Their Mistake, Her Rise - Chapter 78: Chapter 78

Shawn froze for a second.
"Mr. Ludwig, come on, I want a kiss," Zoe urged when Shawn didn't respond.
Mandy, hearing Zoe's words, was left doubting her own reality. 'Is this the Zoe I know? She's so bold, actually daring to ask Mr. Ludwig for a kiss in public. No one would do that, right?' she wondered.
Eunice was nearly beside herself with anger. 'How dare Zoe? He's the man I've set my sights on,' she thought.
In an instant, Shawn became the center of attention, and for a moment, he felt a bit awkward. But thinking of their fake relationship, he managed to convince himself. This was just part of the act. He had to endure it.
"Mr. Ludwig, are you unwilling to encourage me? Don't you want me to win?" Zoe looked at Shawn with feigned grievance. Everyone was watching him intently.
"Zoe, you're putting Mr. Ludwig in a difficult position. He's of high status and wouldn't do something like this in public," Eunice interjected, genuinely worried that Shawn might agree and not wanting to see him getting close to Zoe.
She tried to help Shawn out of the situation, hoping to win his favor.
The next second, Shawn actually lowered his head and gently kissed Zoe's forehead. Although it was just a light touch, it caused the entire audience to gasp in shock.
Shawn had just kissed a girl in public. He was known to have a girlfriend, and this was far more impactful than just hearing rumors. His actions had now confirmed their romantic relationship in front of everyone.
Most of the women present were Shawn's avid fans, and seeing him show favor only to Zoe left them furious. Eunice was especially upset.
But Zoe, pretending to be dissatisfied, said, "Why just the forehead?"
Shawn leaned in and whispered in a tone only the two of them could hear, "Don't push your luck."
"Alright, Mr. Ludwig, whatever you say is fine. I'm already satisfied," Zoe replied, then shooed him away. "The second round is about to start. You should go."
Shawn seemed to want to say something, but after a moment, he simply wished her luck and turned to leave.
"Zoe, are you and Mr. Ludwig really dating? I thought those rumors online were just fake," Mandy said, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Zoe just smiled without answering. This was exactly why she had come here. She had already set her sights on Shawn.
The second round of the competition began shortly after.
The content of the competition was straightforward: to predict the outcome of an ongoing financial cross-border merger and acquisition case.
To ensure fairness, the judges would provide some information for the contestants to assess and write down their predictions.
Once the answers were submitted and saved, the big screen would switch to the negotiation site, where the actual result of the M&A case would be revealed publicly, leaving no room for deceit.
In reality, such competitions were usually a formality. Only those with real talent and knowledge could make accurate judgments based on the data.
One by one, the contestants wrote down their answers and submitted them. Mandy also handed in her answer.
Surprisingly, Zoe was the first to submit her answer this time.
Eunice glanced at Zoe heading to the waiting area and couldn't help but sneer. She had already obtained the answer in advance and would directly advance to the next round in this second competition.
She didn't believe Zoe could advance by luck again. Eunice had only thought Zoe's survival in the first round was due to good fortune.
"Now let's announce the results," Laura said after all the contestants had submitted their answers and she had received the judges' verdict. "The judges' answer is failure. It seems this M&A case will not succeed. So let's see what all the contestants' answers are."
The twenty-two contestants who had advanced to the second round were now anxiously awaiting the results. Since Zoe had been the first to submit her answer, she would be the last one announced.
"We can see that the first twenty-one contestants all wrote failure. It seems they will all be moving on to the third round," Laura said.
At this moment, Cheryl whispered to Eunice, "Eunice, thanks to your reminder, I made it to the third round. At least I have something to report back home."
"Shh," Eunice hushed her, and Cheryl quickly covered her mouth, falling silent.
Laura continued, "Let's take a look at the last contestant's answer. Huh? This answer is different. Zoe actually wrote success."
As soon as the host finished speaking, the venue erupted in laughter.
Hearing this, Eunice couldn't help but smirk. "Zoe, it looks like luck won't be on your side this time."
Cheryl chimed in, "You don't have any real skills; you can only rely on luck. Unfortunately, fortune won't smile upon you this time."
Everyone felt that this outcome was only right. They didn't believe Zoe had any real talent. She had just been lucky.
However, just as everyone was mocking Zoe, convinced she was bound to lose, Zoe suddenly spoke up. "Mrs. Yoder, I have a question."
Laura raised an eyebrow and asked, "Zoe, go ahead."
"Is the result based solely on the judges' verdict, or should we also consider the actual negotiation outcome?" Zoe inquired.
Laura pondered for a moment. "Oh well, of course we should look at the negotiation result."
"In that case, let's play the negotiation video so everyone can see the result," Zoe suggested.
Her words were met with even louder derision from the crowd.
"Zoe, you're really full of yourself, aren't you? Do you think you're better than the judges?" one person sneered.
"Some people just can't see their own limitations. They think they can do anything, but they're just clowns," another added.