THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS-Chapter 370: Removing The Virus

"Let this be a reminder to all that would want to use underhanded means to attain success that justice will always prevail," he concluded and stepped aside.

Hearing the judgment, Peggy went berserk. A wild fury overtook her, and she lunged at Lauren, screaming at the top of her voice. "This is all your fault, you bitch! I’m not going to let you get away with this!"

She had completely lost any sense of decorum. Her face contorted with rage as she reached out, trying to grab Lauren.

"You had no right! You came out of nowhere and ruined everything! I’ve been the winner for the past two years! You don’t deserve to win!"

Lauren stepped back, her eyes wide with shock, as Peggy’s screams filled the room. Security guards rushed forward, trying to restrain Peggy.

But she struggled against them, her voice a raw, desperate cry. "I did what I had to because I couldn’t stand to see her win! She’s just a newbie and doesn’t belong here!"

"Why do I have to be banned when it’s clearly her fault?"

The crowd watched in stunned silence as Peggy poured out her anger and frustration. "It’s not fair! It’s not fair!" she yelled so loudly that her voice broke in the process.

"Tsk! She still had the guts to talk about fairness. Does she deserve to even mention the word?"

"I’ve never seen someone as delusional as her. She’s the only one that deserves to win? Keep dreaming."

"She clearly thinks it’s her birthright and must not be taken away from her."

"Instead of working hard to maintain her position, she had to resort to underhanded means. Who does that?"

"How sure are you that those two previous wins were genuine wins. Who knows what she did back then to emerge winner for two consecutive times."

The remarks kept pouring in from both the online and physical viewers.

"Don’t tell me these security guards are so weak that they can’t even take a lousy specimen like her from our sight? Why the delay? What game of ’push me, I push you’ are they playing with her?" Someone snapped impatiently from among the audience.

"Maybe they’re waiting for her to harm the innocent Lauren before stopping the wild animal form causing more havoc."

Eventually, the security guards finally managed to restrain Peggy and pulled her away from Lauren.

However, she continued to struggle as her screams echoed through the venue. "You think you’re so great, Lauren? You think you can just take over? You’re nothing! Nothing!

When all these is over, I will crush you. You wait and see."

Lauren for not even bother with her throughout the whole charade. She just watched as if it had nothing to do with the mad dog.

This infuriated Peggy the more and her face twisted beyond recognition.

"Why are you quiet? I’m sure you must have done somey to get everyone on your side."

The guards escorted her out of the venue and soon her screams faded into the distance.

After she was taken away, The host tapped on the microphone twice and the noisy crowd gradually quietened down.

"We are sorry for what happened today. As you have seen, we do not condone any form of misbehavior that will tarnish the image and reputation of this competition. And that’s why we had to pause the competition to deal with the matter on ground.

Now that the virus has been removed successfully, we can now continue.

So the next thing will be to display the votes for each team.

The votes for the three teams were displayed on the huge screen.

Up till an hour minutes ago, Café solstice had been winning with the highest vote. But after Peggy’s despicable act was brought to the open, it suddenly dropped to the lowest.

Coupled with their performance which had not been too impressive since the last two days, it was obvious they were not going to emerge the first place winner this year.

And now with the disqualification, the competition was now between Silk and Steam and Empress Brews.

On the screen, the votes kept increasing and it was mostly in favor of Empress Brews.

The countdown continued and at exactly when the time displayed 0:00 hours the voting ended.

The atmosphere in the competition hall was electric as one of the judges, Mr. Samuel Peters, walked onto the stage.

The murmurs of the crowd quieted as all eyes focused on him. He adjusted the microphone and began speaking.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said solemnly, "before we announce the results, I must again make reference do the unfortunate incident involving the misconduct of the leader of Café Solstice. It is imperative to maintain decorum and integrity in any competition. Such behavior as displayed by the leader of Café Solstice cannot be tolerated, and as you’ve seen, steps have been taken to ensure it does not happen again."

A ripple of murmurs swept through the audience, followed by nods of agreement and a few scattered claps.

"With that said," Samuel continued, "let’s move on to the results. As you all know, the votes have been displayed in real-time, and it has been a thrilling race. However, we must also consider the aggregate scores from all the activities performed by the two remaining teams, Silk and Steam and Empress Brew."

He paused, allowing the tension to build. "Since Café Solstice has been disqualified, we are pleased to announce that The Enclave, the last team to be evicted, will be taking third place."

There was a burst of applause for The Enclave, and the team members all stood to acknowledge the crowd with gracious smiles and waves.

One of the veterans was called forth to present the third place award to the team which was led by Anya and a cash gift of $100,000.

After they exited the stage, Samuel took a deep breath, holding the envelope with the final results. "And now," Samuel said, the moment everyone had been waiting for, "the winner of this year’s Golden Bean competition, based on both votes and aggregate scores is... Empress Brew!"

The room erupted into thunderous cheers and applause. Lauren and her team jumped up, hugging each other with joy and relief.

Tears of happiness streamed down Lauren’s face as the words of the judge echoed in her mind... they won!

The crowd’s excitement was equally contagious as their cheers and applause filled the room.

To present the award to Silk and Steam, which is the second place winner, another veteran was called forward to make the presentation and a cash prize of $10,000,000 was also given amidst applause and jubilations.

"For the winning team, we hereby call on Mr Khan to make the presentation," Samuel announced and Mr Khan stepped forward beaming with smiles as he took the microphone.

It is my singular honor to invite the winning team to join me on stage.

Lauren and her team approached the stage, their faces glowing with overwhelming happiness.

Watching Lauren approach, Mr Khan smiled respectfully. She was one of the most resilient and cool headed women he had seen in his entire life. Working so well under pressure and not allowing anything to deter or distract her. She deserved his respect.