Bones Learn To Listen When Silence Speaks by Ryn Miles 307

Chapter 307 

But Kyler refused to back down. He couldn’t find anything out, simply because his access level wasn’t high enough. 

So he reached out to Wade again. And through Wade, he got to meet Wade’s dad. After all that running around, things finally started to make sense. 

Kyler had originally planned to give Aurelia the truth he’d finally uncovered as a gift, but it took him too long to piece everything together, and he ended up missing the Apprenticeship party. 

That was why, at the party, he told her he had a gift ready for her; she just needed to wait a bit longer. He only hoped it wasn’t too late. 

“That so–called legit process of yours? It only happened because someone used their access to clear the way for you. I’ve already tipped off the right people. Won’t be long before the truth comes out!” Kyler said. 

“Let’s see if you can still keep running your mouth then!” he added. 

This was a public shaming. Kyler mercilessly tore her pride to pieces, left them for everyone to see, and stomped all over them. 

She never imagined she’d end up like this. She felt her world crumbling inside. It was like she was teetering on the edge of a cliff, one step away from total ruin. 

As the summit’s lead, Wade quickly steered things back on track, ushering the next entrepreneur up to speak. No way he was going to let one troublemaker mess things up for everyone. 

As luck would have it, the next person to take the stage was Aurelia. With all the drama that had just gone down, she couldn’t have picked a better moment to show up; it was like the universe was on her side. 

Everyone already admired Aurelia for her killer business skills, and now that they found out she was crushing it in academia too, they were even more impressed, thinking that no wonder Stephen made her his student. Aurelia was a total standout from the start. 

Aurelia was here to promote InquireMind. With the IPO announcement coming up soon, she wanted InquireMind to really steal the spotlight. 

InquireMind had already passed the market test, just as Gideon had predicted last year. It was on track to become the breakout project of the year. And sure enough, that was exactly how things turned out. 

Unlike the others, Aurelia skipped the usual braggy speech and let her actions speak louder than words. She revealed that InquireMind had just rolled out an IPO EagleEye risk alert system, capable of pinpointing potential IPO risks with impressive accuracy. 

She even offered to do a live demo, inviting the audience to throw out any company name for an instant prediction. 

“Why not try HelixTech?” someone shouted from the crowd. Clearly, someone just wanted to see some fireworks and didn’t care how messy things got. 

Aurelia didn’t bat an eye; she kept it strictly business, not letting any personal beef get in the way. She clicked the test button, and about four minutes later, the results came in. 

The EagleEye system triggered 25 risk alerts for HelixTech. Including financial, technical, and market positioning risks. Some folks bought it, others weren’t so sure. 

Aurelia gave everyone a heads–up. “These predictions are just for reference; make sure to think for yourselves.” 

Tessa didn’t leave the room. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to; she just couldn’t. 

13:20 Wed, Jan 28 

Chapter 307 

After everything that just happened, her credibility had tanked to zero, and that was going to seriously jeopardize Helix Tech’s IPO plans. So she swallowed her pride and stuck around, hoping to talk things over with Zane 

But Tessa never saw it coming; Aurelia got up there and dropped a bombshell right in front of everyone. Most folks were just floored by how cutting–edge InquireMind was. 

But Tessa’s heart was pounding out of her chest. As one of HelixTech’s top execs, she knew all the skeletons hiding in the closet. 

And with that Eagle Eye system, InquireMind exposed every single issue she’d tried so hard to keep buried. Tessa was seething with rage at Aurelia; she was so mad she could barely stand it. 

Tessa was sure Aurelia was targeting her on purpose. She felt like Aurelia was trying to humiliate her in front of the whole crowd at this summit. And that only fueled Tessa’s hatred for Aurelia. 

That test just now was a pure coincidence, nothing more. Aurelia knew Tessa all too well and was well aware that Tessa would assume she had done it deliberately. But it didn’t bother Aurelia one bit. If she were clean, she had nothing to fear from anyone’s suspicions. 

After those two jaw–dropping moments stole the show, the rest of the speeches just faded into the background. 

Zane dropped a message in the group chat, tagging Kyler: [So this is the present you gave Aurelia?] 

Kyler replied: [Yup.] 

Zane replied: [Gotta admit, this is way more creative than anything we did.] 

All they ever did was throw money at the problem, with nothing else to show for it 

Kyler kept his eyes glued to his screen and couldn’t help but feel tense. He noticed Aurelia checking her phone too; she probably caught the group chat because she glanced over at him. 

But she didn’t say anything in the chat. Kyler couldn’t help but feel a bit on edge because of it. 

Zane, clearly bored, tagged Aurelia in the group chat: [Aurelia, wanna grab a bite together later?] 

Aurelia replied: [I’ve got a meeting tonight, only about an hour free, so it’ll have to be something quick.] 

Zane teased: [Wow, you’ve got a real talent for saying no.] 

Kyler jumped in: [Heard you put money into HelixTech. What were you thinking?] 

Zane replied: [Well, what were you thinking when you invested?] 

Kyler was left speechless. Zane sure knew how to stir the pot; always bringing up the stuff he’d rather forget. 

Zane kept teasing him: [Who told you to bring up HelixTech? Look, Aurelia’s not even replying. She’s totally giving you the silent treatment!] 

Kyler remained silent upon Zane’s message. 

As the meeting was winding down, Aurelia only now noticed that Cassian’s seat had been empty the whole time. When did he leave?‘ she thought. 

As soon as the meeting wrapped up, Tessa made a beeline for Zane, desperate to talk things over. She was mostly worried he’d back out of the investment because of everything that went down today. 

That would be the death blow for Tessa. Game over, no question. 

13:20 Wed, Jan 28 

Chapter 307 

J 

“Sorry, Ms. Rowe, I’ve got dinner plans with my juniors, so let’s put business aside for now, Zane said, still flashing that easy smile and keeping his usual gentlemanly demeanor. 

Tessa was just about to ask if he’d be free tomorrow. But Zane called out loudly to Aurelia, “Wait up for me!” With that, he gave Tessa a polite nod and quickly caught up to Aurelia. 

Tessa watched as Zane and Aurelia walked off together, her eyes growing cold and her expression hardening. 

Zane hurried to catch up with Aurelia. Aurelia glanced at him and teased, “You seriously want to eat fast food with me?” 

Zane shrugged, “Forget it, then.” Fast food just wasn’t his style at all. 

“Let’s wait until Marshall and the others are back, then we can all get together for a meal,” Aurelia said. 

Zane said, “Sure.” 

“Hey, why are you still sticking around Ashmont?” Aurelia suddenly remembered to ask. 

NaviTech’s main business was up in Northvale, so it was pretty odd for Zane, the guy in charge, to still be based in Ashmont. 

“Busy,” Zane replied with a roguish smirk. 

“What could you possibly be busy with in Ashmont?” Aurelia asked. 

Zane shrugged, “Just walking my dog, goofing off.” 

Aurelia just stared at him, lost for words. She finally understood why her mentor kept warning her to stay away from Zane. He really never took anything seriously. 

The next day, Tessa called Zane again. Things were getting desperate; she had to grasp at Zane as if he were her only hope 

left. 

She was drowning in a mess of her own making. The whole thing about her pretending to be Aurelia and snagging that study abroad spot had already been blown wide open. 

Alina told her a special investigation team was already on the case; it was only a matter of time before everything came to light. 

Whitvale School of Management had suspended Jonathan pending review. If he spilled the beans, all those seven years she spent faking her credentials would go up in smoke. 

But the real nightmare was that, just to meet Zane’s demands, she’d gone and borrowed 500 million dollars in high–interest loans from Celestium Financial. 

And with Brett pulling the strings, she’d roped in a bunch of investors and signed them up for a win–or–lose agreement. Everything was piling up all at once, like a perfect storm. Every single thing was on fire, breathing down her neck.