Chapter 130

“Didn’t you? Don’t tell me you weren’t blown away by that paper she just presented,” the first shot back.

The second person replied, “Of course I was. 271 experiments in just two and a half years, and she wrote a paper for every single one."

“With that kind of drive, if she doesn’t make it, who will? What teacher wouldn’t want a student like her?”

“Well, there is. Professor Lawson, for one, doesn’t seem to be a fan,” someone joked.

Everyone went quiet.

“Maybe Professor Lawson just has so many star students that he doesn’t even care,” someone said, the jealousy practically dripping from their voice.

There were only a handful of top students every year, and even fewer who were both outstanding and hardworking. They wondered how David got to get all of them.

However, he didn’t appreciate them. Suppressing Josie’s papers was bad enough, but then he pulled this kind of dirty stunt to keep her down. They felt that was not something an educator would do.

Everyone was fuming with righteous indignation.

They all turned to Hadley.

Hadley said, “Don’t worry, I’ll report everything that happened today exactly as it was. I won’t cover for anyone!

“No matter who it is, we won’t let anyone off the hook.”

After hearing that, everyone turned their attention to Earl.

Earl waved his hand.

He said, “As long as I’m here, that girl’s not going to be wronged again.

“Seriously, if you don’t trust me, you trust Delilah, right? Now that Josie’s her student, who’d dare give her a hard time?”

People felt that was true.

If there was anyone in the whole school who dared to go toe-to-toe with David, it had to be Delilah.

The thing is, those two already had some bad blood between them.

Now that everything had blown up, there was bound to be plenty of drama coming.

The teachers in the room all had different looks on their faces, each lost in their own thoughts, not really knowing what to say.

“Alright, everyone, let’s get back to our seats. We’ve got the next item on the agenda: the evaluation for this year’s school competition,” Hadley said.

David stormed into his lab, face twisted with rage, and kicked the chair by the door so hard it crashed to the floor.

“Kyle, get your ass out here now!” he bellowed.

David was always the picture of a polished, gentlemanly professor. Losing his cool was almost unheard of.

He could count on one hand the number of times he’d ever raised his voice. But lately, he was losing it way too often.

First, Vincent had accepted that pricey gift from Josie, making David feel utterly humiliated.

He thought that was the most embarrassing moment he’d have all year, but today had taken things to a whole new level.

Remembering that Delilah had called him out in front of the entire review panel and said that Josie became outstanding after leaving him, he felt his blood boil all over again.

It felt like his whole world was crashing down around him.

From the very first day he started teaching, he only received good news, including his students being accepted into graduate programs or receiving grand prizes.

As the praise kept rolling in, so did his promotions. He shot up the ranks to a tenured professor in no time. Before long, he was sitting right at the top of the pyramid.

Every year, he’d handpick students from the incoming freshmen. Everyone in the school knew he got first dibs, and every student dreamed of making it onto his team.

From undergrads to grad students, he’d send off one batch and then pick up another. There was never a shortage of top talent in his group.

Anyone he chose was destined for greatness. Anyone he dismissed would never amount to anything.

After decades, he’d never made a mistake. David was not about to let Josie be the one to bring him down.

Even when he saw how impressive Josie’s overlooked papers were, he’d rather believe it was nothing but a fluke.

No matter how talented Josie was, David felt that there was no way she could surpass his team.

He felt that Kyle’s paper was just a one-off, and she’d only managed by sheer luck to do it slightly better than the weakest member on his team.

David swept all the lab equipment off his desk, sending it crashing to the floor. “Kyle, get your ass out here now!”

The people who rushed out at the commotion got hit by flying glass shards. Some hissed in pain as the pieces struck their pant legs, and others barely managed to stop themselves in time.

A couple even mustered up the courage to take a step forward, but no one dared to bend down and brush the glass shards off their pants.

Kyle’s shoulders shook. “Professor, you wanted to see me?”