Chapter 501
Chapter 501:
Belle remained frozen in place, her perfectly manicured nails digging into her palms, leaving pale crescent moons in their wake. Second place. InnoTech was merely second place.
Just as Isolde stepped forward, her hand outstretched to receive the trophy from Dr. Merrick, a sharp voice cut through the celebration.
“Wait! I object p>
Belle Escobar strode past them and made a beeline for the main lectern’s microphone. The entire hall fell into stunned silence. Dozens of live-feed cameras swiveled in unison, their lenses converging on her like a firing squad.
She raised one hand, a finger pointing directly at Isolde.
“I don’t accept this result! I am accusing Team Aether of severe academic fraud p>
Dr. Merrick, head of the judging committee, frowned deeply. “Ms. Escobar, that is an extremely serious accusation p>
“And I have proof,” Belle retorted, pulling a document from her clutch. “A revolutionary aerodynamic layout of this level is simply not something a person with a community college degree could create p>
The crowd murmured. Belle’s voice grew louder, feeding on the attention.
“This,” she declared, “is a conceptual drawing from five years ago by the legendary ghost engineer Sophia! Isolde must have stolen Sophia’s confidential data — or, even more shamefully, illegally hired Sophia as her ghostwriter p>
Behind her, the main screen flickered to life, displaying a side-by-side comparison. On the left, the Aether’s core design; on the right, the so-called Sophia manuscript. The design philosophies were strikingly similar — after all, they had been drawn by the same hand.
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘳 nе𝘅𝘁 𝗳𝖺vo𝗋𝗂𝘵е 𝗋е𝘢𝘥 i𝘴 оn 𝗀a𝗅ոо𝘃е𝘭𝘀.соm
Whispers rippled through the audience.
“Sophia? The master who never shows their face p>
“If that’s true, it’s a major violation. It’s fraud p>
Isolde watched the screen, a sense of pure absurdity washing over her. She almost laughed. Belle was using her own old drafts to accuse her of plagiarizing herself.
Belle was practically glowing with triumph. “This is fraud — unless Isolde Carson can prove, right here and right now, that she is Sophia! But we all know that’s impossible. Everyone in the industry knows Sophia is a reclusive old man p>
In the audience, Sterling watched the scene unfold with a cold, unhurried smile. The foolish woman was digging her own grave.
Elsewhere in the crowd, Grayson’s gaze moved rapidly between the impossibly composed Isolde on stage and the manuscript displayed on the screen. A memory struck him like lightning — the scattered papers in the study at home, the ones he had always dismissed as idle scribbling. The handwriting, the equations — they were identical to the Sophia manuscript. An absurd, singular realization detonated in his mind.
Dr. Merrick’s gaze shifted to Isolde, his expression grave. “Ms. Carson, do you have a response p>
Isolde walked calmly to the microphone, her composure a stark contrast to Belle’s frantic outrage.
“Ms. Escobar,” she began, her voice even. “You just said you are certain Sophia is a man p>
“Of course!” Belle snapped. “Only a man could possess such rigorous logical thinking and grand spatial conception p>
Isolde gave a slight shake of her head. “That is not only hopelessly sexist — it is a defect in intelligence p>
The audience gasped.