Evelyn opened her computer, hacked into the research institute’s email, and saw a cooperation application thrown by HL company to the institute. However, each one was rejected by Spencer. Furthermore, Spencer later issued a statement explicitly prohibiting the use of anything from HL company within the institute.
After going through all of this, the only phrase stuck in Evelyn’s mind was, “Spencer, the old bastard.”
She found the contact information for HL company and sent several emails in a row.
Frank had mentioned that the new reagents from HL company were much better than what the institute currently purchased now. If she could get them, the efficiency of their work would increase fivefold.
Now, Evelyn was not worried about the project anymore. After saving the computer files, she was about to take a break when her phone suddenly rang.
It was Zane and Yancy.
“Evelyn, where have you been lately? Do you know the company is in chaos without you?” Zane complained.
Yancy added, “Boss, if you don’t come back soon, all your hard work will be ruined.”
Yancy was aware of Evelyn’s return to the research institute. However, the thought of Samuel having close contact with Evelyn drove him crazy. So, he collaborated with Zane to persuade Evelyn to come back.
Evelyn listened to their nonsense, just coldly reminding, “Have you forgotten? I left Luke at the company.”
The implicit meaning was that she was well aware of everything happening at the company.
Zane: “…”
“And you won’t be attending the Hyper Game Awards ceremony?”
Evelyn thought for a moment, finally remembering that Luke had reminded her a couple of days ago. However, she had been too busy and forgot about it.
“I’ll be there on time. Just send me the details now.”
“Alright, I’ll send it to you right away,” Zane nodded.
The Hyper Game competition was an awards evaluation they had signed up for recently. This time, it wasn’t for ‘Glory’ but for ‘Baby Angel’.
‘Baby Angel’ might not match the gameplay feel of ‘Glory’ but its graphics and scenes were exquisite, making it suitable for female gamers. Due to budget constraints, the company didn’t promote it much initially. Now, Evelyn planned to focus on promoting ‘Baby Angel’.
Today happened to be the Golden Film Awards ceremony as well, where ‘Serena’ was nominated for several awards, including Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Director.
Recently, Quetzal had shot a promotional video for ‘Baby Angel’. If she won an award tonight, it would be another boost in free publicity.
In the evening, at the awards ceremony venue.
The large screen alternated between various game visuals, and the high-quality appearance of ‘Baby Angel’ caught a lot of attention.
Coincidentally, right next to ‘Baby Angel’ was a product from Mia’s company. This game had gained some popularity after Mia invested money in it.
Mia was pleased to see this scene, and Yulianna beside her was also triumphant.
“Someone dared to put their product alongside Mia’s company? It’s truly embarrassing. I asked almost everyone here, and no one knows a thing about Evelyn’s so-called ‘Baby Angel.'”
Mia smiled, “She probably thinks winning against me once with ‘Baby Angel’ means she can win a second time.”
Saying that, she turned to glance at the rankings on another screen. Seeing ‘Baby Angel’ in the third-to-last position, she felt an inexplicable satisfaction.
This cunning woman Evelyn occasionally made foolish moves. If she had brought out ‘Glory’, she might have been a formidable rival, but ‘Baby Angel’ was just a piece of trash.
Layla disdainfully glanced at Evelyn, who had just entered the venue, “Overestimating herself.”
At that remark, the three of them exchanged smiles, already planning where to hold the victory celebration later.
Evelyn also noticed the ranking of ‘Baby Angel’ and Zane’s strained expression.
“Evelyn, what were you thinking? If we had used ‘Glory’, we’d be sitting here waiting for the trophy. But now…”
Zane glanced at the time, “Even though the real-time voting deadline is five minutes before the awards, there’s less than half an hour left. Are you sure it’s okay?”
“Yeah,” Evelyn replied absentmindedly, estimating the time and taking out her phone.
The Golden Film Awards were announcing the winner for Best Supporting Actress.
When Quetzal’s name appeared, Evelyn smiled with satisfaction.
With twenty minutes left before the awards, many people approached Mia to congratulate her, as her game was clearly in the lead. However, before they could express their words, someone exclaimed in surprise.
“Look at the rankings.”
All eyes turned to the screen, and the next moment, everyone was astonished.
“What’s going on? Did the system crash?”
“It must be. Otherwise, how could the data increase so rapidly?”
“Oh my, it climbed to the second place so quickly. What if it’s not a system crash? Mia might lose soon.”
Discussions erupted, and ‘Baby Angel’ became the focal point of the entire event. Some thought they had discovered a flaw in the system and hurriedly recorded videos to post on Twitter.
In just a few minutes, the votes for ‘Baby Angel’ doubled.
With only ten minutes left before the awards ceremony… Mia clenched her hands, and her nails dug fiercely into her flesh, praying that ‘Baby Angel’ wouldn’t climb up in the rankings.
“Mia, don’t worry, it’s okay. It’s just a slight increase in the ranking. It’s less than ten minutes until the end, and Evelyn can’t magically add over ten million votes,” Yulianna tried to reassure her.
Layla nodded in agreement, “Mia, I believe you can secure the victory.”
However, Mia frowned, her anxiety grew.
Meanwhile, Zane was excited, almost jumping with joy, but then he noticed that the vote count suddenly stopped increasing.
“Evelyn, the ranking isn’t moving. You need to figure something out quickly.” He urgently grabbed Evelyn’s arm.
Evelyn’s phone suddenly rang.
Zane glimpsed a message from Quetzal.
‘Evelyn, I just tweeted, waiting for you to receive the award.’
“Why is she meddling in these showbiz matters instead of focusing on her studies?” Zane quipped, “Who does she think she is? Just because she acted in a film, she thinks she’s famous?”
Zane only enjoyed gaming-related things, so he was unaware of the things in the entertainment industry. He thought Quetzal was just a minor character playing a small role.
Seeing Evelyn silent, he added in a low voice, “She’s overestimating herself a bit.”
Evelyn’s fingers typed on the keyboard for a moment before she replied to Quetzal’s message. Then, she turned her head, glanced at Zane.
Zane, being a small fry, had no right to comment on the rising star in the entertainment industry.
As far as she knew, after the release of the movie and TV series ‘Serena,’ Quetzal’s portrayal of Luna had become even more captivating, winning numerous fans overnight. Therefore, although Quetzal won the Best Supporting Actress award, her influence overshadowed the Best Actress award at the Golden Film Awards.
Evelyn opened Twitter and purposely displayed Quetzal’s follower count in front of him, asking in a low voice, “Do you still think she’s undeserving now?”
Zane: “…” He shook his head vigorously, “I don’t deserve…”
Eighty million fans! If these fans found out he, as the elder brother, was mocking his younger sister…
‘Baby Angel’ was still lacking ten million votes. With eighty million fans, a slight push would secure their victory.
Realizing this, Zane was overjoyed. “Let me witness what a fan effect truly is.”
As soon as he spoke, he noticed the vote count increased by five million within seconds.
Mia, who had been staring at the screen, widened her eyes in disbelief.
“What’s going on?” Yulianna speculated angrily, “Did that despicable Evelyn realize she was about to lose, so she bought votes?”
Layla added, “Disgusting.”
Watching the vote count rise by another million, Mia spoke, “I can openly admit defeat, but I will never stoop to such dirty tactics. Yulianna, use all available liquid funds to buy votes.”
“Sure.” Yulianna eagerly rubbed her hands, “Mia, I’ve been waiting for you to say that.” She turned to make arrangements and bought five million black market votes, boosting the numbers within two minutes.
With only one minute left, Mia witnessed the votes of ‘Baby Angel’ surged.
Yulianna returned triumphantly, “Mia, this time Evelyn won’t …”
Before she could finish her sentence, she saw Mia’s face turn dark, a sinister and terrifying expression in her eyes, as she stared fixedly at the big screen.
Yulianna took a quick glance and was astonished. ‘Baby Angel’ had securely claimed the top position, and the vote count was significantly higher than Mia’s game-forty million votes higher.
Mia unwilling to accept defeat gritted her teeth and said, “Add more.”
“Mia, it’s too late,” Yulianna looked somewhat disheartened. She hadn’t expected Evelyn’s financial power to be so robust. Forty million votes, how much money did it cost?
Seeing Mia’s discontent, Yulianna approached and whispered, “But I still have one method that can ensure ‘Baby Angel’ will never recover.”