<h4>Chapter 181: Chapter 182 Suspicion</h4>
Dr Dubois raised her hand. ‘Let’s discuss this outside. Miss Vance should get back to her design—’
A guy burst in before she could finish.
He leaned in and murmured something directly into her ear.
Dr Dubois stiffened.
Her eyes moved, once to me, once to Octavia, then back again.
‘The feed from this room’s surveince was cut as soon as you entered, Miss Grey. It came back when you stepped out to find us.’
Octavia narrowed her eyes. ‘You want to run that by me again?’
‘We couldn’t see what was happening in here. Which gives us reason to suspect collusion between you and Miss Vance.’
I couldn’t believe my ears. ‘You think we hacked the system so I could cheat?’
‘That’s correct,’ Dubois said, nodding once. ‘Surveince is in ce to ensure fairness. We have staff watching in real time. But this feed went ck. We have no idea what took ce during that window.’
Octavia’s hands mmed onto the table. ‘What kind of amateur setup is this? The tablet malfunctions, no one brings the meal on time, and now you’re pinning your tech failure on me? Do I look like I moonlight as a hacker?’
‘Please calm down,’ Dubois said stiffly. ‘Given your frequent online interactions with Miss Vance, we’re aware of your close rapport. We believe you may have provided her with external input—sketches, design references—something that couldpromise the integrity of thepetition.’
Octavia exhaled through her teeth. ‘I was in here for under a minute. If I’d wanted to cheat, I would’ve needed a hell of a lot more time. This isplete fabrication. Don’t shove the me on me because you can’t run your own event.’
I held up the tablet. ‘The sketches were done before she came in. Every stroke’s timestamped. She wasn’t in here long enough to pass me anything, let alone for me to use it.’
‘Exactly!’ Octavia snapped. ‘Ah, now I see. They dragged me in here for a reason. They’d already decided to pin the whole thing on me.’
Everyone turned to look at the tablet in my hands.
Fourpleted designs glowed on the screen—coloured stones, detailed mounts, precise annotations.
Someone near the door gave a low whistle.
Another leaned in for a better look.
Dubois’s mouth twitched, tightened, then rxed again.
That flicker of surprise vanished as quickly as it came.
‘Regardless, this doesn’t eliminate the suspicion. Miss Vance, you have two options. First, void the current designs. You’ll redraw everything under full surveince. No extra time will be given.’
The tablet felt heavier in my grip.
There were maybe three hours left.
I spoke slowly. ‘And the second option?’
‘Immediate disqualification.’
‘On what grounds?’
Dubois shrugged. ‘My hands are tied. We have to protect the integrity of thepetition. Letting you continue when there’s a possibility of cheating would be unfair to the others.’
‘using me without proof is what’s actually unfair.’
She shook her head, patronising. ‘It’s not an usation. It’s just suspicion at this stage, but it’s going to affect the rest of the contestants. If you truly cared about this craft, you’d approach the contest with honesty. Not shortcuts.’
‘Oh, fuck off. I didn’t take shortcuts, and I didn’t cheat. Thispetition means everything to me. I’d never sabotage it. You know that. You know I didn’t do anything wrong.’
Octavia nodded. ‘Yeah!’
I straightened my shoulders and stared right at Dubois. ‘And I wouldn’t need to cheat. I can out-design every one of those other contestants in my sleep. What would I even gain?’
‘The footage cuts out exactly when Miss Grey entered. Just here, nowhere else. Exin that.’
‘That’s your system failure, not mine.’ I shrugged. ‘I’m not here to exin your tech problems. You think I cheated? Prove it. Otherwise, stop acting like the victim owes you an exnation.’
Octavia chimed in, ‘Exactly. You think we pulled off some borate scheme in sixty seconds? Then you’d better tell us what, exactly, you think happened.’
Dubois’s gaze dropped to the floor for a second before she straightened up again.
‘Fine. We’ll open a formal inquiry. We’ll find out whether the equipment failed or if Miss Grey used a signal jammer. But’—she gave a short, smugugh—‘an investigation takes time. If you refuse to submit a new draft now, we’ll take that as a voluntary withdrawal.’
Octavia tugged me aside. ‘This whole setup reeks. I smell a trap. Screw them, let’s walk. Don’t let them treat you like shit.’
I didn’t move. ‘If I walk now, I’m handing them the narrative. That’s as good as admitting guilt.’
‘You’ve got three hours. Can you even pull off a brand-new concept in that time?’
‘I’ll try. I didn’te all this way to roll over.’
I turned back to Dubois.
‘I’ll stay. I’ll draw something new. But you’d better get to the bottom of the surveince issue. If you don’te back with hard proof that we sabotaged anything, then you’ve ndered me, and I will take legal action the second thispetition ends.’
Dubois gave a clipped nod. ‘Fine. That’s settled.’
She reached for the tablet in my hands. ‘This one’spromised. Your original draft is void. We’ll issue a recement.’
Before she could touch it, Octavia snatched it clean out of her reach.
‘All of Mirabelle’s files are on here. Even if it’s disqualified, it’s still her work. You don’t get to walk off with it.’
Dubois backed off, reluctantly. ‘Fine. Keep it.’
Octavia smirked. ‘And if the surveince goes dark again, then we both know someone on your end is screwing with her.’
Dubois narrowed her eyes. ‘The feed’s back online. It won’t happen again.’
She turned on her heel and left.
Octavia hugged me. ‘You just focus on drawing. I’ll deal with the rest. No way in hell we’re letting this slide.’
‘Thanks.’
Someone brought me a recement tablet, still warm from the box, and a lunch tray I didn’t touch.
I shut my eyes.
Two ideas had been fighting for space in my head earlier.
I’d gone with the safer one.
Now I had a chance to sketch the other.
But the clock was brutal.
I pulled in a few deep breaths, held thest one, and opened my eyes.
The nerves didn’t vanish, but my grip on the stylus stopped shaking.
I didn’t give a shit what Dubois thought I’d done.
I’d deal with herter.