Mr. Kane Got Blacklisted by Eleven Jewell

Everyone could see what was happening. At the crucial moment of the competition, Darcie teamed up with Mallory and Jaylene. The reason was obvious. The prize pool was 10 million, with 80% going to the winner. To get a reward, you had to make it to the top ten, which was no easy feat. In reality, it was more about appearances than a fair competition.

Stella suggested expanding the prize to the top 20 and excluding Jaylene, making it easier for everyone to win something.

The 8 million championship prize was still up for grabs, and with Jaylene out of the picture, who wouldn’t want to give it a shot?

People in the room exchanged looks, each considering their chances.

Darcie didn’t need a vote to know the outcome. She looked at Stella and smiled. “No need to vote. I think your idea is good. Let’s go with it. I hope everyone does their best. I’ll personally host a banquet to celebrate.”

Stella met her gaze and smiled back. “Then I wish you all success in advance.”

She started clapping, and everyone followed. As their eyes met, they silently acknowledged the tension between them.

Jaylene was furious. She stormed out as soon as the meeting ended and collided with a secretary carrying documents. Papers scattered everywhere. “Are you blind?” Jaylene snapped, her anger flaring.

The secretary turned pale and quickly apologized.

Darcie frowned and called Jaylene’s name, but Jaylene ignored her, shoved the secretary aside, and slammed the door on her way out, making a loud noise.

Everyone in the room felt awkward, especially Stella. She looked at Darcie with a helpless expression and quietly asked, “Aunt, is Jaylene upset? I didn’t mean to target her. My suggestion was for the company’s benefit. If she’s really upset about the bonus, we can forget I ever mentioned it.”

comment made Darcie’s

such a small bonus. She suggested the prize pool to me in the first

please tell her that after the

nothing more, and quickly left

go, then stood up to return to her

reviewed the competition results. The perfume competition used a points system, with both individual and group rounds. Points accumulated with each round, and the lowest scores were

A mistake could take several rounds to recover from, making a comeback in the final round almost impossible. It tested not only a perfumer’s talent but also

people who advanced, Mallory and Sonia ranked in the top ten overall. Mallory even took third place, Sonia was sixth, followed by Kiara at thirteenth, and

somewhat random. Otherwise, how could someone like Jaylene make

by the system. Jaylene would definitely team up with Mallory,

random pairing would be fine. Stella, however, felt that random pairings were

scanned the list and thought that only Kiara might be a good partner for Sonia. But Kiara was on good terms with several other competitors from the company. Asking her directly might be awkward—if she already had a

a few more people and marked two with calm personalities. She planned to ask them later. Just then, there was

the file. “No,

like you to talk

was surprised. “No one asked

looked a bit embarrassed. “They did, but I didn’t agree. I want to team up with Sonia. When she created that S essential oil, it really impressed me. She made it into the top ten in the preliminary round too. We both did

asked, “Going for