The moment the host finished his sentence, a man dressed in sharp black attire strode directly into the auditorium.
Under the burning gaze of thousands, he marched straight to Juniper and handed her a crisp document.
The camera zoomed in, projecting the bold header onto the massive screen: the Authorization Letter.
"Did she actually get the letter from Dr. Nocturne?"
"Impossible. She hung up the phone less than ten minutes ago. To get a physical
letter here that fast, Nocturne would have to possess teleportation!"
"The raw data was stolen, I bet this document is a complete forgery."
"Wait, look-it's blank. There's no signature."
"Huh?"
As the audience erupted into a chaotic frenzy of whispers, the host voiced the question on everyone's mind.
"Miss Payne, you have the Authorization Letter?"
"Yeah."
Juniper nodded, took the document, and walked calmly toward the stage.
The crowd: "?"
What was going on?
Handing over a blank piece of paper without the doctor's authentic signature was entirely pointless.
"?"
The judges stared at her in utter bewilderment, none more so than Professor Peter.
He pushed his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose, a flicker of deep confusion crossing his eyes.
Was he hallucinating?
Or did all young women in Orient Country simply look the same to foreigners?
Because he could swear this 'Juniper Payne' looked disturbingly identical to his absolute nightmare of a friend.
"Do you have a pen?" Juniper paused at the edge of the stage, her voice calm.
"Ah? Yes!"
A staff member hurriedly handed one over. Juniper took it, leaned over the podium, and right on the line marked 'Signature', she aggressively scrawled one word:
'Nocturne'.
The host leaned in to look, his brain practically flatlining.
No way.
Was she genuinely turning this into performance art?
The cameraman was zoomed tightly on her hand. Every single person in the room watched in HD as she casually forged the name 'Nocturne'.
The entire auditorium nearly imploded.
Are you kidding me?
Miss Payne, you might be a genius, and your fiancé might have more money than God, but you can't treat the entire global medical community like a bunch of idiots!
Committing blatant forgery on a live, international broadcast?!
And signing it 'Nocturne'?
Why didn't she just sign the President's name while she was at it?
The cameraman was so baffled he instinctively panned the lens away from her and directly onto Shanley Schwartz in the front row.
The billionaire sat there like royalty, his impossibly long legs crossed elegantly. His dark, unfathomable, eyes were locked onto Juniper, his chiseled face entirely devoid of emotion.
He radiated absolute, terrifying dominance.
What was his angle here?
Was he just going to sit back and watch his fiancée self-destruct?
No matter how untouchable the Schwartz Group was, backing a scandal of this
magnitude would invite massive global backlash.
"Mr. Schwartz, do you have anything to say about this?" the host asked cautiously, completely out of his depth.
"?"
Hearing his name, Shanley tilted his
head slightly. The warmth in his eyes vanished, replaced by an icy, untouchable arrogance. His voice rang out cool and clear. She' he's the boss at home. I do whatever she says."
FindNovel.net
The underlying message was deafening.
Whatever she did, whatever chaos she caused, he was going to back her unconditionally?
That was pure insanity!
"Juniper, what on earth are you
doing?" Professor Dawson
scrambled forward, forcing a
panicked smile. Did did Dr.
Nocturne give you proxy
authorization to sign on her behalf?"
If that were the case, she at least needed a video recording to prove it!
Even he couldn't comprehend what his star pupil was trying to pull anymore.
Jenna just blinked at her, totally paralyzed.
Had the stress completely broken Juniper's mind?!
"Didn't you all say you needed Dr. Nocturne's signature?" Juniper looked up, meeting the host's terrified gaze, her cool voice echoing through the silent hall. "Yes, but..."
The host nodded, laughing awkwardly. "Miss Payne, writing it yourself hardly counts as an authentic signature."
"Besides, you aren't Dr. Nocturne. Signing her name is legally meaningless."
"And why can't it be?"
Juniper pressed her lips into a sharp line, her voice dropping to a dangerous, commanding pitch. "Has it ever occurred to you that I am Dr. Nocturne?"