David still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He grabbed his phone. He said, “Hold on, let me make a call.”

He called Aiden. “I asked you to organize Josie’s old papers. Are you sure you didn’t mess anything up?” He just couldn’t accept it. He had to check again.

The call dragged on for a full five minutes, and everyone in the room just waited quietly. No one rushed him. Instead, one after another, they approached Josie.

A professor said, “Your paper is well–written, and your experimental data is recorded clearly and thoroughly. Did you personally supervise every experiment?”

Josie nodded. “Yes. I know I’m not the smartest, so I always make sure to be extra careful and meticulous. I personally oversaw every experiment for the entire process.” Earl patted her on the shoulder. “That’s admirable. You’re a good kid, and you work really hard. Stick with Professor Wilcourt. If there’s ever anything you don’t understand academically, just come ask me anytime.”

Edwin Apple spoke up, “If you don’t want to give up on cytology, you’re welcome to sit in on my classes too. I might not be as good as Professor Lawson, but I can help you pass your graduation exams.”

“Professor Apple, are you really trying to steal my student right in front of me?” Delilah huffed, pulling Josie protectively behind her. Josie couldn’t help but laugh. She said, “Thank you, Professor Apple. I’ll definitely come to your classes when I have the time, but for now, I probably need to focus on my advisor’s courses. Honestly, I’ve never thought about giving up on cytology!”

“Good,” Edwin said happily, “You’re welcome in my class anytime!”

Just as they were chatting animatedly, David walked over with a dark expression. He said, “I never knew you’d written papers like this. Even if I wrongly accused you this time, you have to understand. Everything I did was never about targeting you or trying to keep you from graduating. After all, you were once my student, and I have a responsibility to correct any mistakes you might have made. I was only doing this for your sake.”

Even though it had already been proven that those papers were Josie’s work, David still didn’t feel he’d done anything wrong at all. Without giving Josie a chance to respond, he turned to Delilah. He said, “Professor Wilcourt, my report wasn’t personal. Everything I did was for the sake of maintaining faculty integrity. I know you’ve always had issues with me. But I don’t want you to let personal feelings cloud your judgment at work. I was just worried that you might make a mistake because of some conflict, which is why I called for this public investigation. I was once a student of Leo, and I don’t want your family to be tarnished in any way. I hope you can understand my actions and hold yourself to a higher standard in the future.”

Everyone was shocked by how righteous and indignant he sounded. He’d clearly wronged someone, but he still had the audacity to preach like he was completely in the right. They’d seen shameless people before, but never anyone as brazen as him.

“Spare me. How dare you even bring up my father?” Delilah snapped, stepping forward in anger. She asked, “Whether my family gets tarnished or not is none of your business. Why don’t you worry about yourself instead? A mistake is a mistake, and you don’t even have the guts to admit it. Yet you stand here acting so self–righteous, trying to lecture me? Who do you think you are to talk down to me like that?”

Josie grabbed Delilah’s arm, shooting David a frosty glare. She said, “Professor Lawson, I’m not your student anymore, so don’t act like you’re doing me a favor by trying to ‘correct‘ my so–called mistakes in the future. If I really did something wrong, the school would punish me. But you wronged me, and that’s a fact. You can’t just sweep this under the rug so easily.”

Josie stepped up to Hadley. “Mr. Rogers, it’s not too much to ask Professor Lawson to apologize to Professor Wilcourt, is it? And I think it’s only fair that I get my experimental data and papers back right now, isn’t it?”

Hadley looked troubled. “Well…”

As the Director of the Academic Affairs Office, there was no way he could afford to offend either Delilah or David. If it weren’t for the fact that Delilah was involved in the upcoming campus competition, he never would’ve dared to make this investigation public.