Unloved Unwanted Unstoppable (Seraphina and Dominic) novel Chapter 220

Seraphina walked back to her father, crouched down, and took his trembling hands. "Dad, don't be afraid. We are going to do this again, and I want you to go out there and show them exactly what you can do."

Arthur nodded, but his eyes were entirely hollow, crushed by the weight of the day's betrayals.

Watching him look so broken tore at Seraphina's heart, but she knew that by the end of the hour, he would have his dignity back.

The rematch was set up swiftly.

The stage was the Institute's central glass-walled laboratory, allowing the press to film everything from the gallery.

The judging panel consisted of three elite veteran scientists from the national board.

Charles stood at his workstation, masking his panic behind a facade of arrogant calm.

On the other side of the room, Arthur took several deep, shuddering breaths, fighting to steady his trembling hands.

Seraphina stayed by his side, stepping up to the assistant's station.

"Hold on," one of the judges interrupted over the intercom. "Ms. Sinclair, you are not a licensed researcher. You cannot be in the active lab zone."

Without missing a beat, Seraphina pulled a laminated card from her pocket and slapped it onto the glass counter. It was a federal Advanced Laboratory Assistant certification.

Growing up around a sick father who practically lived in his lab, she had spent her childhood prepping slides and running preliminary analytics.

During college, she had easily aced the certification exam. It had sat at the bottom of her drawer for years, but today, it was her ultimate weapon.

After closely inspecting the badge, the judges confirmed its validity and officially cleared her to assist.

Up in the VIP viewing gallery, Cynthia glared daggers at the glass below.

She had no idea Seraphina possessed a scientific certification.

When did she even have time to take that exam?

Why didn't anyone know about this?

Her fingernails bit into her palms. It didn't matter. A piece of plastic wouldn't save Arthur.

There was no way Seraphina was perfect at everything.

Her uncle was internationally trained. Arthur was destined to burn!

Beside her, Dominic's gaze lingered on Seraphina's credentials, his brow twitching slightly.

Just how many secrets was this woman hiding from him?

Back in the lab, Seraphina stepped into position beside Arthur.

He glanced at her, and the sight of his fierce, unyielding daughter finally brought a spark of life back to his eyes.

Charles's face went completely bloodless.

He staggered back, nearly knocking over his own rack of test tubes.

Fortunately for him, all the cameras were focused on Seraphina's station.

The staff quickly wheeled in a sterile replacement unit.

Seraphina ran a second sweep of the entire station. Once she was satisfied, she handed the primary reactant to Arthur. "You're cleared, Dad."

The moment Arthur's fingers closed around the vial, the broken, defeated old man vanished.

His spine straightened, his eyes sharpened with absolute focus, and his hands became rock steady.

Thirty years of elite, untarnished brilliance flooded back into his veins.

Meanwhile, Charles was sweating profusely, his hands trembling so violently he could barely hold a pipette.

One hour later, the chemical analysis was complete.

In speed, accuracy, and molecular stability, Arthur had absolutely decimated Charles.

The head judge stepped up to the microphone. "The results are in. The undisputed winner of this assessment is Arthur Sinclair."