chapter921

Dr. Donley shook his head. "Not yet, but I think..."

Stellan cut him off, his face clearly annoyed. "You're voting for Lydia without even looking at Daisy's answer? What's your deal?"

Desmond jumped in. "And you guys didn't bother with Lydia's answer before voting for Daisy. So what does that say about you?"

In that moment, Angelo and Stellan both looked like they'd swallowed something sour. Their faces went from pale to red in seconds.

Angelo cleared his throat and tried to recover. "Desmond, we voted for Daisy because everyone knows she's talented. Plus, her family is working on ways to lower the cancer mortality rate. If they succeed, it could change lives for so many people."

Desmond barely reacted. He looked right at them, his face unreadable. "I'm voting for Lydia."

Angelo and Stellan looked even more uncomfortable. Inside, they couldn't help but wonder if Lydia had bribed Desmond or if there was something going on between them. He'd been on her side from the start. But Desmond was a senior figure at the medical institute. He wasn't someone they could mess with.

So they turned to Dominick instead. "Dominick, you've already seen Daisy's answer. You know she deserves first place. You'll vote for her, right? Fair and square? Angelo's voice was loaded with meaning, as if he was trying to say Dr. Donley and Desmond weren't being fair by supporting Lydia.

Dominick hesitated, clearly unsure.

Dr. Donley gave him a gentle reminder. "Dominick, you should look at Lydia's answer first. Seeing is believing."

Desmond couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in Dominick. The two from Capital College stood up for their own student, but Dominick seemed ready to side with an outsider. It didn't make any sense.

Desmond spoke up, his tone firm. "The rules say we have to review all the students' answers before voting. Let's read through the rest. You should take a look, too."

He opened up Daisy's file.

Daisy had written a lot, nearly filling two whole pages. She covered everything from how cancer forms to the ways we fight it She even predicted that the cancer mortality rate could drop by five percent in the next ten years. It was clearly organized and well written.

But honestly, everything she wrote

was stuff every medical expert

already knew. She just put it all together in a neat, logical way. There was nothing truly new or groundbreaking. And that five

percent drop she claimed. It was all. thanks to her family resources, not her own abilities.

When you compared the two, Daisy just couldn't compete with Lydia.

To put it bluntly, Daisy was a promising talent, but Lydia was on a different level, a true miracle worker. And Daisy's achievements were mostly the result of her entre family's support and effort.

Desmond nodded. "Daisy's answer is solid, no doubt about it."

Angelo and Stellan immediately straightened up, pride all over their faces. "See? Now you're convinced, right Desmond?" They sounded almost smug.

Dominick had been ready to check Lydia's answer, but after hearing their comments, he lost his nerve again. He worried he might literally give himself a heart attack from the stress.

Then Desmond spoke up. "Lydia is confident she can reduce the global cancer mortality rate by fifty percent in thirty years. When you look at it that way, Daisy really doesn't stand a chance."

Angelo and Stellan froze, completely caught off guard.

Then, unable to hold it in, both of them started laughing. "Fifty percent in thirty years?"

"So in ten years, that's what..... sixteen point six percent?"

"Seriously? Is Lydia answering with her imagination instead of her brain? Does she just make stuff up as she goes?"