Kelsie ignored her and took out her phone.
Laura balled her right hand into a tight fist and was about to add something else when her teammates beckoned onto her.
As soon as Laura left, the other teams began noticing there was no one else on Kelsie's team except her.
"What is she doing? Where are her team members?"
"Wasn't she the one who said she'll be a team all by herself?"
"Tsk! I think I also heard her sister was saying she would make space for her to join their team, but she refused. And to think she doesn't know much about coding."
"What? Does she think she's here to play? How can she not know how to code when she's in a hackathon?"
"Everyone heard her sister say she doesn't know a thing about it. She never attended the classes their home teacher held back when they were younger. A man even brought her flowers just now telling her she doesn't have to try so hard but she turned him away so coldly."
"She's not just arrogant, but she also lacks manners. I know just anybody can enter this contest, but should they really let her be here? She's betraying everything our hacking community stands for!"
"Since she's so arrogant and won't leave on her own, we should boot her out as soon as the contest begins."
"I agree with that."
"Me too."
The person being talked about didn't seem to care about their opinions. She was too busy worrying about the set-up of the five computers in front of her.
She didn't think the set-up would be like this. To win the contest money, she had to use her hacking skills.
And with their computers being put out in the open like this, people would surely glance her way once she began coding.
Although she was yet to see any bigshot, she knew there was certainly people watching them from somewhere. She didn't know which angle, so she couldn't risk it.
Talking of bigshots…
A face suddenly came to mind and she didn't know when she scoffed irritatedly.
That condescending rude narcissist could possibly be one of these bigshots. After all, he was looking to employ a good hacker to catch who had been stealing from him.
She was deep in thought and failed to notice the scowl which crept onto her face at the thought of Jett.
It was at this moment that a petit woman walked into the room and stood in front of the announcer, unable to meet his eyes.
She was putting on a grey sweatshirt and pant, her hair tied up in a ponytail while she fervently pushed up her medicated glasses, eyes darting across the room nervously.
"Excuse me, I-I don't have a team. I couldn't form a team nor could I join any."
The timid voice brought Kelsie back to her senses and she glanced towards the direction it came from.
Laura, who had taken her seat as the leader of her group, paused and raised her eyes to look at the person.
She took a careful look at her before the corners of her lips hooked up into a mischievous smile.
"You're in luck. Kelsie Sutton is the only person in her team. Would it be okay for them to become a team?" She asked the announcer.
At this, the girl timidly lowered her eyes to the floor and clenched the side of her gown tightly.
The announcer glanced at her before shifting his gaze to Kelsie.
Truth be told, he knew her and knew what kind of trouble she always brought with her.
She was slow on the keyboard and always made them repeat a task more than once, hence, wasting everyone's time.
She had joined the country's hackathon the year before and was eliminated as soon as it began.
Seeing her here was infuriating him and he was glad she was yet to join a team.
He slipped a hand into his pocket and shook his head in refusal.
"The lady there wants to be a team all hy herself, so I'm afraid there's no team you can…"
"I'll take her." Kelsie suddenly cut him off, her voice calm and firm.
The announcer's jaw tightened.
"I assure you if you think you're at a disadvantage because you're the only one on your team, having her with you will not make any difference. Instead, she'll slow you down."
Kelsie leaned forward, her eyes piercing as she repeated, "I said I'll take her."
The announcer's lips thinned and be swallowed his protest.
Upstairs, Jett Adler scoffed.
The bigshots in the room with him heard him and chuckled.
"You see her too, don't you?"
"You mean the arrogant woman with no coding skills? Of course we all see her."
"She came here so lousily with nothing other than that beautiful face of hers. Did she mistake this contest for a beauty contest?"
"Since hacking isn't for her, she should just become a model and accompany people like us. We'll pay her more than the prize money for this contest."
One of them realized Jett wasn't joining their conversation and turned to him with a lewd smile.
Referring to Kelsie, he swept his lips across his lips lustfully and asked, "Mr. Adler, she's stunning, isn't she? Surely, she tickles your fancy, doesn't she?"
Jett rested his eyes on the man, the lewd smile on his face grating on his nerves.
Feeling a chill run down his spine, the man shivered uncontrollably and glanced around in confusion, wondering why the temperature in the room suddenly dropped.
"If this was a beauty contest, she would've been declared the winner the second she walked onto the stage." The man sitting at the far left corner hummed.
Jett's face darkened, but he still said nothing and instead turned to Eric.
"Find three more people to fill her team."
His reason was simple.
If they filled the other seats, it'd become difficult for these horny old men to continue looking at her.
His eyes landed on her again and he sneered inwardly.
Didn't she know what the time was? What was a married woman doing outside so late at night while her husband and children were at home?
Or was she here because she knew they were bigshots watching her?
So she only stalked him for a few days and changed her target as soon as he caught her?
How weak-willed and inconsistent!