Willow's lips curled into a sneer. "Did I say something wrong? Everyone knows that. I didn't slander in the slightest."
Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the woman who had defended Sophia, her voice then sounding like a sneer. "Besides, instead of busying yourself with me, maybe you should check on your own affairs. I'm sure your last name is Rodriguez, isn't it? Miss Rodriguez, weren't you recently involved in a plagiarism scandal three months ago? So, it's clear—you're a plagiarist. Yet somehow, you managed to secure an interview with Stars Vision. Now, that's a real mystery."
The accusation made the woman's face tense. "How did you find out about that?"
Willow didn't pause to give the designer a chance to respond; instead, she turned to another designer. "And you—Miss Zimenes, right? I remember you boasting about winning a design award. Turns out, that recognition can be bought for a certain price. So, how much did you pay to get that recognition?"
After that, Willow continued to expose the scandals of several people. Raising her voice, she exclaimed, "All of you have a very bad reputation online. Compared to all of you, I'm practically invisible."
The room was now filled with flushed faces, including Sophia Warren's, as they were overcome with shame.
They struggled to match Willow's speed in exposing their secrets, and more importantly, they had no concrete evidence to counter Willow's statements—which were undeniably true.
She had stopped their taunts, and they quickly changed direction and left.
Amidst the chaos, a voice grumbled, "Damn it! How does she know all this? Isn't she just a beginner?"
Hearing the comment, a sly smile appeared on Willow's lips.
She had thoroughly prepared herself for the upcoming interview at Stars Vision, ensuring that she had mastered every significant and trivial event within the design community over the past few years.
These designers had mistakenly assumed she was an easy target to take down and had initiated this confrontation.
Without their knowledge, they had dealt with the wrong people this time.
As she finished dealing with these troublesome designers, a group of interviewers stepped forward.
"All interview participants are requested to enter the audition room and prepare for the interview," came the command from the loudspeaker.
One by one, the designers entered the interview room, each choosing a seat in the designated area.
The interviewers positioned themselves at the front, observing calmly as staff members distributed sheets of paper and drawing pens to the candidates.
The lead interviewer cleared his throat and addressed the group. "You are all talented designers, selected through a rigorous resume screening process. Today, we have brought you here to assess your foundational design skills in a real-world setting. You have one hour to create a complete design draft. Let the countdown begin."
Following that, a staff member beside him activated the timer.
A murmur of surprise filled the room. One of the designers, unable to hide his confusion, said, "But you haven't given us a design brief. What exactly are we supposed to design?"
Willow her eyes fixed on the interviewer, waited eagerly for his response.
The interviewer gave a reassuring smile and explained, "Today's challenge is to assess your ability to make quick decisions on the spot. Please work independently, ensure your ideas are your own, and avoid any form of plagiarism. Now, please begin."
Silence filled the room as the designers bent over their papers, beginning to sketch with their pencils.
Willow, however, sat motionless, her eyes fixed on the blank page before her. Memories suddenly flooded back—her wedding day, when she first met Rainer.
Willow's first impression of Rainer was that he was a neatly dressed man in a wedding suit, sitting in a wheelchair with a calm demeanor.
Despite the embarrassing situation of being left at the altar by his bride, he showed no signs of anxiety or frustration at all.
Like a large mirror, an inspiration came to her.
She wanted to design something for him, something that reflected his calm and dignified presence.
A small smile appeared on her lips as she picked up her pen and began sketching calmly.
Half an hour later, Sophia stood up, exuding confidence. She walked toward the interviewers, holding her design as if it were a masterpiece.
"I'm done...!" she said with a confident smile to be mm m,.p the interviewers as she handed over her sketch. "Sophia Warren, my name is in the bottom right corner."
The interviewers accepted it with polite professionalism. "Thank you, you can wait outside."
The other candidates exchanged anxious glances. Sophia was already done? Only thirty minutes had passed, and most of them hadn't even finished half of their sketches.
Completing a design in just half an hour seemed almost impossible. Their growing anxiety permeated the entire room.
"What should I do? I still have so much to sketch."
"I shouldn't have chosen this concept. It's too late to start over."
"This is a disaster. I'm completely messed up."
The anxious words prompted one of the interviewers to issue a sharp reprimand.
"Please, keep quiet. You have 25 minutes left."
Willow, unaware that Sophia had submitted her answers early, remained engrossed in her work, her pen moving steadily across the paper.
As time passed, the other participants gradually completed their designs and submitted them, one by one.
With only a few minutes remaining, Willow was the only candidate still sitting in the room.
An interviewer glanced at the clock, "Miss Willow, you have fifty seconds left."
"I understand." she muttered, her voice steady as she signed her name at the bottom of her design.
She stood up from her seat and walked forward, placing her work on the table. "I'm done, thank you."
The interviewers nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
Willow exited the interview room and leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath as she sat down.
Soohia immediately noticed her, taking advantage of the moment to mock her. "Willow, why did it take you so long? Did they kick you out because you couldn't finish on time...?"
The sycophants who had gathered behind Sophia earlier eagerly approached them.
"I'm sure they did. Those interviewers probably won't forget it anytime soon."
"I saw her, she was just scribbling something at the last minute. How pitiful."
Hearing their chatter, Willow's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. She glared at them with a cold stare, then snapped. "Shut up, you're all too noisy!"
After that, she closed her eyes, unwilling to give them any more attention.
Sophia glared angrily and clenched her fists, but with Stars Vision staff nearby, she had no choice but to swallow her anger and glare at her in silence.
Meanwhile, after all the candidates submitted their designs, the interviewers began sorting through them, matching the works, and selecting the best designs with good resumes to determine the single designer they would choose.
The waiting felt endless. When the interviewers finally appeared, all the designers gathered anxiously.
She who had taken a brief break, suddenly felt anxiety creeping into her heart.
Her heartbeat grew faster, her breath shorter as she focused her gaze on the interviewers reading the final decision.
Beside her, a designer whispered to Sophia , "Sophia, it's definitely you, you're the most talented here."
"I think so too. Sophia , it seems we should congratulate you first."
Sophia's smile broadened; she had already imagined herself as the winner, basking in their admiration.
This was it; she was the one chosen by Stars Vision.
Until the moment of the announcement arrived.
The interviewers observed the group before finally smiling. "Alright, after careful consideration, we have agreed to select Willow Stuart for the position. Congratulations to Willow!"
The designers fell silent, unable to believe what they had just heard. ...