Chapter 488
Chapter 488:
“Consequently,” Nelson declared, “InnoTech receives a score of zero for this round. Furthermore, due to a severe breach of academic integrity, InnoTech will incur a fifty-percent deduction from their total cumulative score p>
“This is a conspiracy!” Belle screamed, her voice cracking. She thrust a shaking finger toward Isolde. “It’s her! She bought you off! She used Cyrus Sterling’s money to rig the competition p>
Isolde stood. She looked at Belle with profound exhaustion.
“Belle,” she said calmly, “is it really that impossible for you to accept that someone is simply smarter than you p>
She turned away from the screaming woman and looked up at the judges’ table.
“Carson Dynamics requests permission to display our final holistic model p>
Nelson nodded. “Proceed p>
Isolde pressed a key on her laptop.
The screen filled with a breathtakingly beautiful, mathematically perfect rendering of a self-sustaining Martian biosphere. It was not merely a machine — it was a living, breathing ecosystem, balancing thermal dynamics with human psychological needs in elegant, seamless harmony.
In the bottom right corner of the massive blueprint sat a tiny, subtle watermark.
𝖭𝖾𝘸 с𝘩а𝘱𝘵e𝗿s 𝘦𝘷еr𝘺 𝘸𝗲𝗲k 𝘰𝘯
The camera operator zoomed in.
It was the Greek letter Sigma. The universal mathematical symbol for sum. And the legendary signature of Sophia.
Professor Nelson rose from his chair. He began to clap — slowly at first, then with force.
“That,” he said into his microphone, “is the undeniable signature of Sophia. You may no longer use the name, Ms. Carson, but true brilliance cannot hide its style p>
The statement was an absolute, official confirmation.
The audience exploded. Engineers leapt onto their chairs, cheering and shouting.
“Isolde is Sophia! Oh my god p>
Belle’s knees buckled. She collapsed into her chair and buried her face in her hands, sobbing in total, catastrophic defeat. The phantom rival she had spent five years trying to beat was the woman she had treated like dirt.
Grayson stood in the aisle, watching Isolde bathed in the bright stage lights.
A single tear escaped his eye and tracked slowly down his cheek.
He finally saw her. But she was no longer his to look at.
Isolde stepped out from behind the podium and offered the audience a deep, graceful bow.
She had won. She had taken back her name.
The adrenaline of victory was finally fading, leaving a deep, satisfying exhaustion in its wake.
Isolde sat in the quiet, brightly lit dressing room behind the main stage, using a cotton pad to wipe the light stage makeup from her face.
Her phone buzzed on the vanity table. An incoming FaceTime call.
She swiped the screen. Effie’s bright, excited face filled the display.
“Mommy!” Effie squealed, her eyes wide with joy. “I watched the live stream! You were amazing! You crushed them p>
The cold, calculating armor Isolde had worn all day instantly dissolved. Her eyes softened into pure, warm affection.
“Thank you, my sweet girl,” Isolde said softly. “What are you working on p>
Effie held up a crumpled paper napkin covered in dense, scribbled equations.