Chapter 1538 - Jacqueline Madans Provocation (1/2)

The official grand finals of the Milan World Expo International Jewelry Design Competition was telecast live across the world. Hence, the moment the preliminary rankings of the first segment were announced, the top three contenders—⁠Wen Xinya, Jacqueline Madan and Shen Siwen—instantly became the hottest topics of conversation, garnering intense scrutiny from the media and the wider jewelry profession.

Although the preliminary rankings for the paper designs did not ascertain the final results—according to past experience, there was about an 80-90% chance that the grand champion, runner-up and second runner-up would emerge from among the top three preliminary rankings. There was very little chance for anyone from the last seven positions to make a successful comeback. Nevertheless, it would be a fierce fight between the top three for the final rankings.

At 10 o’clock the next morning, Mr. Ronda drove Wen Xinya to the jewelry crafting workshop provided by the Milan World Expo Association. During the competition, the competitors would be provided with all the resources they required, including the gems, craftsmen, machinery, etc. But all had to be for the sole use of their creations for the competition.

Wen Xinya bumped into Jacqueline Madan and Shen Siwen when she arrived at the workshop. The latter two were chatting and appeared rather amiable to each other.

Shen Siwen noticed Wen Xinya and smiled warmly in her direction. “Miss Wen, good morning. I wanted to invite you to dinner after the competition, but you left too soon. I don’t know your mobile phone number and had to leave it at that.”

Wen Xinya returned her smile. “I was quite tired after the competition ended and so returned to the hotel first.”

Although this Shen Siwen did not behave too friendly toward her yesterday and seemed to harbor all sorts of nefarious thoughts against her, nothing overt had happened between them, so Wen Xinya patiently kept up this false pretense of cordiality.

The two of them exchanged pleasantries.

And standing right beside Shen Siwen was Jacqueline Madan, arms akimbo. Her greenish-blue eyes sized up Wen Xinya with traces of hostility.

Wen Xinya frowned slightly when she felt that constant piercing gaze. She turned toward Jacqueline Madan and nodded mildly, before preparing to leave.

But Jacqueline Madan unexpectedly offered one hand to Wen Xinya. “Jacqueline Madan!”

Wen Xinya’s gaze fell on that beautifully manicured hand with fingernails painted red. She reached out her own hand to shake it. “Wen Xinya!”

The two of them had officially met!

But there remained an uneasy tension between them.

Jacqueline Madan was 27 years old and over 1.7m in height. Tall and voluptuous, she was wearing a rosy red knee-length dress and looked incredibly stunning.

Meanwhile, Wen Xinya was only 1.67m. Further, to accommodate today’s crafting workshop visit, she had dressed down in a light gray off-shoulder sweater, dark blue slim-fit jeans and a pair of flats.

Compared to Jacqueline Madan, Wen Xinya felt sorely lacking in both height and figure. Wen Xinya was like a young sprout who had yet to mature fully.

With her height advantage, Jacqueline Madan could look down at Wen Xinya while speaking. “Your Athena’s Protection design was not bad. I can see you have pretty good skills.”