Laughter erupted from some, while Hualand's audience bristled in anger. Members of the Hualand Design Association fumed silently;

Fauwille's audience had overstepped.

"Now, a word from our champion—" The host handed the mic to Anita.

Accepting it, Anita shot a disdainful look at Lilah. "I appreciate the support. But honestly, I expected this. As for Hualand... It seems this is the best a Hualand designer has achieved lately.

Commendable, truly. But not enough to beat me. Clearly, Hualand's designs aren't up to par. Try as you might, you'll always be in our shadow."

Anita's haughty remarks blatantly belittled everyone from Hualand.

They were pissed off, but with Anita holding the top spot, their hands were tied.

Several cast reproachful glances at Lilah, blaming her for the humiliation.

Post Anita's gloating, a ceremonial assistant appeared behind the contestants, preparing for the award distribution.

"Hold on. I have reservations. I request the scores be disclosed to all." Damon of Hualand Design Association rose from his seat.

In the tradition of the global design competition, if someone contested the results, the host could reveal individual judge scores for contestants.

The host did just that.

Displayed on-screen, each of the Fauwille's judges granted Anita a perfect 10, while Lilah earned an 8.

However, the rest rated Lilah nearly 9.8 and Anita a mere 9.2.

The outcome hinged on Fauwille's biased scores.

Damon gave the judges from Fauwille a disapproving look. “Don't you think these scores are a little off?"

The judges from Fauwille did not look amused by the accusation in his tone. One of them retorted, "Mr. Schultz, we assessed the contestants according to their skills and credentials. Anita is L.P, and I'm sure you've heard of her even if you're from Hualand. It isn't our fault that your contestant lost to Anita, so why are you coming at us?"

The majority of the crowd was made up of locals from Fauwille, and they were also not pleased that the judges' verdicts were being questioned. “Exactly! Can't the people of Hualand take a defeat?"

"Lilah publicly claimed she would definitely win. She probably feels embarrassed right now."

“Were the people of Hualand expecting the judges to give their contestant high scores even though she sucked?"

“LLP was right. Hualand's designs are not up to par!" someone shouted from the crowd.

Lilah's eyes flashed with mild distaste, and she stated firmly, "I would've accepted it if everyone gave me lower scores than Anita. The only judges who scored me much lower than her were those from Fauwille. Don't you think that's weird?"

"You'd better watch your mouth, young lady," one of the judges from Fauwille warned, sounding a bit oppressive. "Anita is incredibly talented, and we like her design. We gave you low scores because your design failed to impress us. That's all there is to it, so quit your yapping."

Truthfully, the judges from Fauwille knew that Anita's design was not as good as Lilah's. However, they would never let their contestant come in second to Lilah.