Chapter 88 She Did Not Mention Him
Daisy stood on stage, unsure whether she had heard correctly.
The audience fell silent for a moment before erupting into hushed whispers.
You have to understand that Professor Morgan was a leading expert in nanomaterials. Countless people had tried desperately to get into his lab but failed. Now he was publicly recruiting her, offering no less than triple the salary.
At today's competition, this announcement was more shocking than any ranking result.
"Why so quiet?" Professor Morgan chuckled. "Right, I was too abrupt. After today, I'll send you a formal job offer. I hope you'll seriously consider it."
That brought Daisy back to reality. She instinctively glanced down at the audience.
Ethan watched her with eager anticipation.
Daisy shot him a reassuring glance before bowing to Professor Morgan. "Thank you, I really appreciate your kind offer, but I can't accept."
Professor Morgan seemed surprised. "Why not?"
Daisy smiled. "Because I still have an unfinished project. I can't just abandon it."
"Besides, Mr. Reed isn't just my senior colleague—he helped me when I was at my lowest. He was the one who insisted I enter this competition, despite everyone's objections. I can't disappoint him."
Professor Morgan chuckled. "Such loyalty and integrity. Very well—I respect your decision."
A ripple of applause began in the audience, quickly swelling as others joined in.
Daisy bowed once more before stepping off the stage.
Ethan approached her, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Sorry about that earlier. I lost control of my emotions."
Daisy gave his shoulder a light, reassuring pat. "Why apologize to me? Anyone would've panicked in that situation."
As they spoke, the judges began deliberating over the final rankings.
Daisy stood backstage, listening as the host announced the names one by one.
The third place went to a project from Black Group.
Second place...
"Second place, Daisy, Reed Corporation."
The audience erupted into applause.
Daisy had thought that something put together so hastily would be lucky to place at all. As the host called out names without mentioning hers, her hopes gradually began to fade.
She hadn't even dared to dream of placing in the top three.
But when she heard she had placed second, a wave of pure joy washed over her.
Second place! It was more than she had ever hoped for! Reed Corporation's main rival had only placed fifth this time—they had clearly left them behind.
Even when facing Noah after she returned, she could hold her head high.
Daisy and Ethan stepped forward happily to receive their award. Neither of them knew that this second place ranking came after the judges had argued extensively.
Professor Morgan had originally wanted to rank Daisy's proposal first, but two judges disagreed—not out of any personal grudge, of course.
The issue was that her proposal's data wasn't complete enough. She'd gotten this ranking entirely on the strength of her bold approach. That was also where the points were deducted.
Daisy and Ethan exchanged delighted smiles. Ethan joked, "Go on then. Don't forget to thank me properly—I enjoy hearing it."
Daisy gave him a "just you wait" look and quickly walked onto the stage to receive the heavy trophy.
The spotlight hit her, bright and hot, almost too bright to keep her eyes open.
"Ms. Hart, please give your acceptance speech," the host said, passing her the microphone.
Daisy gripped the microphone and stood on stage, looking at the sea of people below. She took a deep breath and slowly said:
"First, I want to thank the organizers for putting together this competition. It let me meet so many colleagues in the field and really showed me there's always someone better out there."
"Honestly, this result was completely unexpected. I have to thank Mr. Reed again—thank you for giving me this opportunity despite the pressure. I'm glad I didn't let down your trust and expectations."
"Finally, I want to thank my lab colleagues. I could only enter this competition because of their support and hard work behind me. So this trophy is half theirs too!"
The audience responded with good-natured laughter.
Ethan laughed too. He held up his phone and recorded Daisy's entire acceptance speech.
As she bowed to the audience while holding the trophy, Daisy's eyes unconsciously scanned the crowd.
She saw people from Black Group and recognized a few familiar faces, but didn't see Vincent.
Had he already left?
She looked away and slowly walked off stage amid applause and flowers.
In a corner below the stage, Vincent leaned against the wall, staring at the stage without blinking.
He watched Daisy standing in the spotlight, holding her trophy, her smile so beautiful, so captivating.
She thanked many people, but not him—didn't even mention him.
He suddenly remembered many years ago, not long after she'd married him, when her career wasn't completely cut off yet.
That day she came home very late. He was sitting in the living room reviewing documents when she pushed the door open, holding a trophy, her face flushed red from the wind.
"Vince, look, I won an award!" She ran over excitedly, holding the trophy up to him. "First place! Aren't I amazing?"
What had he been doing then? He couldn't remember. Maybe he'd said something discouraging, or maybe he'd completely ignored her. He'd forgotten her expression too.
Thinking back now, that was probably the last time she'd shared her achievements with him. Gradually after that, she barely talked to him at all.
He'd thought she would always be there, like the sofa in the living room, the dishes in the kitchen, the ironed shirts in the closet... always silently there, completely unremarkable.
Only after she was gone did he realize she wasn't a sofa, wasn't dishes, wasn't a shirt.
She was Daisy.
Vincent sighed softly, unable to help wondering—what if Vanessa hadn't come back from abroad?
Would Daisy standing on that stage have thanked him too? And Luna?
The hallway was very quiet, the lights harsh and white, making him look pale too.
He took out his phone and called a number.
"Dylan, contact the organizers for me. I need the surveillance footage from backstage today. Yes, all of it, especially the contestants' prep area."
The person on the other end acknowledged and hung up.
Vincent stood in the hallway waiting. After about an hour, a middle-aged man in a security uniform hurried over. "Mr. Black, we found the surveillance footage you wanted."
Vincent followed him into the monitoring room.
The screen showed footage from the preparation area frame by frame.
He clearly saw Daisy enter, sit down, check her materials. At one point she went to the restroom and asked a cleaning staff member to watch her computer.
But right after she left, that staff member looked around, pulled a USB drive from his pocket and plugged it into the computer. In less than three minutes, he pocketed the drive and walked away with his head down.
Vincent stared at the man's face, his brow furrowed. "Who is this person?"