?Chapter 541:


    Nina hesitated under that steady gaze, but then she lifted her chin and tried to recover. “I never said it was my doing,” she countered. “All I said was the distributor donated the equipment. What’s wrong with that?”


    Ste almostughed. That was her game? Twisting words? She really thought Nina was a toughpetitor. But now the woman just seemed sloppy. “If it wasn’t you,” Ste asked inly, “then who was it?”


    The crowd froze. Nina had just admitted it wasn’t her.


    But in the very next breath, she tossed out, “It wasn’t my effort. But I saw William escort the equipment into the institute this morning. It must have been him. Sylvia, how could you take credit for someone else’s work?”


    The second William’s name came up, everyone suddenly found that exnation way more believable. It was William, the guy who could basically move mountains at the institute.


    “Sylvia, you’ve really walked yourself into a trap this time! Thought you could grab someone else’s credit, but it turns out there was a witness.”


    “Yeah, just because you’re close to William doesn’t mean you can im his aplishments like they’re yours.”


    Ste looked around at all the faces pointing fingers, refusing to believe her. Honestly, it was almost funny.


    She was about to respond when the sound of steady footsteps echoed behind the crowd.


    “I had no hand in securing the equipment.”


    The room went quiet. Everyone turned around.


    William walked in through the crowd, each step slow and steady until he reached Ste’s side. His gaze swept over Nina—sharp and cold.


    “I didn’t arrange for the delivery,” he said. “The equipment was brought back by Sylvia yesterday. She went to nce, negotiated directly with the distributor, and finalized the deal. I only escorted it in this morning. If anyone’s taking credit unfairly, it’s me—I should be giving her the credit.”


    His words left everyone stunned. Wait… Sylvia arranged it? That couldn’t be real… could it?


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    Ste nced sideways at William. She hadn’t expected him to step in and clear things up for her.


    “William, how can that be?” someone tried to argue weakly. “Sylvia’s just—”


    “If you don’t believe me,” William cut in, his voice colder than usual, “I’ll give you the distributor’s contact. You can call and confirm it yourself.”


    The researcher shut up instantly, looking like he’d rather crawl into a hole.


    William swept his gaze over the rest of them. “This institute’s project needs everyone’s effort. You all have experiments to run. So why are you standing around gossiping?”


    William rarely raised his voice, especially not in the institute—but this time, the heat in his tone was impossible to ignore.


    No one dared to talk back. Everyone scattered in seconds.


    Most of the staff had gone when William finally turned to Nina and said, “I have no patience for people who don’t take research seriously. If that’s not why you’re here, Miss Carter, then maybe you shouldn’t be here at all.”


    Nina’s fingernails dug into her palms as she clenched her fists. The sting of humiliation ran deep.


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