Their Mistake, Her Rise - Chapter 230: Chapter 230
You are reading Their Mistake, Her Rise, Chapter 230: Chapter 230. Read more chapters of Their Mistake, Her Rise.
The outcome of this business debate was already obvious.
"Well said." At that moment, Robert, one of the Jelonsburg heavyweights, couldn't help but stand up after hearing Zoe's outstanding speech. He clapped and said, "That was excellent."
"This girl Joyce has her eye on really is impressive in every way," someone else chimed in.
"We have to give it to her, we really do."
The applause continued.
Right after, all the Jelonsburg big shots stood up, giving a round of thunderous applause. To get this kind of reaction from Jelonsburg's top dogs—only Zoe could pull that off. She truly deserved it.
As soon as this happened, even Samuel, who had been desperate to take Zoe down, was left speechless.
Inside, he was both shocked and amazed. 'Who would've thought that someone as quiet as Zoe could deliver such a convincing argument? Her talent really caught me off guard,' he thought.
At that moment, Samuel couldn't help but think that if it weren't for Sophia's history with Zoe, he might even want to be friends with Zoe.
Thinking of this, Samuel let out a self-mocking smile. The result was clear. Zoe was, without a doubt, the winner of the second round.
But just as Zoe and her group were about to head to the third round, Samuel looked at her seriously and said, "You really are something. I admit defeat.
"But the third round of this all-around challenge is the toughest of all—it's world-class. And the judge will be Alex, the most versatile of the three of us.
"I admit you're talented in business debates, but that doesn't mean you can beat my brother. Good luck—you'll need it."
Zoe shot him a bold, confident smile. "I'll be waiting to see what happens," she replied, then strode off with swagger.
The third round was an escape room challenge, where contestants would be locked in a room and had to clear three different stages to get out.
The first challenge was basic system decryption—a hacker test. Every Highcrest honors student had cyber training, so breaching the damaged network to retrieve the password and unlock the gate should've been easy.
Most students cleared the first stage, but the real challenge came in rounds two and three, particularly the final test that even the prodigious Philip couldn't conquer, demonstrating Alex's formidable prowess.
Gerald and Eunice, who went before Zoe, had both tried. Eunice, in particular, thought she'd at least make it to the third stage, but she got stuck at the second and was forced to quit, her face turning absolutely sour.
Gerald made it all the way to the third stage on his own merit, but he was eliminated too. Soon, it was Zoe's turn.
At the starting point, besides Zoe, there were two others who hadn't gone yet. The two of them stood with the Jelonsburg big shots and the rest of the audience, watching everyone's escape room attempts on the big screen.
With danger everywhere and the pressure mounting, the two exchanged a look, made up their minds, and told Alex, the judge, "Mr. White, we're too scared. We're dropping out. We quit the competition."
"Yeah, we're out. I'll go."
After the two ran off in fear, Alex glanced at Zoe with a satisfied smirk and said, "So, are you going to give up too?"
Zoe stayed silent, which only made Alex's eyes turn even colder. "Zoe, you should've known this day would come the moment you messed with Sophia. If you keep competing, I won't show you any mercy. I absolutely won't let you off easy."
With cold laughs, all anyone saw was Zoe turning sideways, her posture tall and unyielding, striding straight into the escape room.
Tough, cool, and proud.
She radiated a confidence that even made Alex falter for a second. He swallowed, unable to figure out what was up with Zoe.
'Pushed to the edge like this, and she's still standing like a damn weed. Is this how she managed to chase down that bastard Shawn?' Alex thought. He shook his head—some things just weren't worth overthinking.
Strictly speaking, the first round of this third escape room challenge was all about hacking skills. For Zoe, that was a walk in the park—she cleared it in no time.
The second round was bomb disposal. Contestants had three minutes to find and defuse every hidden bomb to pass.
And these weren't fake bombs, either—this was the real deal. To make things even harder for Zoe, Alex had swapped in the most powerful explosives he could find, just waiting to see her mess up.
But to everyone's surprise, Zoe moved through the room like she was just taking a stroll in her own backyard, finding and defusing every single bomb with perfect accuracy. She finished in just one minute and twenty seconds.
She was so relaxed, it almost looked like she was deliberately taking her time. Everyone watching on the big screen, even Alex himself let out a collective sigh of relief.
As soon as Zoe stepped into the third round, Alex suddenly broke into a wide, cocky grin.
Standing next to him were his brothers, Samuel and Simon. When they saw Zoe enter the third round on the monitor, Samuel couldn't help but ask, "So, what's the third round?"
He knew Alex's style. Alex always saved the hardest, most hellish challenge for last.
Sure enough, Alex's next words sent a chill down everyone's spine, even the Jelonsburg big shots watching.
"Oh, the third round? There are no rules. The contestant just has to find any way to break out and escape the room. That's it.
"But I've made it even tougher for Zoe. She's got thirty seconds to get out. If she can't, I've set thirty-nine bombs in there. She'll never make it out alive."
The moment he said that, everyone's faces changed. Especially Gerald, whose expression turned downright grim.
Thirty seconds. Thirty-nine bombs. Expecting someone to break out in just thirty seconds. That was pure fantasy. This time, Zoe was as good as dead.
"You can't do this! This is murder!" Gerald exploded, glaring at Alex. But it was already too late. Zoe had already stepped through the door into the final room.
"Beep beep beep—" Suddenly, a shrill alarm blared, making everyone's nerves go haywire with fear.
On the big screen, red lights flashed inside the third room, and a digital timer appeared on the wall—00:30.
Thirty seconds was all she had. Below the timer, a line of red text read. [Thirty seconds—escape by any means or perish when these three chambers explode.]
This was a death trap. Alex was dead set on killing her.
In the middle of the third room, Zoe looked straight at the camera and flashed a mocking, almost taunting smile. Her cold, piercing gaze made Alex's heart skip a beat.
But he quickly forced himself to calm down, telling himself Zoe was just putting on a brave face. She was out of options now.
But in the very next second, just when it looked hopeless, Zoe did something so bold it shattered the so-called impossible deadlock of this escape room.
"Well said." At that moment, Robert, one of the Jelonsburg heavyweights, couldn't help but stand up after hearing Zoe's outstanding speech. He clapped and said, "That was excellent."
"This girl Joyce has her eye on really is impressive in every way," someone else chimed in.
"We have to give it to her, we really do."
The applause continued.
Right after, all the Jelonsburg big shots stood up, giving a round of thunderous applause. To get this kind of reaction from Jelonsburg's top dogs—only Zoe could pull that off. She truly deserved it.
As soon as this happened, even Samuel, who had been desperate to take Zoe down, was left speechless.
Inside, he was both shocked and amazed. 'Who would've thought that someone as quiet as Zoe could deliver such a convincing argument? Her talent really caught me off guard,' he thought.
At that moment, Samuel couldn't help but think that if it weren't for Sophia's history with Zoe, he might even want to be friends with Zoe.
Thinking of this, Samuel let out a self-mocking smile. The result was clear. Zoe was, without a doubt, the winner of the second round.
But just as Zoe and her group were about to head to the third round, Samuel looked at her seriously and said, "You really are something. I admit defeat.
"But the third round of this all-around challenge is the toughest of all—it's world-class. And the judge will be Alex, the most versatile of the three of us.
"I admit you're talented in business debates, but that doesn't mean you can beat my brother. Good luck—you'll need it."
Zoe shot him a bold, confident smile. "I'll be waiting to see what happens," she replied, then strode off with swagger.
The third round was an escape room challenge, where contestants would be locked in a room and had to clear three different stages to get out.
The first challenge was basic system decryption—a hacker test. Every Highcrest honors student had cyber training, so breaching the damaged network to retrieve the password and unlock the gate should've been easy.
Most students cleared the first stage, but the real challenge came in rounds two and three, particularly the final test that even the prodigious Philip couldn't conquer, demonstrating Alex's formidable prowess.
Gerald and Eunice, who went before Zoe, had both tried. Eunice, in particular, thought she'd at least make it to the third stage, but she got stuck at the second and was forced to quit, her face turning absolutely sour.
Gerald made it all the way to the third stage on his own merit, but he was eliminated too. Soon, it was Zoe's turn.
At the starting point, besides Zoe, there were two others who hadn't gone yet. The two of them stood with the Jelonsburg big shots and the rest of the audience, watching everyone's escape room attempts on the big screen.
With danger everywhere and the pressure mounting, the two exchanged a look, made up their minds, and told Alex, the judge, "Mr. White, we're too scared. We're dropping out. We quit the competition."
"Yeah, we're out. I'll go."
After the two ran off in fear, Alex glanced at Zoe with a satisfied smirk and said, "So, are you going to give up too?"
Zoe stayed silent, which only made Alex's eyes turn even colder. "Zoe, you should've known this day would come the moment you messed with Sophia. If you keep competing, I won't show you any mercy. I absolutely won't let you off easy."
With cold laughs, all anyone saw was Zoe turning sideways, her posture tall and unyielding, striding straight into the escape room.
Tough, cool, and proud.
She radiated a confidence that even made Alex falter for a second. He swallowed, unable to figure out what was up with Zoe.
'Pushed to the edge like this, and she's still standing like a damn weed. Is this how she managed to chase down that bastard Shawn?' Alex thought. He shook his head—some things just weren't worth overthinking.
Strictly speaking, the first round of this third escape room challenge was all about hacking skills. For Zoe, that was a walk in the park—she cleared it in no time.
The second round was bomb disposal. Contestants had three minutes to find and defuse every hidden bomb to pass.
And these weren't fake bombs, either—this was the real deal. To make things even harder for Zoe, Alex had swapped in the most powerful explosives he could find, just waiting to see her mess up.
But to everyone's surprise, Zoe moved through the room like she was just taking a stroll in her own backyard, finding and defusing every single bomb with perfect accuracy. She finished in just one minute and twenty seconds.
She was so relaxed, it almost looked like she was deliberately taking her time. Everyone watching on the big screen, even Alex himself let out a collective sigh of relief.
As soon as Zoe stepped into the third round, Alex suddenly broke into a wide, cocky grin.
Standing next to him were his brothers, Samuel and Simon. When they saw Zoe enter the third round on the monitor, Samuel couldn't help but ask, "So, what's the third round?"
He knew Alex's style. Alex always saved the hardest, most hellish challenge for last.
Sure enough, Alex's next words sent a chill down everyone's spine, even the Jelonsburg big shots watching.
"Oh, the third round? There are no rules. The contestant just has to find any way to break out and escape the room. That's it.
"But I've made it even tougher for Zoe. She's got thirty seconds to get out. If she can't, I've set thirty-nine bombs in there. She'll never make it out alive."
The moment he said that, everyone's faces changed. Especially Gerald, whose expression turned downright grim.
Thirty seconds. Thirty-nine bombs. Expecting someone to break out in just thirty seconds. That was pure fantasy. This time, Zoe was as good as dead.
"You can't do this! This is murder!" Gerald exploded, glaring at Alex. But it was already too late. Zoe had already stepped through the door into the final room.
"Beep beep beep—" Suddenly, a shrill alarm blared, making everyone's nerves go haywire with fear.
On the big screen, red lights flashed inside the third room, and a digital timer appeared on the wall—00:30.
Thirty seconds was all she had. Below the timer, a line of red text read. [Thirty seconds—escape by any means or perish when these three chambers explode.]
This was a death trap. Alex was dead set on killing her.
In the middle of the third room, Zoe looked straight at the camera and flashed a mocking, almost taunting smile. Her cold, piercing gaze made Alex's heart skip a beat.
But he quickly forced himself to calm down, telling himself Zoe was just putting on a brave face. She was out of options now.
But in the very next second, just when it looked hopeless, Zoe did something so bold it shattered the so-called impossible deadlock of this escape room.
End of Their Mistake, Her Rise Chapter 230. Continue reading Chapter 231 or return to Their Mistake, Her Rise book page.