Chapter 108: Because She Trusts Him
The area code showed this was a local Seaside City number, and it wasn't flagged as spam. Someone was definitely trying to reach Isabella.
After Richard unlocked the phone and glanced at it, he wondered what could be so urgent that someone would call this persistently, determined to get Isabella to answer.
Richard's finger hovered over the screen, hesitating whether to call back.
But ultimately, he pulled his hand away and slipped the phone back into his pocket.
Isabella had only asked him to hold her phone, not handle her calls. Following his principle of avoiding unnecessary complications, Richard decided not to return the call.
But after barely ten seconds of silence, the phone rang again.
Richard's patience finally snapped. He swiped to answer the call.
He was genuinely curious about who would be this desperate to reach Isabella at such a critical moment.
"Isabella, you finally picked up! I was going crazy with worry!" Laura's voice came through crystal clear from the other end.
Richard instantly recognized the voice—William's new girlfriend.
From their quiet VIP section, William also identified that familiar voice.
Richard's lips curved into a slight smile as he pulled the phone away from his ear, placed it between himself and William, and switched it to speaker.
William noticed Richard was holding Isabella's phone.
Just as he was about to demand an explanation, Laura's voice continued.
"Listen, I just got a call from the kindergarten saying something happened to Nathan at school. I can't get there right now—could you please go check on him? I'm really worried something serious happened to Nathan. I'm out of options here, so I had to bother you."
Despite getting no response, Laura continued her performance on the other end.
Richard's eyes narrowed slightly as his gaze shifted to Isabella, who was concentrating intensely on her competition on stage.
It was easy to imagine what would happen if Isabella heard this call.
"Ms. Capulet is competing. I'll send someone to the kindergarten immediately," Richard suddenly spoke up.
Hearing a man's voice clearly caught Laura off guard.
Her mind raced, quickly remembering Richard, who had been constantly by Isabella's side.
"Oh, Mr. Spencer," Laura laughed awkwardly, "but the school said they need a family member present. Otherwise I could just send anyone to handle it. Could you please help me reach Isabella? The kindergarten seemed pretty urgent about it."
Laura rambled on with more excuses.
But Richard wasn't buying any of her reasoning. He ruthlessly exposed her: "How convenient that this happens today of all days? I thought you were unemployed now—how could you not have time to handle a simple kindergarten issue?"
Laura was momentarily speechless, clearly unsure how to respond to Richard's pointed question.
"You're watching the competition right now, aren't you?"
"I am not!" Laura protested vehemently.
But her defensive tone only made her sound more guilty.
Richard didn't care whether Laura was being deliberately disruptive. He chuckled coldly, "Today's competition is livestreamed online, as you well know. Ms. Capulet is on stage competing, and you've been calling repeatedly with the obvious intention of disrupting her."
"Unfortunately for you, Ms. Capulet's phone is with me."
With that, Richard hung up and promptly blocked the number.
After smoothly pocketing the phone, Richard looked up at William with a slight smile. "Those weren't the words of just anyone. Do you still think that little girlfriend of yours is some innocent, naive woman?"
Anyone who'd been around their circles had seen all types of women. Richard couldn't believe William was naive enough to miss Laura's true nature.
A flash of coldness crossed William's face.
But his gaze quickly refocused on Richard. "Why do you have Isabella's phone?"
"Because Isabella trusts me, of course!"
Richard could see perfectly well that William was deliberately pretending ignorance. He chuckled and raised an eyebrow provocatively.
Only after handling Laura's call did Richard notice the competition had reached the final stage of the second round.
The contestants had basically finished their texture work, and their videos were beginning to take shape.
Isabella's vote count was climbing steadily, rocketing into third place.
First place was still held by Summit Holdings Corporation, and while Isabella's votes fluctuated, she remained stuck in third—not rising, not falling.
At this rate, forget about winning—even second place would be difficult.
Richard couldn't help but worry for Isabella.
This competition meant everything to her dignity.
Winning or losing would determine whether she could turn the tables on William.
The stakes couldn't be higher for her.
Under the spotlight, the competition entered its third and final round.
The voting devices on the right side of each seat lit up.
The host announced excitedly: "Everyone can see that online voting enthusiasm has been incredibly high, so we're announcing a new rule for the final round—all audience members present now have voting rights as well!"
"Please vote for who you believe deserves to be this competition's champion!"
To increase the spectacle, the contestants also faced an upgraded challenge—the originally planned time for the third round was cut in half!
The atmosphere instantly became electric.
Isabella heard the contestant next to her curse and slam his keyboard in frustration: "Are they insane? Half the time? What kind of superhuman could possibly finish?"
"This is impossible. Are the organizers complete idiots?"
Despite their complaints, no one stopped working.
For every participant, winning represented enormous prestige.
Placing well in such an elite competition would be a standout achievement on any résumé.
It would significantly help their future job prospects and career advancement.
Isabella flexed her somewhat stiff wrists.
Fortunately, her earlier planning had been thorough. By the time the third round began, all her texture work was complete, leaving only the final rendering and system checks.
Isabella had approached each step methodically, so despite initially falling behind, she ended up being the first to complete her work!
When Isabella announced to the host that she had finished, everyone around her gasped.
So there really were superhumans after all!