Ella immediately sensed trouble brewing. She watched Daron carefully.worried he might lose his composure and jeopardize their chance to participate in the product exchange conference.

"Valentin, it's been a while," Daron said with unexpected politeness,offering nothing more than this brief greeting.

Ella stared at Daron in shock, thinking about how Valentin had poached their core team members and how Summit Technologies had plummeted from its peak into near-bankruptcy because of his betrayal.

Yet Daron could face Valentin with such composure.

Great men often possessed exceptional patience, she realized.

Ella quickly calmed herself-they would have their vindication in due time.

Valentin seemed surprised by Daron's restraint. He'd heard rumors that Daron had sold personal assets to cover the financial shortfall and even merged with an obscure company-Diamond Tech Solutions or something similar-to avoid bankruptcy.

"You know each other?" Tessa raised an eyebrow.

Valentin explained smoothly, "Former business partners."

"Then why did you stop working together?" Tessa asked.

Accusations arrived faster than the truth.

Valentin glanced meaningfully at Daron before smirking."Daron held the majority stake in the Prometheus Project, and I had serious concerns about

the equity distribution. That's why we parted ways."

"Besides," He continued, "I invested,substantial time and money in Prometheus, but the return was too low. It wasn't worth continuing to invest my resources in that project."

His explanation sounded reasonable, but it was entirely false.

Since the Prometheus Project's inception and Ella's subsequent involvement.

Valentin had barely paid attention to it.

He focused entirely on developing his own company, often absent from important decision-making meetings.

Daron had personally overseen everything, investing the most resources,

yet he had agreed to a fifty-fifty split on project profits with Valentin.

Now,Valentin was distorting facts, casting himself as the victim.

This maneuver not only curried favor with the committee members but also elicited sympathy for his supposed mistreatment, a masterful way to harm others while benefiting himself.

Ella felt indignant but maintained her composure.

"That's also why Daron and I went our separate ways," Valentin concluded.staring at them as if deliberately trying to provoke them.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop. Everyone could feel the tension.

Tessa,sensing the brewing hostility, attempted to diffuse the situation with

a light comment. "I've personally observed the Prometheus Project's

development from conception to the current research stage. 'The algorithm

is particularly impressive, and the database is nearly perfect. These factors alone demonstrate Prometheus's strong market competitiveness as an AI."

"According to what Valentin said, it seems he should be credited with most of Prometheus's achievements. Yet he's already made significant contributions to my Blue Lantern Project," Judith interjected,aggressively promoting her own project.

"What the Prometheus Project can achieve, Blue Lantern can certainly match-especially now with Valentin's involvement. I trust Ms. Hawthorne'

s judgment won't fail her."

Judith's words imnmediately captured Tessa's attention.

Ella maintained a calm demeanor throughout, appearing as detached as a bystander.

Valentin, no longer lingering at the doorway, deliberately sat beside Daron.

Daron's face hardened with visible disgust ashe shifted away.

"See that? Your painstakingly developed project simply can't compete with Blue Lantern!" Valentin taunted, his eyes narrowing mockingly.

"Why?" Daron finally spoke.

When Valentin had poached their core team members and stolen crucial data, Daron still couldn't understand why Valentin had so ruthlessly betrayed him.

Daron lowered his gaze, his eyes revealing intense anger.

Ella sensed his mounting tension and firmly gripped his hand.

"So you think you can burn bridges and kill the project, and we'll be

powerless against you?" She challenged. "You're here spreading falsehoods about the Prometheus Project, aren't you? Since Ms. Hawthorne is present.let's be transparent: the Prometheus Project was entirely managed by Daron from the initial stages through subsequent development. Meanwhile,you, Valentin, completely disappeared from the project after inviting me to invest!"

"Your behavior shows a complete lack of integrity. Has Daron ever spread negative comments about you publicly? Yet you took things further-withdrawing your investment when Prometheus was about to enter the summit and taking key team members with you. Valentin, we've kept track of every underhanded move you've made."

"We may not be able to sue you through legal channels, but if you continue to smear the Prometheus Project and disrupt market competition,I will make sure you end up behind bars."

"I mean what I say."

Ella's speech flowed relentlessly, leaving everyone stunned.

In the industry, nothing was more despised than two-faced, unprincipled people.

Valentin's behavior could serve as a textbook example of corporate treachery.

Such unprincipled conduct would damage anyone's ability to establish trust in business partnerships.

This explained why everyone now looked at Valentin with contempt.

Daron guzed at Ella in surprise. never expecting her to confron Valentin so directly.

"Ella, if you have grievances, take them to court. This is a product exchange conference, not your personal stage," Austin said coldly.

Ella found his response laughable.

Why did he always act like an impartial judge whenever Judith's interests were threatened? Did Austin lack any sense of right and wrong?

Or did he believe that anything Judith said-or even her excrement-smelled like roses?

Ella had grown accustomed to his double standards but couldn't resist firing back. "This isn't a courtroom, but it's also not a place for you and Ms.Brooks to showcase your affection. I'm simply stating facts. If you feel my words have offended you, Mr. Raymond,I can leave!"

She was tired of maintaining a humble facade for Austin and Judith's benefit.

She had come to the product exchange conference to present the Prometheus Project, but hadn't expected to be insulted instead.

The actual conference would be where true abilities would be tested.

At worst, she'd forfeit this opportunity and forge her own path through merit alone.

Her confidence in the Prometheus Project was unwavering.

She could boldly claim that no mature AI product on the market could surpass it.

Though this might sound boastful. Ella believed in her project after enduring so many obstacles and challenges without ever giving up.

She had absolute faith in her path.

"You're spreading falsehoods. Produce evidence that I betrayed the Prometheus Project. Stop slandering me, or I'll sue Summit Technologies for defamation," Valentin retorted.

"I think you're the ones feeling guilty. Why else would you slander me and then threaten to leave?" Valentin retorted, emboldened by Austin's support as he banged the table emotionally, making a show of defending his innocence.