?Chapter 545:


    A few minutester, Nina entered the hall, heels clicking on the floor.


    Hester Mills quickly handed her a printed copy. “Here.”


    Nina took the page, gave it a cursory nce, then tossed it onto the table like it was junk. “You’re really calling this impressive?” she said mockingly, turning to Ste. “How do you n to prove it?”


    Ste met her gaze, unfazed. “Isn’t the value of a form proven by results? If you’ve got doubts, then let’s test it.”


    That got Nina’s attention. The fire in her eyes sparked immediately.


    “Oh? And how do you want topete?” she asked with a sneer, clearly thinking Ste was way out of her league.


    Before she’d evene back to the country, Nina had heard about Sylvia—how she won some international award and got famous for it. But in her eyes, Sylvia was just a pretty face with inted hype.


    From day one at the research institute, Nina had thought Sylvia was all looks and no depth—definitely not worthy of being called a rival.


    But a few days ago, Sylvia had publicly embarrassed her.


    That humiliation was something she would never forget.


    Ste said coolly, “It’s simple. We both calcte the same data set at the same time. Whoever finishes faster and more urately wins. That should settle whether my form actually works.”


    For the first time, Nina actually looked at the page she’d brushed off earlier. The form wasn’t just decent—it was well structured, clean, and surprisingly refined. Some of the code blocks were things she didn’t even recognize.


    Still, she chalked it up to coincidence.


    Just because it worked for one data set didn’t mean it could be trusted across the board.


    Their current system had gone through countless iterations by dozens of researchers.


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    It was battle-tested.


    There was no way Sylvia had managed to outperform that by herself.


    “Fine,” Nina finally said, raising her chin. “Let’s do it. But there has to be a penalty for the loser.”


    “I’m fine with that,” Ste replied without hesitation.


    It wouldn’t be a realpetition without a winner and a loser.


    Nina smirked and dered, “If you lose, I want you to stand in front of everyone here and admit you got this job through connections. That you have no skills, that you’re just here for show. And then I want you to voluntarily leave the research institute.”


    Hester and the others behind her lit up instantly, whispering and grinning in anticipation. They’d been waiting for something like this.


    Sandra and Elbert, on the other hand, were stunned. This wasn’t just a bet—this was a setup. One misstep in a form, and they would drive Sylvia outpletely?


    Elbert was about to speak up for Ste when she beat him to it. “All right. I agree.” The moment Ste epted, a smug smile tugged at Nina’s lips, full of confidence, as if the oue had already been written in her favor.


    Ste added, “If I lose, I’ll do what you asked. But if you lose—I want you to kneel and apologize.”


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