Holding his bruised cheek and the spot where the pen holder had struck him, Director Keaton watched the scene unfold.
His brain was short-circuiting.
What... what was happening?
Didn't Bianca say this girl was just a country bumpkin and a high school dropout?
Why were the Chancellor and these academic titans treating her like absolute royalty?
What VIP?
What expert?!
She was barely twenty years old, yet this group of legendary researchers was treating her with such immense reverence!
Serena met Director Keaton's horrified gaze.
A dark, wicked smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.
"Is this how your board directors behave?" she asked, her voice lazy and flat, yet radiating a chilling authority. "Such high standards. He just spent the last five minutes telling me to get the hell out of Marington."
A cold sweat broke out on Chancellor Keaton's forehead.
If Serena walked away now.
What would happen to Mr. Harrison's core research project?
What if they lost the global competition?
Marington couldn't afford that loss.
And Elyndor certainly couldn't either.
Chancellor Keaton glared daggers at Director Keaton.
Director Keaton's heart hammered in his chest, all the color draining from his face. "Chancellor, Mr. Harrison, Deans... I... I didn't..."
Chancellor Keaton's face was dark with rage as he pointed right at him. "Are you blind?!"
"Serena is the top-tier expert I spent months begging to come here! She's the lead director of Mr. Harrison's project, and you tried to kick her out?!"
Director Keaton was entirely lost. "T-top-tier expert? But she dropped out of high school..."
"High school?" Chancellor Keaton scoffed. "Her achievements in national-level research fields are enough for you to look up to for ten lifetimes!"
Mr. Harrison glared at him coldly. "You narrow-minded fool. You only see surface-level connections. Her academic credentials are higher than everyone's in this room combined. Who the hell are you to question her?"

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Messing With Her? Are You Crazy!