Chapter 1040 The Gold Award
The experience of staying in a presidential suite costing over ten thousand dollars would certainly be much better, but Jane felt it wasn't necessary at the moment. She had just bought the equipment and hadn't yet received her personal fund disbursement or studio profits, so she decided to make do for now.
There was no need to buy a new dress either; the little black dress Anthony bought for her at the estate would suffice.
Although wearing a Chanel ready-to-wear dress to the awards ceremony might not seem grand enough and might make her appear to be not taking the event seriously, Jane didn't really care what others thought.
After all, some people still played the entertainment industry game, renting or borrowing haute couture dresses to show off, as if wearing something more luxurious would make their work better. They were always up to some nonsense.
Among the people Jane referred to as "nonsense" was Madeline.
The awards ceremony was set in the grand hall of Yew City.
Not long after Jane got out of the car, she heard an annoying voice from afar.
"Ms. Watkins, are you dressed so poorly today because you know you have no chance of winning?" Madeline, dressed in a smoky purple fringed gown, spotted Jane from a distance and walked straight towards her in high heels.
She spoke loudly, eager for others to hear.
Jane made a discreet entrance, merely taking a taxi. If not for Madeline's sarcastic shout, Jane might have gone unnoticed for a while longer.
Not everyone attending the awards ceremony was dressed to the nines. The art world had its share of lofty individuals; some didn't care about dressing up, and some liked quirky outfits. If Madeline hadn't deliberately stirred things up, no one would have thought Jane's attire was a problem. At most, they would have thought Jane's outfit wasn't as attention-grabbing as before.
Jane ignored the glances from around her and calmly said to Madeline, "I didn't expect you to look down on Chanel's latest limited edition. May I ask, Ms. Stewart, what gives you the right?"
Jane unabashedly looked Madeline up and down, her gaze like she was inspecting unsold vegetables at a market.
Jane continued, "Is it because of the wealth you have from renting dresses, Ms. Stewart?"
The word "wealth" was used quite humorously.
Whether Jane's words were true or not, the people around were amused.
"Rented, huh?"
"This isn't the entertainment industry; why rent dresses? I don't get it!"
"Isn't that Madeline Stewart? Didn't she say her family was rich? And she's renting clothes!"
Countless murmurs around reached Madeline's ears.
Madeline, furious and embarrassed, said, "Jane Watkins, what nonsense are you spouting! This is clearly my own dress! I'm not like you, without family support or money. Just because you can't buy it doesn't mean others can't! What a joke!"
"It certainly is a joke," Jane applied.
The awards ceremony was inside the hall, and Jane, feeling a bit cold in her dress, didn't want to waste more time with the dim-witted Madeline.
As she made her way inside, Jane nonchalantly dropped a remark. "The dress you're wearing is a piece by Wine. Her design inspiration came from one of my oil paintings, my gold medal work from the world competition five years ago. You can check it out. She only released ten sets of this design, one of which was given to me, another seven sold to seven people I know, and the remaining two sold to two rental shops."
Jane smiled as she said the last sentence.
Her gaze seemed to question: if all the pieces have their designated places, and yours isn't rented, then where does it from?
Madeline felt her whole body burning, as if scalded by boiling water.
Madeline's dress was indeed rented. It had been very popular recently, and no one around her had access to buy it. She had gone to great lengths to rent it at a high price, thinking many people only wore such dresses once. She planned to wear it this once and return it, and no one would know it was rented.
"Jane Watkins, you're lying! With your current status, how could you know so much about this limited edition dress? Keep lying! Only fools would believe you. I, who bought my own dress, certainly won't!"
Jane had already stepped onto the stairs leading into the hall, standing a few steps above Madeline, looking down at her with a gaze of pity for a fool.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Madeline sensed something was off. She rarely had the sharpness to notice that others around were also looking at her with the same pitying gaze.
Jane chuckled, said nothing, and walked into the hall.
"Madeline, everyone knows that Wine is Jane Watkins' best friend. Didn't you know that?" someone kindly reminded her, in a tone suggesting, "Haven't you been keeping up with the news?"
Madeline couldn't believe it. How could a genius fashion designer who rose to fame overnight be friends with Jane? When Wine became famous, the Watkins family had been down for years!
Madeline quickly took out her phone to check Wine's information. When she saw "Wine, real name Flora Lee," her face turned red.
Madeline had heard that Jane had a good friend named Flora, but she had never paid attention to this person. Similarly, she only knew that designer Wine's works were high-class but had never bothered to find out who Wine really was.
How could this be? What a huge embarrassment! If she didn't have to receive an award later, Madeline would have wanted to go home immediately, not staying a second longer!
Guests were entering the venue one after another.
Jane received her viewing pass and saw the number on it. She frowned slightly. It was a middle-front position but not in the front row.
There was an unspoken rule in the industry that the organizers would arrange for those going on stage that day to sit in the front. In other words, the front rows were either for capable industry insiders, powerful people, sponsors, or award presenters and recipients.
Jane's current seat was purely for spectators.
Jane was confident in her professional skills and aesthetic judgment. Even if her work this time wasn't flawless, it was still better than 99% of the others. There was no reason she wouldn't win an award.
Out of caution, Jane didn't speak up immediately, waiting for the awards ceremony to begin. She wanted to see who could possibly step over her!
The awards started with the bronze, then the silver, and finally the gold.
The winning works would first appear on the big screen, with the host reading the professional judges' comments before the photographer went on stage to receive the award.
Jane scrutinized each winning piece, certain that none were better than hers. Could it be that her submission wasn't successful, or was it manipulated behind the scenes and disqualified?
"Now, let's look forward to today's gold award-winning piece!" Before revealing the final result on the big screen, the host said enthusiastically, "It's a sunset in the desert, with rolling dunes, a herder riding a tall horse from the end of time, camels carrying goods following closely, and northern eagles flying. He is the ruler of time! It is 'Desert Man'!"
Jane saw her submitted photograph appear on the big screen.
"Let's congratulate Ms. Stewart for winning the gold award in this competition!"
Jane's mind went blank. That piece was clearly taken, edited, and submitted by her personally. How did it become Madeline's work?
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