Chapter 105
Chapter 105:
“You cruel, stubborn girl,” Dr. Zhang choked out, his voice thick with emotion. “You finally came back to me p>
The entire hall went dead silent. Not a sound. Not a breath.
Cole was still standing at the rope. His hands gripped the velvet cord so tightly that the metal stands trembled. His knuckles had gone bone white.
Alycia sat on the floor, rubbing her throbbing ankle, her face contorted with horror. “No,” she whispered frantically, looking up at Cole. “He is confused. He thinks she is the Apex representative. He does not know who she is p>
Declan had seen enough.
He rose from his chair, looked down at Alycia sitting on the floor like a piece of discarded refuse, and regarded her with a gaze of absolute disgust. Then he began to move down the aisle, as though heading for the exit. As he passed directly behind Cole’s rigid frame, he leaned in close, his voice dropping to a low, precise whisper designed to reach Cole’s ears alone.
“Miss Beasley’s ignorance,” Declan said, his tone laced with cold amusement, “is physically painful to witness. Dr. Zhang took only one private student in his entire career.” He paused, letting the silence do its work before delivering the final, calculated blow. “It seems you are completely blind to the most valuable asset you threw away, Compton. This is going to make my acquisition of Apex Bio remarkably entertaining p>
Declan straightened, continued walking, and did not look back.
Cole stopped breathing.
𝖣𝗼n’𝗍 𝘮𝗂ѕs 𝗇𝘦𝗐 𝗋𝖾𝗅𝘦a𝘀e𝘀 о𝘯 𝘨𝗮𝗅ոо𝗏𝘦𝗅𝘴.с𝘰𝘮
The air left his body in a single, violent rush. The word asset detonated inside his skull, shattering every memory, every arrogant assumption he had ever made about the woman he had married, into irretrievable pieces.
Across the room, the stage lights flared.
Dr. Zhang took June’s hand, disregarded the assigned seating chart entirely, and drew her down into the Chief Guest of Honor seat directly beside him.
The hall slowly recovered from the shock.
The summit host stepped up to the podium, his voice carrying through the massive speakers as he announced the start of the Breakthrough of the Year award ceremony.
Dr. Zhang rose from his seat and climbed the short stairs to the main stage.
The entire room erupted into a deafening roar of applause.
He raised one hand. The applause died instantly.
He leaned into the microphone and did not glance at the teleprompter. Instead, his eyes moved out over the sea of faces, hard and unflinching.
“Before I present this award,” Dr. Zhang’s voice filled every corner of the hall, “I need to publicly reprimand someone p>
A murmur of confusion rippled through the crowd.
“Four years ago,” he continued, his tone sharpened to a fine, cutting edge, “a breakthrough study that could have altered the history of oncology was abruptly halted due to the unexpected departure of its core researcher p>
The words detonated in the room. Investors and scientists gasped. Whispers broke out across every aisle.
Cole sat frozen in the back row.