Chapter 124
Wilder's face turned ashen. He spun around, jabbing a finger at the stage, his voice shrill. "This is slander! These so-called 'evidence'—who knows if you fabricated them! Vyratek Tech Group has real substance. Our product—"
"Then show us your product." Lucinda cut him off, her voice ice-cold. "Mr. Howard, didn't you say you've been developing this for over two years? Didn't you say I plagiarized you? Then right now, in front of everyone, bring out your robot and let's compare them side by side."
The hall fell silent.
Every eye turned to Wilder.
His lips trembled. His gaze flickered for a moment. But he quickly straightened his back and waved at his attendants. "Bring out our prototype!"
An attendant carefully lifted a robot from the metal case and placed it on the display table.
The robot's appearance was about seventy or eighty percent similar to "First Light," but the workmanship was far cruder. You could even see rough edges at the seams.
Its head display lit up briefly, emitting a long "beep." Then it went still.
Wilder's brow furrowed. He glanced at the attendant. "Restart it."
The attendant fumbled with the restart button. The robot's head lit up again. This time it moved, but the motions were painfully stiff.
Wilder's expression shifted. He lowered his voice. "Demonstrate basic mobility functions."
The robot took two steps forward. On the third step, it suddenly lost balance. Its entire body pitched forward and crashed onto the display table with a loud "thud."
Someone in the crowd couldn't help but laugh.
Wilder's face went from ashen to crimson. The veins on his forehead bulged. "What's going on? During testing it was clearly—"
"Mr. Howard." Lucinda's voice drifted down from the stage. She couldn't suppress the upward curve of her mouth. "The data you bought from me—I swapped out the core parameters. The product you built from that discarded draft is naturally all trash. The core technology you paid top dollar for was garbage from the start."
Wilder's head snapped up. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "You—you did this on purpose?"
"What else?" Lucinda looked at him, her mouth curving slightly. "Did you think Ridgeway Tech's data was so easy to steal?"
Thunderous applause erupted from the crowd.
This time, no one hesitated. Industry experts in the first row stood up. Potential partners in the second row stood up. Reporters in the back rows rose to their feet.
The applause swelled from scattered claps to a unified roar, filling the entire hall with an emotion that bordered on euphoria.
"Ridgeway Tech is amazing!"
"Well done, Ms. Wipere!"
"Get the data thieves out of here!"
Voices surged from all directions, merging into a massive wave of sound that echoed beneath the hall's dome.
Wilder stood frozen in place, his expression like he'd been slapped hard across the face.
Behind him, his attendants kept their heads down, wishing they could disappear into the floor.
Just then, the side door of the hall swung open again. Four uniformed police officers strode in. "Mr. Howard? You're suspected of corporate espionage. Please come with us for questioning."
Wilder's legs buckled. He stumbled back two steps. An attendant caught him before he could fall. His hands were shaking. His voice was shaking. "I need to contact my lawyer… I need to contact the embassy—"
"You can say whatever you need to say at the station."
Handcuffs clicked shut. The metallic sound rang out crisp and clear in the quiet hall.
Wilder was led away. His attendants followed behind, clutching the broken robot. The entire group slunk out through the side door.
The applause in the hall grew even fiercer. Gaia ran out from backstage, tears streaming down her face no matter how many times she wiped them away.
She ran up to Lucinda. Her lips trembled for a long moment. Finally, she squeezed out a single sentence. "Ms. Wipere, we won…"
Lucinda looked at her tear-streaked, laughing face and gave her shoulder a light pat. "We won. Now get back to work."
At the same time, on the other end of Starlight City, at the top floor of the Douglas Group headquarters.
Manuel stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office. The television screen in front of him was broadcasting the launch event live.
He watched Lucinda stand onstage, calmly exposing Wilder's lies. He watched Wilder's robot embarrass itself in front of everyone. He watched the police take Wilder away. He watched the entire hall rise to its feet in applause.
The corner of his mouth slowly curved upward. A faint smile became a broad grin. Then he laughed out loud.
His assistant stood nearby, mouth hanging open.
He'd worked for Manuel for five years. He'd never seen his boss laugh like this.
"Mr. Douglas…" the assistant ventured cautiously.
"Notify Finance. In the name of headquarters, issue a five-million-dollar bonus to Lucinda Wipere of Ridgeway Tech personally." Manuel's voice still carried traces of laughter, but his tone left no room for argument. "Tell them headquarters fully commends her outstanding crisis management."
The assistant froze. "F-five million dollars?"
"Yes. Do it now."
The assistant turned and headed for the door. When he reached it, he couldn't help glancing back.
Manuel still stood by the window, his gaze fixed on the slender, upright figure on the screen. The pride in his eyes was impossible to hide.
In Ridgeway Tech's lounge, Lucinda's phone buzzed.
She glanced down. A bank notification.
Five million dollars. Sender: The Douglas Group Headquarters.
She stared at the notification for two seconds. Her mouth twitched. She slipped the phone back into her pocket without giving it much thought.
As far as she was concerned, this was probably just her parents finding another way to shove money at her. No different from all those houses, companies, and grocery stores before.
She brushed the thought aside and pushed open the lounge door.
The hallway was already packed. People from the tech department, marketing department, admin department—everyone was there, faces lit up with the exhilaration of having survived a disaster.
Gaia stood at the front, eyes still red, but grinning like a kid.
Lucinda looked at them. She was silent for two seconds. Then she raised her phone and showed them the notification. "Headquarters issued a five-million-dollar bonus."
The hallway went instantly quiet.
"I'm not keeping this five million. It's going to be distributed as bonuses to every single employee in the company. We'll allocate it based on project contribution. Finance, submit the distribution plan tomorrow."
After a beat of silence, the hallway erupted in deafening cheers.
"Ms. Wipere is incredible!"
"I never thought I'd work at a company like this—"
"It's not the company. It's the boss! Working for Ms. Wipere is worth it!"
Lucinda leaned against the hallway wall, watching the smiling faces in front of her. The corner of her mouth curved slightly.
Someone pushed their way to the front, voice trembling with excitement. "Ms. Wipere, you didn't just save the company this time—you completely crushed the competition. 'Turning the tide'—that's exactly what people like you do!"