The Rebirth of a Scorned Heiress

All team four members sat in the girl’s room, fully packed and ready to go, as they huddled together watching the press conference organised for Evie and her team to apologise and clarify the scandal on the internet. “I can’t believe Merissa would throw them under the bus like that; she should have also been left accountable for her crimes,” Celina voiced in dissatisfaction as she heard Evie’s apology to Merissa.

“I’m surprised Evie agreed to be her scapegoat in the first place; no matter how far the scandal has affected her, she’s not supposed to just succumb that way. The Thompson family is much more famous than the Smiths, so it should be the other way around,” Light joined in.

“Merissa is cunning.” Lily voiced calmly, “I’m sure she has something on Evie or someone on their team, and she blackmailed them with it. Having her reputation sullied before she goes to the nationals is more like a death trap for her,” she explained as she put away her phone, having had enough of the insincere apologies being thrown around by those people.

“So you are going to leave her be?” Avon asked sceptically, and Lily raised a brow in question, “What has it got to do with me? She blackmailed them, not me; they should find a way to settle scores amongst themselves,” she shrugged casually, and Avon rolled his eyes.

“Come on, we know all this is because Evie offended you; I don’t believe all this is coincidental; you must have fuelled the flames somewhere. We are not against it; I probably would have done the same thing if I were in your shoes. Even now, I still want to do something, but I’m glad you are capable on your own,” he explained, and Lily chuckled with a shake of her head.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be dealt with in due time. I’m baiting her till we go for nationals, then I’ll properly settle scores with her. Come on, let’s walk around Paris for a bit before we return home. I need to bring souvenirs along for my family,” she urged as she stood up, ready to go.

As the team members left the hotel room, the warm summer breeze of Paris caressed their faces, inviting them to enjoy all the city had to offer. Despite the turmoil of the past few days, the team members felt their spirits lift as they immersed themselves in the bustling streets of the City of Light.

“Let’s go to the Eiffel Tower first!” Celina exclaimed, leading the group with a spring in her step. “I want to take pictures at the top and see the whole city from there.”This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

Since their flight was scheduled for early morning the next day, the group spent the whole day shopping and touring the streets of Paris while buying souvenirs for their loved ones.

Meanwhile, back in Salem, Mark sat before his computer, his finger massaging his nose bridge as his hawk-like eyes scanned through the details of the files on his computer.

“Is this the document prepared by William for the mini villa project?” He asked calmly, his voice devoid of any emotions that could give away his thoughts; after all, he was in a board meeting filled with people from the different factions in the group.

“Yes.” Mr. Melvin, one of the board members, replied, “The file contains the blueprints prepared for the mini villa project, and we were asked to make our preparations based on them,” he explained, and Mark nodded.

“What are your thoughts?” He asked, finally looking away from his computer and into the eyes of those present.

The group shared a hesitant glance amongst themselves, each having something to say but afraid that it might be used against them by their counterparts.

Director Alvin cleared his throat as he readjusted in his seat before letting out his thoughts: “We can’t say anything about the project for now since we are not too sure about the security system you have been planning to use. You have not allowed us a glimpse of the project you and your team are working on, so it’s a little difficult to base our judgement on an abstract project,” he voiced, and murmurs of agreement echoed through the conference hall.

Mark hummed and bobbed his head, taking note of his observation before asking others if they had something to say. Seeing no one else talk, he stood up and powered on the PowerPoint. “One of the reasons I’ve called the meeting is to explain the security system project to you all,” he announced.

As Mark began to walk through the security system project, a hush fell over the conference hall. The group leaned forward, their attention rapt, as Mark began to describe the system in detail.

“The security system we are working on this time is an advanced piece of software that will open new doors in the technology world. As you all know, our recent project has been in collaboration with a certain programmer, this one included,” he began.

“The system was programmed in such a way that it connected with the DNA of the people living in that villa and could be monitored from anywhere at any time.”

“Furthermore,” Mark continued, his voice carrying an air of confidence, “this security system is designed to detect and adapt to potential threats in real-time. If the system detects any anomalies or intrusions, it will activate the appropriate countermeasures and notify the appropriate authorities.” He explained and pointed to the images on the screen.

Alvin raised a hand. “What kind of countermeasures are we talking about here?” he asked, his eyes narrowed with interest.

“A wide range,” Mark replied, his expression becoming more serious. “From automated turrets that can fire non-lethal rounds to environmental controls that can disable intruders with extreme teaser guns and shock waves,”

The room fell silent for a moment as the board members digested this information. Finally, the vice president of the board, Mr. Wallace, cleared his throat. “What about false positives?” he asked, his brow furrowed with concern. “I don’t want us to be sued for accidentally electrifying someone’s grandmother because she tripped a sensor.”

Mark nodded in understanding. “We’ve taken that into account. The system is designed to learn from its mistakes and become more accurate over time. Besides, sharing DNA eliminates all possible dangers for the family members,” he explained calmly.

“And what about the AI that will be operating this system?” Director Alvin asked, his tone measured but curious as his eyes fixed on the images displayed on the screen. “Will it be capable of handling complex decision-making in a high-pressure situation? After all, we can’t have a single system failure result in our clients becoming sitting ducks.”

Mark nodded. “The AI in charge has been programmed with a vast range of scenarios and potential threats. It has undergone rigorous testing and has performed flawlessly in every simulation. It will be able to make decisions faster and with greater accuracy than any human can.”

“As you have seen in our past works with the programmer, all of their works are made perfectly with risk control in place. And just to make sure we are not missing anything, my team and I have already tested it through the stimulation system, and it runs perfectly well,” he explained, and the room fell silent as they all internally deliberated on the compatibility of the system and the architectural design for the villa.

“With what you’ve explained, we will have to propose to the real estate company to revise their designs,” Mr. Wallace said. “It’s not compatible with the software we have developed,” he added.

“I don’t think so,” Director Alvin countered.