Chapter 108 Street Kinetic

Chapter 108 Street Kinetic
Elizabeth’s POV:

I knew exactly how much this project meant to Talon; it was his one real shot to prove his worth to his father and, more importantly, to Jaxon. But from the skeptical edge in Jaxon’s tone earlier, I could sense that something was fundamentally wrong with whatever Talon was about to present.
I leaned closer to Jaxon, whispering, “If you think his project isn’t any good, then why didn’t you try to help him fix it?”
Jaxon shot me a look of pure confusion, frowning as if I’d just told him it was pouring rain, even though the sun outside was hot enough to skin a chicken.
I pouted and decided it was better to stay quiet. He went back to scrolling through his phone, and it wasn’t long before Caleb walked in accompanied by Aunt Camille.
She offered me a warm smile before taking the seat next to me. “Where is Tina?” I asked.
She had been so adamant about being here for Talon, so where had she disappeared to?
“She ran into a friend outside,” Aunt Camille whispered back.
“Do you know anything about Talon’s project?” I asked. She shook her head, indicating she was just as much in the dark as I was.
She was about to say something else when a booming voice echoed through the hall. A man in a sharp black suit stepped up to the podium and gave a brief introductory speech, welcoming the investors and specifically acknowledging the President of the Sinclair Group. When I glanced at Jaxon, he just sat there, staring blankly at the man who clearly expected him to stand and acknowledge the greeting.
The first presenters were a group of college students pitching an app for second-hand products, as if there weren't already a thousand identical platforms on the market.
I listened as several investors tore their idea apart while others simply laughed at the redundancy. My hands grew clammy as I thought of Talon; I needed him to be better than this. He had to be.

“Now, let’s welcome a project team from Sinclair Group—Talon Sinclair.”
I started clapping excitedly, only to stop abruptly when I realized I was the only person in the entire auditorium making a sound. I felt dozens of gazes turn toward me. Then, I felt Jaxon’s hand on my head; he tapped me gently, and when I looked at him, he was chuckling softly. He gave a subtle nod toward the podium.
I pouted, feeling a wave of embarrassment wash over me, but the moment I locked eyes with Talon, I forgot everything else. He stood on stage with two men and a woman. His gaze found mine instantly, those soft, caring eyes still fixed on me. He gave me the kind of reassuring smile that always had a way of making my day.
For a fleeting second, I’d worried that the tension in the car before the yacht party might have ruined things between us, but I was wrong.
We were rock solid.
The massive screen behind him flickered to life, displaying the title: STREET KINETIC.
Talon began to gesture broadly, his voice picking up confidence. “This project utilizes kinetic floor plates installed in high-traffic urban areas. The footsteps of pedestrians generate immediate, renewable electricity...” I tried my absolute best to focus on the technical details, even though most of the vocabulary was entirely new to me.
Every few minutes, I leaned toward Jaxon to ask the meaning of a term. Surprisingly, he answered every single time without losing his patience, and I found myself actually liking this side of him.
Talon continued for another ten minutes, concluding with a bold assurance that the project had maintained a hundred percent success rate during its early testing phases.
When he finished, the silence that followed was as thick and suffocating as syrup.
Finally, a man cleared his throat from behind us. I turned my head so fast I thought my neck might snap. A foreign investor, likely French, sitting in the third row leaned into his microphone.
“Monsieur Sinclair… I have just one question.” He cleared his throat again, and I wondered if he was actually fighting a cold or if he just enjoyed the dramatic tension. “What happens in November?” My brows furrowed in confusion. What on earth did the month of November have to do with kinetic energy?
I looked at Talon, who blinked, looking equally lost. “I… I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
“In November, the weather turns. People wear thick, heavy boots, and they walk significantly less,” the man explained, a smug smirk playing on his lips as if he were incredibly proud of the observation.
When Talon tried to find his voice to counter, the man cut him off. “You made no mention of storage capacity, so I can only assume the system will eventually choke on its own generated heat.”
“It’s like glitter,” another woman added from the side, a few people chuckling at her remark. “It shines beautifully, but it has no practical use.”
I looked at Aunt Camille; she looked just as sick and nervous as I felt.
The criticism kept coming, wave after wave of it, and Talon just stood there. I watched the color slowly drain from his face until he looked ghostly pale. His gaze flickered to mine, and I tried to send him a comforting smile, but he quickly shifted his eyes to Jaxon. But leave it to Jaxon to just sit there with a look of total nonchalance, acting as if Talon wasn't there representing his own family’s company.
“Thank you, Mr. Sinclair,” the moderator said awkwardly, sensing the tension. “Next, representing Voltex, we have Caleb Thorne.”
Talon seemed to freeze in place as Caleb stood up. My eyes widened as I watched Caleb make his way toward the podium.
“What?” I muttered under my breath. I had no idea Jaxon was sending a second team, but then again, he managed two separate companies; it made sense to have a representative from each.
Caleb plugged in a separate device while Talon and his team shuffled to the side of the stage. The screen illuminated the new project name, and for a moment, I felt like the floor was falling out from under me.
STREET KINETIC 2.0
I watched in stunned silence as Caleb began to present the exact same project as Talon—but with every single solution to the concerns the investors had just pointed out. He even made a witty joke about the "November problem," and to my horror, Jaxon actually chuckled, while his younger brother stood just a few feet away, utterly humiliated.

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