Chapter 370
Professor Nelson stood before the massive table, leaning heavily on his cane as he examined the unrolled blueprints. Belle hovered a few feet away, gripping a glass of white wine so tightly that her knuckles had gone white around the stem. Across the table, Grayson watched with his body rigid with tension. He needed Nelson’s endorsement. A single positive quote from the Godfather of Aerodynamics would send InnoTech stock into the stratosphere.
Nelson reached out with a gnarled finger and tapped a specific structural node on the blueprint. “This load distribution,” he muttered, his eyes narrowing behind his spectacles. “It’s unique.”
Belle brightened instantly and stepped forward. “Yes! I wanted to maximize airflow through the central corridor, so I shifted the weight burden to the exterior lattice.”
Nelson turned his head slowly to look at her. “It’s incredibly risky. Who taught you this integration method?”
Belle answered smoothly, her voice coated in false confidence. “It didn’t come from a textbook. It came to me during a simulation run.”
Nelson let out a harsh, barking huff of laughter. “A simulation?” His tone was saturated with disdain. “This kind of structural shift cannot be guessed by a computer. It requires intuitive calculus — a brain that sees numbers in three dimensions.” He looked back down at the paper. “I have only ever had one student capable of this specific kind of intuition.”
Belle’s smile faltered. “Really? Who?”
Nelson’s face darkened. The deep wrinkles around his mouth tightened into a scowl. “A ghost,” he said bitterly. “She left before she finished her work.” He shook his head, a look of profound disgust crossing his features. “She had brilliance, but no spine. She quit the program for domesticity, I assume. Wasted her mind on a husband.”
Standing just out of sight at the edge of the alcove, Isolde flinched as though struck.
The words landed like acid on bare skin. Her chest tightened, the guilt and shame of her past choices pressing down on her until the air felt thin.
Belle let out a soft, condescending laugh. “Well, I have plenty of spine, Professor,” she said, stepping closer to the table. “I don’t quit.” She leaned in, eyes bright with ambition, and gestured toward the glowing models. “In fact, I was hoping you would consider supervising my doctoral thesis — with InnoTech as the primary case study. It would be legendary.”
𝘗oр𝘶l𝘢r 𝘴𝘁о𝘳𝗂𝗲s оn 𝗴a𝗅𝘯ov𝖾lѕ.𝗰𝗼𝗆
Grayson moved forward immediately to close the deal. “The Lancaster Group would be more than happy to fund a permanent chair in your name at the university, Professor. A full endowment.”
Nelson lifted his head slowly. He looked from Belle’s eager face to Grayson’s calculating eyes, and the expression that crossed his own was one of undisguised revulsion.
“You think you can buy my seal of approval with a checkbook?” he asked, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous growl.
Belle panicked slightly. “No — we just want to collaborate. I’m sure I can meet your standards.” She lifted her chin, a smug look settling across her face. “Unlike that student who quit. I finish what I start.”
In the shadows, Isolde’s manicured nails dug through the fabric of Arland’s suit jacket.
He covered her hand with his own. “Don’t listen to her,” he whispered fiercely.
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