Chapter 4

Boom.

My mind shattered into static.

The world tilted on its axis, collapsing around me.

I couldn't hear whatever bureaucratic jargon the investigator rattled off next, nor could I see the twisted expression on Julian's face.

I only knew that with that single nod, Julian had branded the scarlet letter of "academic fraud" permanently onto my name.

Moments later, security officers moved to escort me out of the building for formal disciplinary processing.

As we reached the lobby of the main research tower, Chloe was waiting by the turnstiles, flanked by her clique from Records. Smug, vicious triumph dripped from their sneering faces.

"Well, well. Look who got the VIP escort. Isn't that our brilliant 'star researcher' Dr. Vance? Weren't you acting so mighty last week? Look at you now, getting dragged out like common trash!"

Chloe's sharp laugh triggered a wave of giggles from the women behind her.

I clenched my jaw and tried to push past, but one of her cronies blocked my way.

"What's the rush, Evelyn?"

"Weren't you insisting you weren't a homewrecker? Now it turns out you forged your entire career. Tsk, tsk... rotten to the core!"

Another sycophant chimed in:

"Exactly! Chloe, you're way too sweet. You let this fraud walk all over you! Good thing Julian saw right through her!"

My hands were cuffed behind my back; I was stripped of my badge and stripped of my dignity.

Their mocking laughter tore at my sanity, drowning me in the same suffocating despair that had killed me in my past life.

Just as the security guards guided me through the exit doors, one of the officers leaned in and whispered barely above a breath:

"Director Hayes asked me to tell you something."

"Hold on. Don't give up. He's going to clear your name."

Back inside the facility, Chloe wrapped herself around Julian's arm, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness.

"Julian, thank you so much for backing me up!"

"After she humiliated me in front of the entire floor, I could barely show my face. Now let's see her try to talk down to me ever again!"

But Julian didn't smile or indulge her like he usually did.

His brow was tightly furrowed, his eyes swirling with a sick mixture of guilt and dread.

He pulled his arm away and snapped at her:

"Shut up!"

Chloe recoiled at his sudden harshness, blinking in shock before quickly lowering her voice.

"Fine, fine. I won't say another word."

"Just finish your presentation at the all-hands disciplinary assembly today, and this whole nightmare will be over for good."

Julian said nothing, staring blankly ahead.

An hour later, the main auditorium was packed to capacity. Every senior executive, lead scientist, and fellow researcher was seated, their eyes fixed on Julian as he stepped up to the podium.

Taking a shaky breath, he plugged his flash drive into the podium terminal and opened the presentation titled: Findings on the Academic Misconduct of Evelyn Vance.

Julian cleared his throat, leaning into the microphone—

Suddenly, the slide on the massive projection screen vanished!

In its place popped up an audio waveform player. Before Julian could react, crystal-clear voices blasted out of the auditorium's surround-sound speakers.

It was an audio recording of Chloe and Julian.

Chloe's coquettish voice echoed through the hall: "Julian, it's all set! I wiped the security footage, and you swap out Evelyn's raw data file.”

“When Ethics questions you, just swear on your life that it's the original version. It's not like she backed it up outside the server anyway!"

Julian's hesitant voice followed: "Right. You're sure the surveillance loops and access logs are completely sanitized?"

Chloe laughed smugly: "Relax! There is no way in hell she's wriggling out of this one!"