Noreen was oblivious to the drama unfolding in Hall A. It was Dn who told her that his professor had arrived but couldn''t find the signs. When Noreen went outside to check, she discovered that PerseTech had deliberately ced a muchrger, more ostentatious sign directly in front of theirs,pletely blocking it from view. It was a petty, underhanded move.


    To prevent any more guests from getting lost, Noreen moved their sign fifty meters down the path, wanting nothing to do with their toxic games. As she was heading back, a police officer approached her. "Excuse me, do you know where the PerseTech roadshow is?"


    Noreen hesitated for a second before pointing him in the right direction. As she walked back to Hall B, she wondered what PerseTech was doing with the police. Had Seth''s influence now reachedw enforcement? She had no way of knowing, and as she returned to the venue, she pushed the thought from her mind. She was simply too busy. This roadshow was critical for InnoCore''s IPO, and she couldn''t afford any mistakes.


    When Carman took the stage, she stood at the front, giving him a look of encouragement. The rehearsals had paid off. He was noticeably more rxed, delivering his speech and presentation fluently and entirely from memory. He recited theplex data points in his slides without missing a beat.


    Noreen let out a quiet sigh of relief and turned to Sophia. "How are the numbers on the livestream?"


    Sophia''s expression was strange.


    "What is it?" Noreen''s stomach tightened.


    "Our stream is doing well," Sophia said, "but... not as well as PerseTech''s."


    Noreen was surprised. PerseTech was a newpany without arge public following, and their target audience was primarily industry investors. Holding the roadshow at a university seemed like an odd choice. InnoCore, on the other hand, had an existing user base and a client list, and had already made waves in the Almunity. It didn''t make sense that their numbers would be lower. Of course, it was always possible PerseTech was just throwing money at the problem.


    She was about to tell Sophia to ignore thepetition when Sophia''s face lit up with excitement.


    "They''re not just trending in the tech Category, they''re trending under crime!"


    "What are you talking about?"


    Sophia quickly shared a highlight clip from PerseTech''s livestream. It was a long


    clip, and it started with Seth''s heartfelt speech defending Bianca.


    Noreen shot Sophia an exasperated look.


    "Keep watching, keep watching," Sophia urged with a grin.


    Noreen fast-forwarded. After Seth''s speech, Bianca made her grand entrance to thunderous apuse. She began with some standard opening remarks and was about to dive into PerseTech''s core business philosophy when the police arrived.


    Bianca froze mid-sentence, watching as one of the officers walked onto the stage and took her microphone. "Is there a Mrs. Lana in the audience? Please stand


    up."


    Lana hade with Yvonne, hoping towork with the other socialites and perhaps find a good match for herdaughter Lillian The women had been polite to her mostly out of respect for Yvonne, and Lana had been congratting herself on a sessful outing when the police called her name. The color drained from her face.


    The officer''s voice boomed through the hall. "Where is Lana?"


    Yvonne gave her a sharp nudge. Lana stumbled to her feet, stammering, "I... I''m here."