Chapter 2

Clearly, the Dean Emeritus's public lecture was extremely popular.

I didn't rush in, but found a corner and dialed my mom's number.

The phone was answered almost immediately.

"Aurora! Where are you? Have you found Celeste?"

My mom's voice was still filled with urgent anxiety.

"Mom," I lowered my voice, my tone tinged with tears and panic,

"I just got to the university. I heard the place where Celeste had trouble was Building C. I'm scared to go alone, can you please come with me?"

"Okay, okay, okay! Don't be afraid, I'll be there right away! Wait for me at the entrance of Building C!"

My mom agreed without thinking.

Hanging up, I looked at my phone screen, a cold smile curving on my lips.

The bait had been cast.

Now, it was time to reel them in.

I entered Room 301. The massive tiered lecture hall was packed.

On the podium, an energetic, stately elderly man was speaking; he must have been the Dean Emeritus.

And in the very center of the first row sat my dear sister, Celeste.

She was wearing a tasteful white dress today, with delicate makeup.

She was listening attentively to the lecture, occasionally exchanging a few words with the Dean beside her.

She looked every bit the brilliant, highly esteemed student.

On the table in front of her, conspicuously displayed, was a roll of blueprints.

It was "The Palace on the Clouds," the design I had poured countless sleepless nights and all my heart and soul into.

I found a seat in the back row, near the door, and waited quietly.

As the public lecture drew to a close, the Dean smiled at Celeste, his voice full of admiration:

"...Finally, let's give a warm round of applause to our most outstanding freshman this year, the national top scorer of the architect's exam, Celeste Sterling, as she presents her brand new conceptual design for 'The Palace on the Clouds' project!"

Thunderous applause erupted, and all eyes focused on Celeste.

Celeste stood up, a confident and proud smile on her face.

She walked to the podium, ready to unfurl the blueprints that belonged to me.

Just then, the back door of the classroom was violently pushed open.

My mom rushed in, breathless, her face still streaked with fresh tears.

She spotted Celeste on the podium at once and cried out:

"Celeste! You… you didn't run away? What are you doing here!"

The entire room instantly fell silent, everyone staring in confusion at the woman who had suddenly burst in.

Celeste's smile instantly froze. She looked at my mom in horror, her face turning ashen:

"Mom? You… why are you here?"

My mom also froze. She looked at Celeste on stage, then instinctively scanned the crowd for me.

I slowly rose from the back row, meeting the bewildered gazes of everyone, and walked, step by step, towards the podium.

I walked up to Celeste, and under her terrified gaze, took the blueprints from her hands.

Then, I turned to face the bewildered Dean and hundreds of teachers and students below.

And I showed them a smile identical to Celeste's, yet a hundred times brighter.

"Hello everyone, my name is Aurora, and I am Celeste's twin sister."

My voice, amplified by the microphone, clearly resonated throughout the entire classroom.

"I apologize for the interruption. My sister is not feeling well today and seems a bit disoriented, so the following presentation of the proposal will be delivered by me, the true designer of these blueprints."

###截断点

6

My voice wasn't loud, but it detonated like a depth charge in the silent classroom.

Everyone's gaze flitted between me, Celeste, and my mom.

Their faces were etched with shock, confusion, and scrutiny.

Celeste's face, in an instant, went from white to green, then to a deathly gray.

Her lips trembled; she couldn't utter a single word, her body swaying precariously.

My mom finally realized she’d been tricked by me.

She rushed forward, trying to snatch the blueprints from my hand.

She babbled incoherently, trying to explain:

"No… it's not true! Dean, professors, don't listen to her nonsense! She… she's my older daughter, she's jealous of her sister's success, she's lost her mind!"

"Lost her mind?"

I sneered, unfurling the blueprints across the podium.

The exquisite design was instantly revealed to everyone.

"Then I must ask my dear mother, how could someone who's 'lost her mind' design this 'Palace on the Clouds'?"

I ignored them and turned to face the Dean, calmly beginning my presentation.

"I've named this design 'Floating Light,' inspired by mirages. My core concept is to utilize the latest photosensitive suspended materials and holographic projection technology to create a dynamic building that truly integrates with the clouds and light, an architectural wonder…"

I didn't refer to any notes; all the structures, data, and material parameters were already etched into my mind.

From design philosophy to structural mechanics, from material application to ecological cycles, I spoke flawlessly.

That inherent confidence and professionalism, ingrained in my very being, was something Celeste could never imitate.

The entire classroom was silent; everyone was captivated by the architectural marvel I described.

The Dean's eyes, from initial confusion, gradually turned to astonishment, and finally to undisguised admiration and excitement.

As for Celeste, she stood aside, like a clown stripped of her fine garments, utterly mortified.

My mom collapsed onto the floor, her face ashen.

When the presentation ended, the applause was ten times more enthusiastic than before.

The Dean walked up, gripped my hand tightly, and said excitedly:

"Aurora! You are the true genius! This is precisely the design I've dreamed of! I announce that the 'Palace on the Clouds' project will be entirely under your charge!"

Just then, Celeste, who had been silent, suddenly let out a piercing scream.

She stared intently at me, her eyes filled with venom and madness:

"Aurora! Why are you destroying me! I worked so hard… everything I worked so hard to get! It's all you! You ruined me!"

With that, she suddenly lunged at me like a madwoman, trying to tear up the blueprints on the table.

I instinctively protected the blueprints, pushing her away.

She stumbled back a few steps, then suddenly clutched her chest, her face contorted in extreme pain.

Then she fell straight backward.

"Celeste!"

My mom screamed, scrambling to her daughter.

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

An ambulance arrived, sirens wailing, taking Celeste and my mom away.

I stood on the chaotic podium, clutching the blueprints that had vindicated me, but felt no joy of victory. Instead, I was gripped by an unsettling premonition.

I saw Celeste's eyes clearly the moment she fell.

Her gaze wasn't one of pain from a sudden heart attack, but more like… triumph.

By the time everything was handled, it was late at night.

Liam drove to pick me up. The Dean personally escorted me to the campus gate, repeatedly urging me to rest well and not rush the project.

Getting into the car, Liam handed me a bottle of warm water.

"Well done."

He said simply.

I leaned back in the seat, closing my eyes tiredly:

"I just have a feeling things aren't that simple."

"Are you saying your sister faked it?"

"I don't know." I shook my head,

"But my gut tells me she has another trick up her sleeve."

No sooner had I spoken than my phone rang. It was the hospital.

A cold, formal voice came through the receiver:

"Is this Celeste's next of kin? The patient suffered acute heart failure, and after resuscitation efforts failed, she was pronounced deceased five minutes ago."

Deceased?

I held the phone, completely stunned.

How could… how could this be? Wasn't she faking it?

Liam saw the change in my expression, immediately pulled the car to the side of the road,

Took the phone from my hand, and after listening for a few moments, his face also instantly darkened.

"Aurora,"

He hung up the phone, looking at me, his tone unusually serious,

"Your sister is dead. And, the police just received a report. The caller is your mother, and she's accusing you… of deliberately pushing and provoking Celeste during the public lecture, leading to her heart attack and death."

"She… she's accusing me?"

I looked at Liam in disbelief, a chill shooting from my feet straight to the top of my head.

My mom, she was actually going to accuse me of killing her daughter?

"That's not all."

Liam's face grew even uglier,

"At the exact same time your sister was pronounced dead, Northwood University's Dean Emeritus's computer was hacked. An identical copy of 'The Palace on the Clouds' design proposal you submitted was sent, via anonymous email, to all the bidders for the project."

I was completely dumbfounded.

Celeste was dead.

My mom was accusing me of murder.

My design proposal had been leaked to all my competitors.

All of this, had happened within a few short hours.

One linked to the next, each move deadly.

I finally understood what Celeste's triumphant gaze meant when she fell.

She used her death to engineer a conspiracy against me.

She wanted to ruin my reputation, leave me with nothing, and even… send me to prison.

How ruthless.

Truly ruthless.

I looked at the city lights outside the car window, feeling utterly cold.

Could someone who was already dead really lay such an intricate trap?

Or was there another mastermind, hidden behind her, pulling the strings?