Chapter 154

As Daphne approached Miles, Hannah's forehead creased. This girl was actually Miles's sister?

Felix promptly moved forward to clarify, "Mr.Whitaker, there's been a complete misunderstanding."

Miles directed his attention toward Hannah. "Can you tell me what transpired?"

"I told her to get out, and she wouldn't-then she hit me!" Daphne omitted every detail and zeroed in on her accusation.

Hannah refused to be wrongfully accused. She advanced and stated without emotion, "Mr. Whitaker,your sister labeled me as someone who survives by attaching herself to men. I felt insulted and struck her." "I wasn't wrong!" Daphne clutched Miles's arm, her voice petulant. "Someone like her has no business being in an event this important. Just kick her out already!"

Miles's expression hardened as he answered, "No."

That one word instantly drained the color from both

Daphne's and Brinley's faces. Even Miles stood behind Hannah now? What kind of manipulation had she used to sway someone like him?

Brinley pierced Hannah with a hateful look, silently seething.

Daphne protested, "Why not?"

"She's Nova Tech's co-founder.Her name is officially listed," Miles answered nonchalantly, though the revelation sent a ripple through the room.

Felix decided to make it known to all. "Hannah is indeed Nova Tech's co-founder. She's only been out of sight due to private reasons."

Vincent's forehead tensed minutely. Eight years together, and never once had Hannah mentioned her connection to Nova Tech. What else had she been hiding from him?

Daphne stamped a foot, still defiant. "Regardless,she hit me! That's a fact! She needs to say sorry."

"I will say I'm sorry," Hannah respoonded coolly, "but only if you apologize to me first for the rudeness and offensive comments." Then, she turned in Miles's direction. "Mr. Whitaker, don't you think that's reasonable?"

"Yeah," Miles responded with a neutral tone.

"Miles!" Daphne's voice cracked with emotion. "I'm not going to say sorry to her!" She spun and fled in tears.

Brinley cast one last spiteful stare toward Hannah before leaving after Daphne.

Miles paid his sister no heed and stated, "Everyone,thirty minutes remain for the presentation."

The crowd began to scatter as the participants returned to fine-tune their proposals.

"Right this way, Mr. Jones." Miles motioned toward the judging area.

"No need. I trust your evaluation," Vincent said,casually settling elsewhere.

Miles didn't press it.

Back when Miles was starting from scratch,the market hadn't had much faith in Al development.Raising capital had been tremendously difficult. That was until he approached Vincent. Though Vincent had originally declined, he'd later reconsidered and backed the venture personally. That pivotal funding had allowed VitraMind to scale rapidly. With that,Vincent had become one of VitraMind's original stakeholders.

With half an hour to go, Hannah stepped into the restroom to freshen up and refocus. As she returned,a familiar voice-Brinley's-caught her attention,along with a second one that sparked recognition.She couldn't quite identify it. Believing it to be another messy episode with one of Brinley's former partners, Hannah saw no reason to stick around. But their next words stopped her in her tracks.

Brinley said, "Not bad. Getting you onboard was smart. Nova Tech doesn't stand a chance this round."

A male's voice rang out. "Still a few tweaks left. Let me fine-tune the code."

Hannah went stiff. That phrasing triggered a memory -long nights working, Evan whispering as he took over, "Let me fine-tune it."

No wonder Evan had left so suddenly-he'd switched sides to work for their rival.

A blaze of anger erupted within Hannah. She nearly barged in, but forced herself to inhale deeply and stay composed. Since Brinley had recruited Evan,their product pitch might be dangerously similar to Nova Tech's. Time was of the essence. Back in the hall, Vincent observed the sharp dètermination on Hannah's features as she returned -it was clear something was off. But before he could question it, she walked straight over to Felix.

Given how distant she'd been earlier, Vincent chose not to interfere.

After a swift dialogue with Hannah, Felix rose to request a change in the order of presentations.

Meanwhile,Brinley returned with a confident grin and deliberately claimed the seat next to Vincent. She leaned in, voice sugary as she whispered, "I'm so anxious, Vincent."

Vincent's response was detached and direct. "Just stick to your script. Securing this deal with Miles's firm would be huge for Polaris Tech."

Brinley bit her lip, newfound determination taking hold. Since Vincent valued this pitch that highly,failure wasn't an option. Victory was imperative.

At exactly 10:00 a.m., the pitching round commenced. The teams presented one after another.

Earlier, Brinley had talked Daphne into moving Polaris up to sixth in the queue.

When it was Brinley's turn, she walked up confidently and began her pitch. The product? A smart necklace that monitored hormone levels.

Hannah and Felix exchanged glances. The shape had changed-from wristband to necklace-but the content was blatantly lifted from their project. Brinley had the gall to steal it.

Hannah's eyes stayed locked on the loading screen on her laptop. As long as the update finished in time,she might still be able to modify their system.