Chapter 102
102 The Gift That Wasn’t
+8 Pearls
“I was only able to come up with these ideas because of you,” Scarlett said calmly. “This was originally meant to be your fifty–fifth birthday present. What a shame…”
Calvin’s temple twitched violently. His head felt like it was about to explode. The very thing he had never been able to understand–an area of research he had never truly grasped–his own student had done it. She had gone further than he ever had. He should have been proud. In the past, he absolutely would have taken this gifted child to Mr. Wayne himself for a personal recommendation. He would’ve used every connection and resource he had to nurture her. But… he had believed it. He had believed that someone as exceptional as Scarlett would plagiarize Rebecca’s paper. He had once thought that whenever Scarlett was compared to Rebecca, the outcome was always obvious. Now… he laughed bitterly to himself. The outcome was still obvious–but this time, Scarlett’s strength left no room for argument.
The snapping of phone cameras rang through the hall like spring rain. Reporters were already hammering away at their laptops. One expert, staring at the shredded cancer cells under the microscope, suddenly leaned forward and pressed down on Scarlett’s lab report. “These data… they’re not fabricated?”
That question seemed to awaken those still clinging to doubt, those who desperately wished this was all just a dream.
Rebecca spoke up hoarsely, as if trying to catch her breath. “Scarlett, maybe you don’t know everything, but you can’t fake results like this! You’ll ruin the school’s reputation! If you wanted to win, we could’ve figured something out together–but not like this!” Every sentence she spoke forced the name “Scarlett” in as loudly as possible, like she wanted everyone to remember their connection.
“If even Rebecca thinks it’s fake, then maybe it really is!”
“Yeah, maybe this whole thing is staged!”
“Are you stupid? With this much data, how could it all be fake?”
Scarlett looked directly at the person who had questioned her and asked plainly, “Want to see something even more intense?”
She pulled off her gloves and retrieved a température–controlled box from the refrigerated container. Inside lay half a freshly prepared pancreatic cancer organoid. The moment the virus solution touched its surface, dark purple blotches appeared along the organoid’s vascular network. It was a clear sign of platelet aggregation–an immune reaction triggered by pig antigens.
Everyone stared with wide eyes, holding their breath.
They believed her now.
This Scarlett … was the real deal .
Twenty minutes later, under an electron microscope, 89% of the cancer cell nuclei in the experimental group displayed classic apoptotic bodies, while the control group beside them was still growing wildly.
“Do you believe me now, that pig genes aren’t science fiction?” Scarlett’s lips curled into a cold smile. “When we reverse the mechanism behind hyperacute rejection in organ transplantation, we turn pre–existing anti- pig antibodies into death sentences for cancer cells.”
Put simply, cancer cells survive because the body’s immune system thinks they’re “self.” But now, with pig gene markers tagging them as foreign, those same cells were being hunted and destroyed. The body didn’t even need drugs to start fighting–it just needed the right signal.
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102 The Gift That Wasn’t
It was nothing short of a medical milestone.
+8 Pearls
Suddenly, the auditorium’s overhead lights brightened. For a moment, the atmosphere felt unreal. Then someone began to clap.
Applause spread like wildfire, mixed with stifled gasps of awe. In that moment, everyone’s eyes were on Scarlett.
The Joyner family sat in the front row. Everyone behind them had already stood up. And yet they remained seated, their expressions frozen in cold, rigid disbelief. Their eyes were full of hatred and shock.
Martha clenched her teeth, glaring at her eldest son. “Didn’t you say it was foolproof? Didn’t you say Scarlett would be publicly disgraced today?”
Oliver was still paralyzed, struggling to process what he had just seen. First, his tampering had failed. Then Scarlett’s brilliance had struck him like a hammer to the chest. He had never seen it coming. Martha slapped his arm hard, snapping him out of it.
He immediately turned to look for the man he had arranged to sabotage the presentation. And then-
His face went pale.
The man was being dragged away in cuffs–his “reward” a pair of silver handcuffs:
It was over.
Oliver’s body shook. He slumped back in his seat.
“I don’t know… I.don’t know what happened!” he murmured.
It had all been so perfectly planned.
Today was supposed to be Rebecca’s triumphant moment.
Why had everything gone wrong ?
Why was everything he thought he knew unraveling ?
Was Scarlett really this extraordinary ?
If she was this capable, why would she ever need to steal anything from Rebecca?
He clutched his hair with both hands, yanking hard, but it didn’t help. He still couldn’t figure out where it had all gone wrong.
Franklin pulled Martha’s arm. “Stop. We’re surrounded by big names. Don’t give them more to gossip about.”
Martha’s eyes filled with tears. “But what about my Rebecca?”
“She worked so hard. She’s so talented. She tried so hard… so why… why wasn’t it her?”
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