A rustling sound began, the audio quality somewhat muffled, as if it were a rather old recording.

But one could still clearly hear the voices—

"Celine, stop struggling. It doesn't feel good to have your results canceled for cheating, does it? Why bother with this deathbed struggle, making people think you're both cheap and a sore loser, just to become a laughingstock?"

Boom—

Sienna’s pupils contracted violently, and all the color drained from her face.

Chapter 9

The recording of the conversation echoed throughout the entire hall.

"You didn't expect this, did you? You like Julian so much, but in the end, the person he has always liked is me. Whatever I ask him to do, he will help me."

"So, you put in all that effort to instigate Julian, using such despicable means to pin the cheating charge on me, is that it?"

"So what if I did? This is the price for daring to compete with me."

...

Sienna staggered, barely able to stand, staring fixedly at Celine: "How could you have..."

"I told you long ago, evil-doers eventually bring about their own destruction. Sooner or later, all your scheming will come back to haunt you."

Celine's voice was very soft. As her gaze fell on Julian below the stage and she watched him furrow his brows, the anger that had been suppressed for five whole years was finally released.

He could never have imagined that although he had destroyed the evidence she worked so hard to collect back then, besides those materials, she had an impromptu recording—one that, years later, would become the key to exposing Sienna's evil deeds.

Just as he had said back then, the Julian family had absolute control over the city. If she had brought out that recording five years ago, it would have been futile.

That was why she had been biding her time, holding back, and climbing up step by step.

It was all for this day—to be able to stand on this stage, to produce the evidence in its entirety, and to let everyone hear and know that she was innocent.

For a moment, the people below the stage were buzzing with discussion.

"My God! So Celine was really framed for cheating back then?"

"No wonder. Celine was always the top student in liberal arts; her grades were so stable, what need would she have to cheat?"

...

The classmates who had mocked and belittled Celine looked at each other, their shock quickly replaced by a sense of guilt, and none of them dared to look up.

"Sienna is so calculating! Looking gentle and kind on the surface, but so sinister and vicious behind the scenes—just because she was jealous, she destroyed someone's future?"

"And a person like this had the nerve to talk about fairness? It’s simply ridiculous!"

Many media reporters immediately raised their cameras to record, their eyes shining with the thrill of a scoop.

A reversal of a five-year-old case, a wrongful accusation involving a top school's entrance exam, plus Celine's current status as the CEO of a super unicorn company—this was absolutely big news that would shake the entire city.

Sienna was blinded by the camera flashes, her pathetic "victim" act completely stripped away. She pointed at Celine, her voice rising:

"Five years have passed since the incident. With technology as advanced as it is today, who can be sure that this recording wasn't synthesized by Celine herself to deliberately frame me!"

"You want to shift the blame onto me based on just one recording? I don't accept it!"

Sienna glared fiercely at Celine.

"Besides, she is just trying to divert everyone's attention, deliberately using such an ambiguous recording to cover up the fact that as a company executive, she abused her power to cancel the qualifications of outstanding candidates without cause! That is the focus of today's press conference, everyone—don't let her lead you astray!"

"Sienna, you’re right about one thing: the focus of today’s press conference is indeed that you were canceled despite being so 'outstanding'."

Celine watched her exasperated state, a faint curve appearing on her lips.

"You say you are outstanding, but what exactly are you outstanding in?"

She looked straight into Sienna's eyes, as if she could see through all the depravity she had hidden deep down.

"Are you outstanding in academic fraud? Outstanding in plagiarizing others' work, while maliciously suppressing and threatening victims to keep them from speaking up for themselves?"

A flash of panic crossed Sienna's eyes, and she avoided Celine's gaze: "I didn't! Celine, you are just slandering me!"

"Whether it's slander or not, wouldn't it be clear if we had the victims confront you in person?"

Celine glanced toward a corner below the stage and nodded. "Come on up!"

The next moment, several students stood up.

At the same time, the big screen on stage projected the original drafts of all the works Sienna had claimed credit for.

For those works labeled as national and international gold medal winners, the signatures on every single one were clear—none of them were Sienna!

The students faced the media and spoke:

"The design draft I spent eight whole months polishing was stolen by Sienna; she used it to win a national gold medal, and she threatened me that if I dared to make a scene, she would have the Julian family use their influence to block all my career paths."

"And my graduation thesis, which I spent a whole six months writing, was secretly stolen by Sienna; she even won a school-level honor for it. I discovered it and filed a complaint, submitting all evidence, but not only did the appeal fail, I was warned by my counselor!"

"And us—we were on a team with Sienna for an international academic experiment project. The entire project's work was completed by us; Sienna participated zero percent, but when the project won an international award, she erased all our names, claimed the collective result as her own, and monopolized all the honors!..."

Julian listened to the students' accusations, stunned at first, and then his expression gradually turned somber.

Sienna stood on the stage, her face deathly pale. She looked at Julian, her eyes brimming with tears: "Julian, help me..."

But before she could finish, Celine spoke to Julian first:

"Mr. Julian, you went to extreme lengths for Sienna five years ago. This time, are you still going to shield her in front of everyone?"

Chapter 10

Julian listened to the students' accusations, his thin lips pressed into a straight line, and his knuckles turned a cold, pale white.

The spotlight of the press conference was blinding, falling entirely upon his calm and icy face.

The room was silent; countless lenses were pointed at him, waiting for his stance.

In the end, Julian said nothing.

He only stared coldly at the disheveled Sienna on stage, remaining completely silent.

Sienna froze where she stood, the last spark of light in her eyes shattering instantly.

She looked up at Julian in disbelief, all the color drained from her pale face, and tears burst forth, rolling down her cheeks.

In her understanding, no matter what she did wrong or what kind of trouble she caused, Julian would always stand in front of her, protecting her and smoothing everything over.

This time, it should have been the same.

She no longer cared about dignity, lunging toward Julian, her voice hoarse:

"Julian! Help me! You have to help me! You always stood on my side in the past! You promised you would always protect me, how can you—"

Before her words could land, the Julian family's bodyguards below the stage quickly climbed up and seized her arms.

"Let go of me! Let go! Julian! Say something! Save me!"

Sienna struggled desperately, her hair messy and her makeup ruined. She twisted her head with all her might to look at him, hoping for even a single glance.

But Julian kept his eyes downcast from beginning to end, his expression indifferent and unmoved; he didn't spare her even a flicker of attention.

Under the gaze of the media and everyone present, two bodyguards forcibly dragged the crying Sienna off the stage.

The stage finally became completely quiet.

Julian raised his eyes, his gaze resting heavily on Celine, who stood calmly before him. A surge of complex emotions rose in his heart.

But Celine no longer looked at him, instead turning to face all the media cameras. Her tone was gentle, yet firm:

"The original intention of our company's interview selection has never changed: it is solely to screen for quality talent who are truly down-to-earth, hardworking, skilled, and worth cultivating."

Her gaze swept openly across the cameras, each word distinct: "We value professional competence, but more than skill, we value character and integrity."

"Even if a person is professionally excellent and has a brilliant resume, if their character is twisted or they bully the weak, they will never meet our hiring standards."

"Ability determines a person's ceiling, but character determines their baseline. Sienna’s cancellation of all interview and hiring qualifications today is not targeted at an individual, but represents our company's zero-tolerance policy toward all abhorrent behaviors such as academic misconduct and bullying."