David’s words left Josie feeling utterly defeated. She had always known he looked down on her, but she hadn’t realized just how deep his contempt ran.

Josie thought bitterly, “So, in his eyes, I can’t even publish a paper on my own? He really thinks I’m that worthless. He’s so sure of himself that he’s actually launching a public investigation against me. He just wants to see me humiliated, disgraced, and finally punished by the school. He really doesn’t care at all about the bond we once had as teacher and student!”

She had thought that no matter what David did to her, nothing would surprise or hurt her anymore. But looking at him at that moment, she still felt a cold chill and couldn’t help but think it just wasn’t worth it. “Turns out, going through all this again still hurts so much!” Josie thought.

“Relax,” Delilah said, noticing Josie’s nails digging into her palms. She gently patted Josie’s hand. “Remember what I told you. Even if the world ends, I’ll hold it together for you!”

With those words, Delilah stood up and walked onto the stage. Delilah started, “I don’t have much to say. Honestly, if Professor Lawson hadn’t brought this up today, I wouldn’t even have known Josie published a paper. Everyone knows that ever since I switched to the Department of Traditional Medicine seven years ago, I haven’t touched anything related to cytology. This paper is way out of my field. Normally, I wouldn’t bother defending myself against people just throwing mud for no reason. To save everyone’s time, I’m fine with letting the school’s cybersecurity staff check my computer.”

As soon as she finished speaking, an uproar broke out in the room. David’s expression darkened. “Just because it’s not on your computer doesn’t mean you didn’t write it. Maybe you just used her computer instead.”

Delilah let out a sarcastic laugh. “Want me to call the police for you? Maybe they can help you figure out who actually wrote this paper. Faculty and administrators, let me say this one more time. If Professor Lawson hadn’t brought this up today, I honestly wouldn’t have had a clue that Josie had published such a paper in a magazine. As you all know, I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t even had time to flip through a magazine, let alone set foot on campus. If I had, we wouldn’t be having this public investigation right now.”

Hadley Rogers from the Academic Affairs Office kept nodding along. “That’s true,” he said, “But since Professor Lawson has raised this issue, we can’t just turn a blind eye. It’s best for everyone if we get to the bottom of it. Josie, do you have anything to say about this?”

Josie pulled her laptop out of her bag. She said, “This is the laptop I always have with me. It’s also the one I used for my paper. It contains the full revision history of the published article. It also has the submission emails I sent to the journal. The school’s cybersecurity team can check the timeline and verify whether I’m the real author of this paper.”

The laptop was quickly passed to the front of the room, and the school’s cybersecurity staff began examining both computers right in front of everyone. Within half an hour, the results were ready.

The staff member announced, “According to our investigation, there has never been any trace of the paper or related files on Professor Wilcourt’s computer. But on Josie’s laptop, we found the original draft and all the revision logs. Reconstructing the timeline, we saw that Josie was working on this paper late at night, starting around 11 PM or midnight. She kept at it straight through until 4 in the morning. The email submitting the paper was sent at 5 AM, which means she sent it to the journal right after finishing up. The date was October 9th, a Tuesday. At the same time, we also found some activity logs on Professor Wilcourt’s computer, but none of them had anything to do with Josie’s paper.”

The cybersecurity officer stood up and announced the results to all the teachers and administrators in the chapel.

Delilah gave David a faint, almost mocking smile. “Oh, that reminds me. On the 9th, I was at the traditional medicine hospital and didn’t come back to campus until the 11th. If you still don’t buy it, Professor Lawson, go ahead and check the hospital’s security cameras. I’ve got witnesses too.”

Josie chimed in, “I’ve got witnesses too. I stayed up all night working on that paper, and my three roommates can back me up.”

Hadley nodded. “Now that the investigation is complete, Professor Lawson’s accusation is dismissed.”