Bab 320: Chapter 320: The Entire Competition Was Unfair

The lights flicker on and off, and then they dim. The audience sits down and stops talking as they wait for the presentations to begin. Avery watches everything from a small TV screen backstage. Several cameras throughout the auditorium show live footage of the stage and the audience.

Avery watches as Crystal climbs the stairs onto the stage. She smiles through closed lips as she crosses the stage and takes her place behind the podium. She clicks a button on a small remote, and a sketch appears on the screen behind her. The cameras zoom in, and Avery looks at her rival's designs.

The cufflinks are round and traditional, with Rebecca's rose quartz in the middle. Crystal clicks the button, and a more detailed sketch appears, showing that dozens of smaller diamonds surround the rose quartz. Each stone has been shaped to catch the light of the rose quartz and reflect it back at the larger stone.