The Phantom Heiress Rising From The Shadows novel Chapter 148

Chapter 148 Voting

Ethan gave Brenna an approving look Over the past few days, he had found out that she owned two studios- one specializing in finance, the other in mechanical design. Both were filled with top–tier talent.

He noticed Tommy along with two other male engineers, all in their thirties and carrying themselves with quiet confidence. He acknowledged them with a nod

Since the jury had a separate entrance, Ethan leaned in and whispered to Brenna, Tll head over first.”

Brenna just nodded, her expression indifferent.

Now that Ethan was gone, Rosie felt pleased. She no longer needed to play nice in front of Brenna and could speak without holding back.

Rosie and Brenna moved with the crowd into the venue, keeping in step without speaking Rosie had let go of Brenna’s arm. They now walked side by side, both wearing unreadable expressions. To anyone watching, they looked perfectly civil.

Brenna sensed Rosie’s thought. She turned to Rosie casually and sneered, “Not pretending to be close to me anymore?

“Weren’t you pretending earlier, too?” Rosie shot back. “You think you are so capable, huh? You managed to kick me out of the Harper family. Yet today, with so many people questioning you, you said nothing. That’s not like you. Are you lacking confidence in your work?”

“Seems like you’re feeling pretty confident,” said Brenna, blunt as ever. She could see how sure Rosie was of herself. To be honest, it wasn’t surprising With everything at stake, she knew Rosie was bound to scheme something

“Brenna, our seats are over here,” Tommy said.

Without another word, Brenna followed Tommy to the right, not bothering to say goodbye to Rosie.

Rosie snorted. She had registered under her own name, which meant she wasn’t part of a team and didn’t have an assigned seat. So, she picked a good seat with a clear view of Brenna.

Engineers gradually began taking their seats. Guests invited by the Harper Group, along with representatives from companies hoping to recruit engineers, started arriving as well.

On stage sat nine judges. Besides Ethan, the others were respected experts and professors in automotive design and mechanical engineering, A few were even nationally recognized authorities in their fields.

Behind them was a massive electronic screen.

To make sure everyone could see the award–winning designs clearly, several screens had been placed throughout the venue.

At the moment, the main screen displayed the list of finalists. Only names were shown, with no entry numbers,

17:17

Chapter 148 Voting

to prevent any chance of cheating

The list was arranged alphabetically by surname Brenna quickly spotted her name, and right below it, she saw

Rosie’s

Brenna wasn’t surprised, but Rosie was. In fact, she almost shouted in disbelief. Her eyes stayed fized on Brenna’s name for a long time, she had bribed a manager from the competition committee to replace Brenna’s work with a bad design with no chance of qualifying. Yet here Brenna wassisted among the finalists.

Rosie grew uneasy, unable to stay still in her seat.

Even though the design she had purchased had also made it to the finals, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

She couldn’t figure out why, but the feeling lingered.

The announcement of the finalists sparked discussions throughout the venue. There were nine large electronic screens–one showed the names of all

132 finalists, while the others rotated through the submitted designs

along with entry numbers.

This setup allowed everyone to see who had made it through without revealing which designs belonged to whom. It prevented private lobbying or interference behind the scenes,

The venue gradually quieted down as everyone turned their attention to the screens and studied the designs on display. Brenna scanned them as well and quickly spotted her own work and the design her studio had sold.

The final competition was about to begin.

The process was straightforward. Each design would be reviewed and scored in numerical order.

Every seat was equipped with two buttons–green for support, red for opposition. The committee would rank the designs based on the number of green votes received.