Chapter 516
Having her award revoked, being permanently blacklisted from the industry, being cursed by the entire internet, and having her reputation completely destroyed p>
Celeste simply couldn’t believe it.
Everything she had spent years meticulously scheming for had shattered effortlessly in the face of Sienna’s innate talent and absolute power.
What drove her mad with jealousy was how entirely calm and unhurried Sienna remained from beginning to end.
She had won with graceful dignity, earning the admiration of everyone present.
Meanwhile, Celeste had been reduced to a global laughingstock—an academic fraud despised by all!
The venue was drowning in condemnation and mockery.
The camera flashes were still aggressively chasing her, but the light had shifted from adoration to judgment.
Celeste lowered her head, hugging her knees and curling into the smallest ball possible.
She looked like a popped balloon, crumpled and discarded on the floor with nothing left.
She desperately wanted to hide from the lenses and the piercing glares.
But it was as if they were doing it on purpose—the more she hid, the closer they shoved their cameras into her face.
“Dr. Vaughan—oh, excuse me, we should call you Ms. Vaughan now. It’s safe to assume you have zero future left in this industry p>
“What was going through your mind when you stepped onto that stage to accept the award p>
“In your previous interviews, you claimed you honed your surgical skills step by step. What do you have to say for yourself now p>
The voices crashed over her like a tidal wave, the microphones practically jabbing into her chin.
People in the back were holding up their phones to livestream, the real-time comments scrolling in an absolute frenzy.
A prestigious summit had devolved into a catastrophic trainwreck broadcast to tens of millions of viewers simultaneously.
Ever since joining the Sterling family, Celeste had been treated like absolute royalty; it had been a long time since she had experienced such a brutal fall from grace.
Her eyes trembled with unshed tears, her face a portrait of pure panic and helplessness.
Her usual silver-tongued excuses and talent for playing the victim had completely short-circuited under the crushing weight of public scrutiny.
Her wheelchair rolled back half a step, bumping into the edge of a nearby table and wobbling dangerously.
Her right hand instinctively grabbed onto the nearest support, which happened to be Helena’s arm.
Helena’s heart was already bleeding for her, and the moment she saw Celeste swarmed by the vultures,
She recklessly shoved her way through the aggressive crowd, rushing to Celeste’s side to defend her.
“Helena p>
Celeste’s voice was thin and shaky, like a string that was about to snap.
“I really… I really didn’t do it on purpose p>
She raised her tear-filled eyes, her face as pale as a sheet, her lips trembling so hard even her eyelashes shook.
She played the image of the innocent girl betrayed by the entire world to absolute perfection.
Every single micro-expression tugged violently at Helena’s heartstrings.
Helena looked furious, but she forced her voice to remain as gentle as possible. “Celeste, you know exactly how important this surgery was for you.
I know you wouldn’t just hand the scalpel over to someone else easily. Did you have someone step in for t you because your hand was genuinely hurting p>
Celeste suddenly snapped her head up.
Her eyes were entirely bloodshot, her face covered in a mess of tears.
But drawing on the final shred of clarity squeezed from her despair, she latched onto the lifeline hidden in that question.
“Helena p>
Celeste sobbed so hard she could barely catch her breath. “I really… I prepared for this for so, so long p>
I studied that patient’s file for over half a month, memorizing every single step of the procedure.
But two days before the summit, my hand hurt so badly I couldn’t even hold a fork.
I went to the hospital, and they diagnosed me with acute strain. They said I needed to rest for at least a month p>
She gripped Helena’s wrist like it was her only salvation.
“I didn’t want to disappoint you all… Grandma pulled so many strings and talked to the organizers just to get me this opportunity.
And you pushed back a board meeting just to come with me… If had fold you I couldn’t do it, it would have humiliated all of us p>