Chapter 261
The event organizers turned to look at Lucia after hearing what Talia said.
A
Jocelyn jabbed something into Lucia’s lower back, and Lucia immediately straightened up, shooting a quick glance at Audrey.
But when Lucia saw the way Audrey’s clear, piercing eyes seemed to read her like a book, she quickly looked away.
Keith tried to step in, b
,but Talia blocked him with a folder.
He was tom up inside, thinking, Talia knows full well she was in the wrong if she would just apologize sincerely, this whole thing could be over. But no Her pride won’t let her.
After getting embarrassed like that, she’s definitely looking to even the score
‘Once this all settles down and everyone leaves, I’ll make sure she apologizes to Audrey. For now, Audrey will just have to bear with it. I’ll explain everything to Yann myself!
One of the organizers asked, “is what she said true?”
Lucia slowly pulled the USB drive from her bag and handed it over. She kept her head down, avoiding Audrey’s eyes as she muttered, “A few days ago, 1 was having coffee with Talia… and we ran into Audrey on the way out
“Thad forgotten my wallet when I was shopping a while back, and Ms. Price helped cover the cost. That day, I was just trying to pay her back.
“Audrey knew I was on good terms with Ms. Price, so she gave me a USB drive and told me it would install a virus as long as I could plug it into Ms. Price’s laptop.”
“Ms. Price runs a rival company. Audrey she… She was afraid of getting outshined by her, so she asked me to help.”
The remaining companies who hadn’t left yet all crowded closer. As Lucia’s confession sank in, the entire room erupted.
Someone thought, ‘Oh, no wonder Flex Tech Group claimed their laptop had issues. It was all to stall until StellarCore went first, just so they could turn around and accuse them of plagiarism to get them kicked out of the competition.
No wonder Audrey used a different laptop when she went on stage, and her colleague, who was arguing with her just a moment before, suddenly turned friendly. Everything lines up now.
‘Unbelievable. That’s some seriously shady stuff just to frame another company, and they only made it to fifth place. If StellarCore had been allowed to compete fairly, FlexiTech probably wouldn’t have even made the cut
The voices of the crowd grew louder, and the way people were looking at Flea Tech Group was laced with venom.
They y believed that while StellarCore had faced plagiarism accusations in the past, it still didn’t give others the right to target them like this. After all, no company’s record was perfectly clean
If every misstep became a reason for ruthless retaliation, the entire industry would be living under a blade waiting to drop.
Audrey glanced around and immediately caught the defiance in Talia’s eyes, the guilt clouding Keith’s, and the way Lucia’s hands trembled as she clutched her bag
Someone in the crowd shouted, “We deserve an explanation this!”
Another chimed in, “That’s right. We want answers!
And another asked, “You’re seriously expecting us to live in fear while companies like this pull shady moves behind our backs?”
With that, the three members of FlexiTech Group found themselves surrounded. The event organisers tried to step in and protect them, but they were
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Chapter 261
vastly outnumbered.
Left with no other choice, someone managed to push their way out of the mob and returned with a headset mic, finally restoring some order in the
room.
One of the event organizers turned to Audrey and said, “You go ahead.”
She took the mic, held it to her mouth, and said, “I already gave you a chance, Talia. If you had just apologized, I would have let you off easy. But since you insisted on digging your own grave, don’t blame me for burying you.”
With that, Audrey pulled out the laptop
top with the shield logo and powered it on.
The moment Talia heard the familiar startup sound, her expression shifted instantly.
She wondered in shock, “Wait, wasn’t that laptop supposed to be broken? How is it turning on now?
Audrey took the USB drive from the organizers, one that Lucia had handed over, and plugged it into the laptop
Talia’s eyes flickered at the sight. Something occurred to her, but she quickly dismissed it and shook her head without realizing it
She thought, “The virus i planted on that USB should wipe the main data from the laptop in under three minutes.
And besides, Audrey wasn’t even there during those three minutes. For my laptop to catch the virus just from syncing data alone was already impressive. There’s no way it could’ve done anything else.
Lucia looked like she was about to bolt for the bathroom, but Jocelyn stood right behind her, blocking any escape.
Jocelyn even leaned in and warned in a low voice, “As long as you bring Audrey down in front of everyone, Ms. Price will make sure you stay safe.”
Before long, Audrey turned her laptop screen toward the event organizers.
On the screen was a video of Lucia sitting alone in front of a laptop, Her panicked, uneasy expression made it clear she was doing something she desperately didn’t want Audrey to find out. That alone was enough to prove Lucia had been lying
The organizers glanced at Lucia and then motioned for Audrey
to continue.
Audrey tapped a few keys, and the screen changed. This time, it was showing Talia sitting in front of the laptop.
She hit the audio button, and Talia’s smug voice played through the speakers. “I didn’t expect Audrey’s team to be this good, but too bad for her she had to go up against me.”
A man standing behind Talia pointed at the screen. “This content is really well done. And this code right here? if we use it, it’ll take our whole project to the next level.”
I’ll let you take over, Talia said, standing up to let the man sit at the laptop.
She glanced just off camera and said, “I really have to thank you for throwing your own family under the bus. Once this goes through, recommend you for a position at the charity association, Mrs. Windred.”
Lucia was on the other side of the laptop, out of frame, but her voice came through loud and clear. “I don’t care about that. Audrey has ambition, but not enough skill. You should teach her a thing or two when you get the chance.”
Talia looked down at the man working the laptop and smiled,” she’s willing to ask me for guidance, I’ll gladly give her everythin, Randy is going to regret not choosing me once he hears flexTech Group got eliminated.”
At that, the crowd who had been glaring at Audrey just moments ago now turned to stare at Talia.
- w. Oh, I wonder if
Someone in the crowd thought “She was just in there chenying everything like her life depended on it. And now? They’ve got her on video and audio solid proat. Let’s see how she talks her way out of the
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Chapter 261
real.” Talia couldn’t accept what she was seeing. “What is this? This can’t be
She tried to make sense of it all pondering. It was just a USB drive. How could it have turned on the camera and recorded both video and sound! What kind of trick did Audrey pull?”
Audrey calmly said, “Mrs. Lucia Winifred was right about one thing. When Talia invited her out for coffee, I had a bad feeling. After that, my team and came up with a plan to lure them in.
“Randy is one of our lead tech engineers. He pre–installed a reactive virus in my laptop, along with a program that activated the camera and microphone.”
With a freezing stare, Audrey glanced at Lucia, who looked completely drained of color. The look sent a sharp chill down her spine, and Lucia trembled uncontrollably.
Suddenly, Lucia pointed at Talia and blurted out, “It was Talia! She forced me into this. She told me the USB drive would crash Audrey’s laptop so she could present first.
“She threatened me just now too. She said I would be treated as an accomplice if I didn’t help her frame Audrey. I had no idea any of this was happening. She made me do it!”
Talia tried to defend herself. “You’re making this up!”
But one of the organizers cut her off, barking. “That’s enough. The evidence is clear, Stellar Core is barred from all Smart Tech Expo for the next five years.”
The moment those words landed, it was like all of Talia’s pride drained from her body. She swayed on her feet, barely able to stay upright.
Keith caught hef just in time. His expression was a mix of frustration and heartache. He looked at Audrey with resignation in his eyes. “Audrey…”
