s wrong?”

The tension is so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Why do these two clash so much? Individually, they’re both friendly and polite to everyone. But put them together, and it’s like lighting a powder keg.

Yeah, it’s so weird. They’re at each other’s throats the moment they meet. At first, I thought they didn’t get along because of that joke Chelsea Raines made, but now that I think about it, it’s probably not that simple, right?

Jeanette Kensington just mentioned their childhood, which means they’ve known each other for a long time. They probably had conflicts way back then, and it’s all just exploding now that they’re on the same show!

The Vicious Queen lives up to her name. She’s “congratulating” someone while also saying they were worse than her as a kid? I really think Jeanette Kensington is one of those backstabbing types with a smile. You can just tell from her face that she’s mean. Plus, she has a history of bullying her group members. Maybe she bullied Naomi Kenway, too!

Now that you mention it, that’s so true. Jeanette Kensington always acts like she’s the best in the world. I saw an interview with her before, and she was constantly putting down the people around her!

The people above must be Jeanette’s anti-fans, right? How can you blame everything on Jeanette when two people are fighting? Is Naomi Kenway completely blameless?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep