Chapter 104
Chapter 104:
Then she turned away and continued walking toward the front row of the Core Scientific seating area.
Cole stood frozen at the velvet rope.
His breathing was harsh and uneven, the blood pounding in his ears so loudly it swallowed the ambient noise of the hall. He stared at the empty space where June had just been walking.
Alycia rushed up behind him and seized his arm, her nails biting into the fabric of his suit jacket. “She faked it!” she hissed, her voice trembling with desperate denial. “Cole, Silas must have printed a fake badge to get her in. She is just trying to embarrass you p>
Cole said nothing. The sick, heavy dread in his stomach was expanding by the second.
From his seat, Declan let out a low, quiet laugh.
The main lights in the hall dimmed. The massive LED screens flanking the stage blazed to life, displaying the crest of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. A current of excitement swept through the room, and every CEO and investor rose to their feet.
𝖳𝘩𝗲 𝖻𝘦𝘀𝘁 r𝖾𝘃𝗂𝘦𝘸𝘀 on
The entrance doors swung open.
A frail but razor-sharp Asian man with pure silver hair walked into the hall, encircled by a tight ring of bodyguards and summit organizers. Dr. Zhang — the absolute authority of the neuro-blocking field — had arrived.
Alycia’s eyes lit up with immediate, manic calculation. A single photograph of herself speaking to Dr. Zhang would make her famous overnight. She released Cole’s arm, gathered the heavy fabric of her red gown, and all but sprinted down the aisle, shouldering past two junior analysts. She broke through the outer edge of the crowd and planted herself directly in Dr. Zhang’s path, flashing her most practiced, luminous smile.
“Dr. Zhang!” she called out in bright, projected English. “I am Alycia Beasley from the Ivy League medical program. It is such an honor to p>
Dr. Zhang did not blink. He did not slow his pace by a fraction of a second. His eyes passed through Alycia as though she were a pane of dirty glass.
Two bodyguards stepped forward without a word. They raised their arms and shoved her out of the path with blunt, physical force.
Alycia let out a sharp yelp. Her heel twisted violently beneath her, and she crashed hard into the side of a metal folding chair, collapsing to the floor in a heap of red fabric.
A ripple of low, mocking laughter moved through the nearby investors.
Dr. Zhang paid no attention to the fallen woman. His sharp eyes traveled across the hall until they found the front row of the Core Scientific section.
They found the white suit.
The old man’s eyes filled with tears. He pushed past the summit chairman and walked quickly toward the front row.
June stood. She turned around.
When she saw her mentor’s silver hair, the cold mask finally broke. Her eyes turned red at the corners.
In front of three thousand of the most powerful people in the medical world, the untouchable Nobel laureate opened his arms and pulled June into a fierce, tight embrace.