Chapter 123

Delilah’s words made the whole place fall silent for a moment.

It felt like everyone could actually hear the crisp sound of Delilah slapping David across the face.

Finally, Hadley stepped forward and took the microphone from David.

He said, “The school’s network security team has just finished their investigation. They’ve confirmed that Josie’s paper is her work and has nothing to do with Professor Wilcourt.

“Professor Lawson, please stop questioning this.

“As for the source of the data in her paper, that’s another matter. Josie, let’s hear your explanation.”

Josie felt a wave of frustration wash over her.

She thought, ‘Why do I have to be put on trial in front of everyone and prove my innocence just because David decided to question me? Is it just because of his lofty status as a professor? Because he’s always had a reputation for fairness and all those achievements in research and education, does that mean he gets special privileges? Does that give him the right to challenge anyone he wants, whenever he wants? Now even the school has to go along with his accusations and launch a public investigation against Professor Wilcourt!’

She felt a pang of sadness, but she knew that right now, everyone was still being fooled by David. No one had seen his true nature yet, and she was more than willing to be the one to let everyone catch a glimpse of who David really was.

Josie strode up to the front of the stage.

She began, “Everyone, please take a look at the screen. This shows all the experiments I participated in while I was part of Professor Lawson’s team.

“Mr. Rogers, could you please pull up the papers I’ve written over the past few years? We can compare the two sets of data.

“I don’t know if Professor Lawson has actually read my papers, but you can see for yourselves. After every single experiment I participated in, I wrote a corresponding paper. Over the past two and a half years, I took part in 271 experiments and wrote 271 papers. I never did any of those experiments independently. It wasn’t just because of time constraints. All those experiments were based on my teammates‘ projects. They had exams and competitions to prepare for, and I couldn’t just steal their thunder.

“Do you remember saying that, Professor Lawson?”

She let out a cold, mocking laugh. “That’s what you told me when I tried to apply for the 107th experiment on my own. Because of that, Vincent became the lead operator instead. For the 190th, 201st, and 207th experiments, I also applied to do them independently. The applications should still be in the team’s records. If you don’t believe me, go check for yourself.”

Her smile was full of bitterness.

Josie said, “But no matter how many times I applied, you never approved any of them. After that, I just stopped bothering. I threw myself into working alongside my teammates. Even though none of those experiments were done independently by me, I kept a record of all the experimental data. It wasn’t just the key data points my teammates asked for. I recorded almost every single set of data throughout the entire experiment. Feel free to check for yourselves.”

She clicked open set after set of experimental data, glancing over them before pulling up the corresponding research papers.

She asked, “Professor Lawson, would you care to actually read my papers for once? Then, you can tell everyone if I was just coasting in your team for the experience and awards, or if I actually know what I’m doing.”

Josie gritted her teeth as she spoke, her big eyes reddened with anger.

Delilah said while giving David a fake smile, “If you can’t be bothered to read them, I could always do it for you. Who knows, maybe I’ll even dig up a few hidden gems. But too bad I’m Josie’s advisor now. Since you’ve reported me, I really have to keep my distance. So, looks like this one’s all on you, Professor Lawson.”

Just as Delilah finished speaking, to everyone’s surprise, another professor stood up.

“Let me handle this,” he said calmly, “It won’t take long. Just give me half an hour and I’ll pick one to read.”

Another professor agreed, “Yeah, that works. There’s plenty of us here."