?Chapter 396:


    Even Kolton, the patriarch of the Cooper n standing behind Mariana, frowned in bewilderment.


    Mariana herself waspletely perplexed and turned to Maia for some rity. “What do you mean?”


    Maia’s gaze remained calm and detached as she exined, “It means in today’spetition, Miss Cooper, if you win, Aurora Apparel Company will take over MCN. But if I win… MCN will take over Aurora Apparel Company.”


    The crowd went wild!


    From his spot on the sofa at the rear of the room, Chris lifted an eyebrow, fascinated.


    At the same time, udius’ earlier lively demeanor shifted to one of shock. His eyes on Maia became more and more curious.


    The entire crowd was taken aback. After all, Maia had just transformed a routine design contest into a high-stakes gamble for two toppanies.


    Both MCN and Aurora Apparel Company were prominent luxury fashion brands in the nation, fierce rivals in the field. A merger between them would lead to onepany reigning supreme while the other would vanish. This was incredibly bold!


    MCN’s sales were holding steady and increasing little by little. Maia’s idea looked like a recipe for disaster — she was practically offering MCN up on a silver tter.


    On the flip side, despite the Cooper Group’s wide range of businesses, it seemed unlikely they would easily part ways with one of their well-known brands. If Aurora Apparel Company were really taken over, it would deal a serious hit to the Cooper Group’s image.


    There was no guarantee of a sure win inpetition.


    Even though Mariana was overflowing with confidence, it was difficult to picture her epting Maia’s wild proposal.


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    Jarrod, caught in the midst of the crowd, waspletely taken aback. He whispered to himself, “Is Maia losing her grip? How could she possibly take this risk?”


    Next to him, Rosanna let out a scornfulugh. “She’s doing this on purpose.”


    “Huh?” Jarrod’s confusion deepened. On purpose? What did that imply? Was Maia really out of touch, or was everyone else losing it? He waspletely lost!


    Seeing that Mariana seemed unsure, Maia tilted her head with a cheeky grin and asked, “Miss Cooper, are you too scared?” Her voice carried a hint of a challenge. “If you’re too scared, we can just end thepetition right here.”


    Mariana’s expression turned sour. “It’s just a straightforward design contest. Why do you have to make things soplicated?”


    Maia responded casually, “A top designer doesn’t share their creative ideas without a lot of thought. If we don’t raise the stakes, how can we truly give it our all? And if we can’t give it our all, what’s even the point? We might as well just pack it in.”


    Herments made the crowd nod in agreement.


    Maia had a point. The ideas from top designers were extremely valuable. These concepts were never shown before their officialunch. If someone stole them, it could lead to huge losses for both the designer and theirpany.


    Years before, Maia’s famous gown design, Blue Sea, had shot MCN to the forefront of luxury fashion. It showed just how powerful a breathtaking design could be for a brand.


    Additionally, the guests at the cocktail party were the cream of the crop in Wront’s business scene, including rivals. A publicpetition that highlighted creativity and inspiration was a prime target for copycats, amon problem in the design field.


    Mariana found herself at a loss for words against Maia’s logic. After all, she was the one who had thrown down the gauntlet. Now that Maia had upped the ante, if Mariana stepped back, it would look like she was scared of Maia.


    Mariana squinted her eyes. What a clever strategy to flip the script! By doing this, Maia had already ced herself as the unacknowledged winner.


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