Chapter 136
Allegra withdrew her gaze, straightening her back even more.
Vyratek Tech Group's presentation might not have been great, but at least her team had stood on that stage.
Lucinda, on the other hand, didn't even have the qualifications to get up there.
When Ridgeway Tech's turn came, she wanted to see what kind of decent material that woman—who'd only gotten in by latching onto men—could possibly present.
When the experts in the audience left her speechless, let's see how she'd keep up the act.
At that thought, Allegra's mouth curved into a cruel smile. She crossed her arms, leaned back in her chair, and kept her gaze locked on Lucinda, waiting to watch her humiliate herself.
Soon, Vyratek Tech Group's presentation ended to lukewarm applause.
Allegra walked off the stage in her high heels, that polished smile still on her face, but her fingers gripped the folder so tightly her knuckles turned white.
Before long, the host announced the next name. "Ridgeway Tech, Gaia Fisher."
Gaia's body went rigid. She turned her head toward Lucinda, her voice tight. "Ms. Wipere…"
"Go on. Be bold." Lucinda's voice was firm. "You know your material better than anyone."
Gaia took a deep breath and stood up from her seat.
She picked up the stack of technical documents Lucinda had revised. She glanced down at the first page. Those clean, precise notes sat quietly in the margins, like they were there to give her courage.
She steadied her breathing and walked toward the stage.
When the spotlight hit her, her heart pounded like it was about to burst from her chest.
She stood behind the podium, her finger resting on the clicker, her gaze sweeping over the sea of faces below.
But even in front of so many people, the first person she saw was Lucinda.
She sat in the third row. White shirt. Black slacks. Expression calm. But those eyes were watching her. She gave a slight nod.
Receiving Lucinda's affirmation, Gaia's fingers steadied.
She flipped to the first slide. Her voice came through the microphone, steadier than she'd expected. "Hello, everyone. I'm Gaia Fisher from Ridgeway Tech. Today, I'm presenting the core technical proposal for our team's latest intelligent control system—'First Light.'"
The first set of data appeared on the screen.
She went through the document page by page. At first, she was still a little nervous, speaking a bit too quickly. But by the third page, she found herself hitting her stride.
The phrasing she'd agonized over for days, trying to perfect—Lucinda's revisions had elevated it to another level. Every sentence landed precisely where it needed to.
By the fifth page, people in the audience started sitting up straighter.
By the eighth page, a white-haired expert in the front row took off his glasses and leaned closer to the screen, studying something intently.
By the twelfth page, no one was looking at their phones anymore.
Every gaze was glued to the screen. Eyes gleaming.
"In terms of load balancing, we've adopted a new fractal iterative architecture—"
Gaia flipped to the next slide. This was the page Lucinda had revised the most.
The original version had been clunky here. She'd pulled all-nighters over it and still felt it wasn't clear enough.
But the version now displayed on the screen was concise, sharp. Every logical node fit together seamlessly.
Someone in the audience gasped.
"So it can be done like that…"
A researcher blurted out, eyes shining.
Gaia continued, her voice growing steadier.
When she reached the final slide, the audience erupted in enthusiastic applause.
She stood on stage, looking at the faces she'd only ever seen in the news, now clapping for her. Her eyes stung slightly.
The host walked onto the stage with the microphone, unable to suppress the excitement in his voice. "Thank you, Ms. Fisher, for that brilliant presentation. We'll now move to the Q&A session."
The moment he finished speaking, the white-haired expert in the front row raised his hand first.
He took the microphone, his voice trembling slightly. "Ms. Fisher, I'd like to ask—what inspired you to develop this fractal iterative architecture? I've been researching this field for thirty years, and I've never seen this approach before."
Gaia's fingers tightened slightly on the podium. Her gaze unconsciously drifted toward the third row.
Lucinda was looking down at her phone, seemingly indifferent to what was happening on stage.
"This approach… was developed through repeated deliberation by our team." Gaia's voice steadied. She didn't say the name, but the pride in her chest grew stronger.
The expert nodded and followed up with a few more technical questions. Gaia answered each one.
With every answer, the audience grew quieter.
When the Q&A ended, before the host could even speak, someone in the audience stood up.
"Ms. Gaia Fisher, we're from Aetheris Tech. We'd like to discuss a partnership with your company!"
"We're from MindSpring Tech. Could we schedule a time to talk in detail?"
"Ms. Fisher, we've been following Ridgeway Tech's First Light robot. We had no idea the core technical proposal was this solid…"
Voices surged from all directions. Gaia was surrounded on stage, her hands filled with business cards, her ears flooded with words like "partnership," "talk," and "schedule a time."
She felt a little overwhelmed and instinctively looked toward Lucinda.
Seeing that she couldn't handle it, Lucinda slowly stood up from her seat.
Under the gaze of everyone present, she walked step by step to the edge of the stage and spoke softly. "All partnership inquiries should be directed to the research institute's external liaison department. Specific contact information will be announced shortly."
Someone in the crowd recognized her. Their voice dropped a few notches. "Is that Ridgeway Tech's president? The one in her early twenties who rooted out all the company's corruption shortly after taking over?"
"Yeah, that's her. I heard that when a foreign company tried to steal their data, she handed them a fake draft and made them suffer massive losses."
"She's that young? She looks younger than my daughter…"
"Young, yes. But her skills are real. Everyone in the industry's seen how much Ridgeway Tech has turned around in the past few months."
Allegra stood in the corner of the venue, still clutching the stack of undistributed materials.
She watched from a distance as Lucinda and Gaia were surrounded on stage. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could see the expressions on those people's faces.
Those well-known industry experts were now gathered around those two women, their faces full of ingratiating smiles.
Seeing this, Allegra's resentment deepened.
That bitch stole the spotlight again!
What gives her the right?
Allegra bit her lip. Her chest felt like it was stuffed with a stone.
She took a deep breath, swallowed down the bitterness rising in her throat, and forced a cruel smile.
What's so great about it?
It's just because she's got a powerful backer, isn't it?
If it weren't for that man supporting Lucinda, giving her resources, what could she accomplish?
A woman who never even went to college—what does she know about core technology?
She's just riding on a man's coattails!
She watched Lucinda being escorted toward the lounge by the crowd, her eyes filled with hatred so thick it couldn't be dissolved.
'Just wait. One day, that backer of yours will get bored and kick you to the curb. Let's see how smug you'll be then! When that happens, you'll die worse than anyone!'
At that thought, she turned around and walked toward the side exit of the venue in her high heels.