Bones Learn To Listen When Silence Speaks by Ryn Miles 306

Chapter 306 

Tessa snapped herself back into focus, telling herself she had bigger things to handle today and wasn’t about to let Aurelia mess with her head. 

Why boost her confidence and kill my own vibe?‘ Tessa thought. She shook it off fast, stopped paying attention to Aurelia, and zeroed in on what she needed to do next. 

The summit included a segment for corporate representatives to speak, which was the main reason Tessa attended the finance summit today. 

She felt lucky. Not only did she get a middle slot, but the speakers before her were all from small–time companies. 

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So when she stepped up to the stage, all eyes were on her. HelixTech had been the talk of the industry since day one. With its IPO just around the corner, its valuation had hit an all–time high. 

It was now worth a staggering 90 billion dollars. That was three times more than InquireMind. So when Tessa stepped onto the stage, she was brimming with confidence. 

She’d prepped her speech ahead of time, and when she took the mic, she laid out all the reasons why HelixTech was a cut above the rest. She called HelixTech the underdog set to shake up the financial world, with the potential to become the next trillion–dollar IPO. 

She even declared that superconductivity wasn’t just some far–off dream, it was a revolution happening right now, and her speech practically crackled with excitement. 

Anyone could see Tessa was going all–in to promote HelixTech, using the summit as her stage to reel in investors and send HelixTech’s valuation soaring. Even Aurelia had to admit, Tessa was playing her cards smart. 

And that speech, no doubt about it, had Cassia’s fingerprints all over it. Sharp, cutting, and to the point. The objective was crystal clear. 

Ignite buzz around HelixTech, heat the conversation, and shake up the stock market. When Tessa finished her speech, the audience erupted into thunderous applause. 

She couldn’t help but smile, and out of habit, her gaze swept over the crowd, searching for Cassian. But he wasn’t in his seat. He must’ve stepped out for a bit. 

So she gave Aurelia a smug, dismissive glance, her eyes full of obvious disdain. Aurelia was clapping too, but her face remained calm and detached. 

Tessa had to admit, Aurelia was impressively composed. In that respect, Tessa knew she couldn’t match Aurelia. 

With her goal accomplished, Tessa was about to step down in style, ready to let the next speaker take the stage, when someone in the crowd suddenly called out. 

“Ms. Rowe, have you ever apologized to Ms. Corin from Regal Investment about that plagiarism incident with her paper?” 

Tessa’s expression darkened in an instant. She tried to pretend she hadn’t heard, but the person kept pressing, leaving her no room to escape. 

“How can investors trust someone who even cheats in academia?” the voice demanded. 

Tessa was forced to confront it. But when she saw who was asking, her mind went completely blank for a moment. 

It was someone she never saw coming, Kyler. 

Kyler stood up, microphone in hand, his eyes locked on Tessa up on stage, intense and unwavering. He stared her down. 

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leaving her nowhere to hide. 

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The entrepreneurs who’d just been singing her praises now wore thoughtful, skeptical looks, their faces full of doubt. 

“Ms. Rowe, I want a straight answer,” Kyler insisted, not giving her any room to dodge. 

Tessa felt her ears ringing, her whole body frozen. Her face was burning hot with shame, and she couldn’t stop shaking. 

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“It… It was actually just a misunderstanding,” she stammered, racking her brain for a way out. “I was in a rush to prep for my exams, so I asked my advisor from Whitvale School of Management to help me out. Sure, I chose the topic, but all the actual content came from his guidance.” 

In other words, she was throwing her advisor under the bus, saying he was the one who stole Aurelia’s work, not her. No doubt, she was a pro at shifting the blame. 

After the plagiarism scandal broke out, Aurelia and Stephen both agreed to let their lawyers take over the accountability process. It was the only effective way to defend their rights. 

But that also meant they had to go through a lengthy and complicated lawsuit. Tessa was taking full advantage of that. She still hadn’t issued any apology or even bothered to respond. 

She was probably hoping the whole thing would just fade with time and be forgotten. Even if Aurelia and Stephen managed to win in court, at best, they’d get a perfunctory apology from Tessa. 

That was just the reality; intellectual property protection around here was still pretty lacking. 

But what really threw Aurelia for a loop was that Kyler actually stood up and publicly confronted Tessa right there in front of 

everyone. 

Tessa was just as stunned. She honestly couldn’t wrap her head around why Kyler had changed his tune so suddenly. 

“So, are you saying your advisor was the one who stole the paper, and you’re not responsible at all?” Kyler challenged, his tone sharp. 

“I’m not saying I had nothing to do with it,” Tessa answered cautiously, her voice a little shaky. “I just don’t think all the blame should fall on me.” 

Kyler pressed further, “So, what you’re saying is, all the content was actually Professor William’s work, and you just slapped your name on it? 

“So does that mean those papers you published in the Whitvale School of Management journal and the SSCI were done the same way, too?” 

Tessa gritted her teeth, her expression rigid as she shot back, “Of course not! Those were all done by me!” 

Kyler kept pushing, his tone relentless. “Are you sure about that?” 

Tessa doubled down, sounding utterly certain. “Absolutely!” 

“But Professor William has already come clean. He said all your award–winning papers were plagiarized. How do you explain that?” Kyler pressed, his voice unwavering. 

Tessa’s composure shattered in an instant, her mind going completely blank. She denied it on instinct, her voice trembling. “That’s not true! You’re just trying to frame me!” 

The crowd broke out in hushed gossip, every glance sharp with judgment and disdain as they looked her way. Her trademark pride, the kind that always put her above everyone else, was being torn apart, piece by piece, for all to see. 

“Jonathan William has already come clean. Denying it now does you no good,” Kyler pressed, his tone icy. “He even said you 

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stole someone’s identity to get into Whitvale School of Management.” 

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With that, Kyler turned to Aurelia, his eyes deep and full of meaning. And the spot you stole? It was Ms. Corin’s. Crazy coincidence, right?” 

That revelation hit the room like a bomb, sending shockwaves through the crowd. Even Aurelia was caught off guard. 

“To make your story stick, you even went so far as to register an email almost identical to Ms. Corin’s; just slapped a 3 at the end. Then you claimed you forgot the password to the original account. Gotta admit, that’s some bold trick. Kyler said, his tone thick with sarcasm. 

“That’s not how it happened! No, it’s not!” Tessa protested, her voice shaking. Even at this point, she was still adamantly denying it all. 

Her lips quivered as she shot back, “I got into Whitvale School of Management on my own! I’m not some fraud who stole someone’s place! Go ahead, check all you want! All the paperwork checks out!” 

Tessa was only this sure of herself because Alina had told her everything back home was covered up tight. She knew nobody could find a single thing to pin on her. That was what gave her the guts to stand her ground like this. 

Kyler did his own digging. And sure enough, just like Tessa said, everything checked out, totally legit.