Sophia appeared completely stunned, though she certainly didn't look upset at all—not with dozens of cameras pointed directly at her.

Secretly, her scheming heart felt absolutely triumphant watching Elise suffer!

After tonight, Elise's reputation would be completely destroyed, and she would drag Stellar Group down with her too!

The more Sophia thought about it, the more delighted she became, struggling to contain her laughter.

Of course, the audience interpreted her twisted expression as genuine sorrow.

"Disqualify Elise! Recalculate the rankings!" someone shouted from the crowd.

Others quickly joined in, showing their support.

Livestream viewers were tearing Elise apart in the comments section.

[This is disgusting. Absolutely unforgivable! Elise plagiarized!]

[I can't believe I supported her. It makes me sick.]

[Now we see the truth—Sophia is far superior to Elise. I think Sophia and Samuel are truly in love.]

[Maybe Samuel was right to change his mind.]

Meanwhile, William was tapping his fingers rhythmically on his desk.

Having worked with him for years, Samuel Wilson could tell his boss was deadly serious.

When William got serious, things turned dangerous—the Mitchells really shouldn't have challenged him.

The WhatsApp group had gone silent too.

Even Nathan didn't know what to say, aware that one wrong word would incur William's wrath.

And the man certainly knew how to hold a grudge!

William dialed a number and commanded coolly, "Acquire Mitchell Corp."

"...Mitchell Corp, sir?" The voice on the other end sounded confused. "But there's no value there—they're barely hanging on..."

"They're an eyesore."

"Understood, Mr. Levine," the voice replied respectfully.

After hanging up, William rose to his feet, and Samuel Wilson knew he was going to rescue Elise!

Yet the situation in the studio was shifting...

Maron, the specially invited designer, suddenly spoke up. "Actually, Elise's design wasn't entirely plagiarized."

His words stunned the entire studio, while the live comments section froze for several seconds.

There was no way a designer of such international prestige would speak nonsense.

Wait, was he sleeping with Elise?!

When the comments resumed, they immediately exploded with outrage.

Another judge snapped at Maron, "How can you say that, Mr. Maron? Elise's design is identical to Lovely's... This isn't even inspiration—it's blatant plagiarism!"

"I'm not denying their designs are identical. What I'm saying is that Elise is Lovely," Maron said calmly. "Can you plagiarize your own work?"