Chapter 718

She really just said yes?
That’s bold.
Charlotte walked by without a glance, her back straight and confident. Letty watched her go, hands clenched tight. She kept her voice low, warning, “You know, in a competition like this, if you get caught pulling strings or cheating, it’s not just your own reputation on the line.”
It would drag down the country’s honor too.
She could lose her whole future in medicine.
Letty finished, but Charlotte didn’t even turn around. Her posture said everything— unshakable, sure of herself.
Letty stayed rooted in place, replaying Charlotte’s face in her mind.
Last time, at the Cabinda University competition, Charlotte had that same calm, effortless vibe… and ended up snagging first place right out from under her.
Was it going to happen again?
Panic twisted in Letty’s chest. She was still debating whether to try and trip Charlotte up when someone tapped her on the shoulder.
She turned, startled, then broke into a wide smile. “Lydia!”
Lydia pulled her into a room, checked to make sure they were alone, and asked in a hushed voice, “Are you sure Charlotte’s really from the countryside?”
Letty thought about it, then nodded.
“Before this, she only ever studied medicine from a village doctor?”
“Yeah.” Letty nodded firmly. “There was nobody else in that village but the old doctor.”
Lydia frowned, clearly not buying it.
If that was true, there’s no way Charlotte should know so much theory.
“Lydia Letty hesitated, seeing Lydia’s expression, and voiced what she’d been thinking. “Do you think maybe someone leaked the questions for this contest?” Lydia nodded.
“I looked into it a bit. The person who got Charlotte into this competition was Dr. David, vice president of the International Medical Alliance.”
If Dr. David really was close to Charlotte, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to give her the answers ahead of time.
“Stay focused for the next round. This is your only shot at getting into the
International Medical Division.” Lydia squeezed Letty’s shoulder and let out a soft sigh. “As for Charlotte
“I’ll keep digging. If they cheated, I’ll find proof eventually.”
Letty nodded, managing a smile. “Thank you.”
She was going to give it her all.
First place was hers for the taking.
“No need to thank me. I was your grandpa’s student. Helping you is my way of repaying him.”
They left the competition hall.
Jackson and Adonis were already waiting outside in their car.
As soon as Charlotte appeared, Adonis jumped out and held the door open for her.
She tossed her bag into the back seat and climbed in, pulling out her phone right away to message Anthony.
She sent him a selfie.
Waited. No reply.
Tried again. Still nothing.
Charlotte frowned, thumb hovering over her screen. She was about to call when Jackson spoke up.
“Charlotte, there’s news about the A1 Research Institute.”
She put her phone down, her eyes suddenly cold. “Where?”
“In the West District, at a research facility.”
Jackson handed her a file and
explained “Twenty years ago, Nora’s team came here to work on a
project. They developed a super rare
drug trading it for the medical
supplies they needed.”
“A drug?”
Charlotte flipped through the file, brow furrowed. “Who was my mom dealing with?”
Jackson shook his head. “Whoever it
was, they’re powerful. The trail ends
here everything else ends
clean.”

If not for the experiment logs, they’d have nothing at all.
Someone this strong…
Even the N Organization couldn’t dig anything up.
If she ever traced these people to what happened with the A1 Research Institute, or her mother’s sudden death. ”
Teles
She looked at the bracelet her mother had left her, her eyes turning ice-cold.