Chapter 100
100 The Light Behind the Curtain
69 %
Finished
Taylor remained perfectly calm, lifting his gaze toward Scarlett with the faintest of smiles tugging at the corners of his lips. The look in his eyes gradually softened.
Scarlett had already stepped forward. Once she saw her USB drive was in place, she bowed politely to both the expert panel and the audience before she began speaking in a composed, steady tone. “My research focuses on marking cancer cells. The core concept is as follows…” As she clicked the remote in her hand, she gestured to the big screen behind her. But at that very moment, the screen went completely white.
Rebecca’s heart instantly soared. This had to be Oliver’s doing. She could already imagine how awkward and pathetic Scarlett would look next. From this point on, Scarlett would fall from grace and become a permanent laughingstock–an amusing afterthought to everyone in the room. She would become nothing more than a toy in Rebecca’s hands. And Rebecca would make sure to grind that woman into the dirt.
The rest of the Joyner family wore smug smiles as well. Only Stanley looked uneasy. He instinctively tried to get up, but Eugene stopped him. “Eugene!” Stanley was starting to panic. If even he could tell this was Oliver pulling strings, there was no way Eugene hadn’t noticed. But Eugene’s eyes were locked on John in the expert row, a flicker of hesitation flashing through them. Helping Scarlett now might win John’s favor, but the other professors wouldn’t understand. They’d just think he was interfering for family reasons. Even if he got John’s support, it would destroy his reputation in the medical field. This was a huge gamble–and he wasn’t willing to take it. “Wait a little longer.” Stanley had no choice but to sit down again. “Eugene, I’m worried Scully won’t be able to handle it.” Eugene clenched his fists and took a deep breath. “If it really comes to that, then I’ll step in.” Stanley nodded reluctantly. “Alright. Five more minutes.”
Across the hall, Micah also looked worried. But the moment he saw the sneer on Calvin’s face, he gave up the idea of stepping in. He didn’t have the power to go up against someone like Calvin. Not yet.
The big screen remained blank. The crowd started whispering among themselves.
“Is she going to pretend the AV system broke?”
“She had great questions before, but now that it’s her turn, she’s choking?”
“Maybe those earlier questions weren’t even hers.” S~ᴇaʀᴄh the Findnøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access s of novels early and in the highest quality.
“Ugh, this is disgusting.”
“Isn’t this supposed to be a prestigious school? Did they run out of actual talent?”
“Glad I didn’t end up enrolling there. I wouldn’t know how to fake all this crap.”
One harsh comment after another filled the room. Everyone was ready to watch Scarlett crash and burn.
And then–suddenly–the screen flickered and came to life, displaying Scarlett’s PowerPoint presentation..
The entire room went silent in shock.
Oliver jumped to his feet in disbelief.
Scarlett smiled gently and began to explain her thought process and present her data. Her voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a quiet magnetism that commanded attention.
Rebecca, however, couldn’t hear a word of it. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Again and again, she looked toward Oliver, silently begging for answers, but he gave her none.
1/2
12:04 Wed , 6 Aug
100 The Light Behind the Curtain
How did Scarlett pull this off?
She wasn’t supposed to be capable of this.
59 %
Finished
Everything was ruined.
And then there was Calvin. He hadn’t taken her seriously at first, but the longer he listened, the more serious his expression became. Eventually, even he was frozen with surprise.
Thirty minutes later, Scarlett finished her presentation. The question session began immediately.
Someone scoffed from the back. “Marking viruses with pig genes? Sounds like someone’s been reading too much sci–fi.”
Scarlett wasn’t rattled. She smiled calmly and clapped her hands.
A team rolled in several containers and cases. Her fingers paused briefly over a password lock on one of the boxes. The crisp click of glass gloves against the metal workstation rang out as she began preparations.
When she turned around, three stacked Petri dishes shimmered under the cool lab light, casting an eerie blue glow.
Most of the audience was made up of medical students. They immediately recognized what they were looking at.
Scarlett spoke evenly, walking them through her setup. “The bottom layer contains tumor–bearing nude mice in a curled posture. The middle holds lung cancer cells freshly extracted from a patient’s pleural effusion. The top layer is sealed with the NDV–GT viral solution that completed recombination last night. The faint golden liquid contains pig gene fragments, identifiable by their signature helical luminescence.”
“If anyone has doubts about the data,” she added, “we can replicate it on–site.”
Her voice was like a scalpel dipped in ice–sharp, precise, and impossible to ignore.
The room fell silent.
Who the hell brings a mobile lab to a conference?
And she wasn’t bluffing–she was ready to perform the experiment right there, in front of all the experts.
That level of confidence… it was unbelievable.
John suddenly stood up.
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