Natalie watched as several people left one after another; none of them bothered to consider her feelings. Frustrated, she stamped her foot. "Are these fools really going to treat me the same way they treated Josie? Just as I expected, they’re all heartless idiots who only regret things after they’ve lost them–they deserve this outcome," she thought, glancing at Aiden.

After the award ceremony, Josie, Claire, and the others were about to leave when Jaden hurried over to stop them. "Josie, let me ask you: for the award-winning project by Joseph and his team, aside from the planning, wasn’t the core idea actually yours?"

Jaden, visibly angry, said, "You were still part of the team at that time. If you had any ideas, why didn’t you share them with us? Clearly, you used to…"

"You also know that was in the past!" Josie interrupted him impatiently. "Ever since you demanded that I publicly apologize to Natalie because of the plagiarism incident, nothing about me has anything to do with you anymore."

"Not to mention that those innovative ideas from Joseph and his team were not conceived by me–even if they were, and I gave them to them. What does that have to do with you?"

"You…" Jaden reached out to pull her, but unfortunately, just as he raised his hand, it was stopped by Sean.

Sean pushed Jaden away. "Are you that shameless? Or have you simply gotten used to bullying others? In that case, I suggest you start changing your habit today. If you can’t change, I don’t mind helping you!"

He shielded Josie as they emerged from between the seats. "You go ahead," he said.

Claire pulled Josie aside. "Let’s go. Don’t waste your energy on that jerk. Who do they think they are? What gives them the right to criticize you? It’s absurd. Suddenly, your ideas are treated as if they belong to their team–how does that make any sense?"

Jaden had always been domineering, consistently treating Josie the same way. After she had rejected his confession, he seemed even more determined to bully her. Previously, she had felt somewhat guilty, thinking she had disappointed him.

But now, Josie smiled, paying no attention to his unreasonable behavior. She said, "Claire, I want to go find Adeline and the others. Would you like to come along?"

"Sure, Joseph and I are sort of in the same major, so I’ll offer my congratulations, too." Seeing that Josie was unconcerned, Claire felt relieved. It had been deeply frustrating to realize that, even in a crowd, Jaden had wanted to get physical with Josie; it was easy to imagine how he must have treated her in the past.

Claire took Josie by the arm and asked, "Tell me, has Jaden ever hit you before?"

"Not exactly," Josie thought for a moment. "There have been a few instances of grabbing collars or shoving, but not many. Aiden would never let him hit anyone."

David’s students were not allowed to have such scandals exposed. Although Jaden had been impulsive, he had never crossed the line. Clearly, his impulsiveness was not without thought.

"That’s more like it!" Claire breathed a sigh of relief. "However, grabbing your collar and shoving you is unacceptable. What gives him the right to treat you this way? Who does he think he is?"

A sense of warmth filled Josie’s heart, and the slight displeasure brought by Jaden vanished completely, thanks to the support from Claire and Sean. "Thank you, Claire. I won’t give him another chance. Don’t worry, they won’t be able to bully me anymore."

"That’s right. No one but ourselves can make us suffer grievances, and no one can bully us." Claire patted Josie’s hand. "Understand?"

"Yes!" Josie smiled. It felt so good to meet people who truly cared about her. It seemed her luck hadn’t been too bad after all.

As they walked toward the front of the stage to look for Joseph and the others, Jaden was suddenly grabbed–Gavin and Vincent had hurried over, each seizing one of his arms. "What are you doing?"

Gavin frowned. "I’m sorry, Sean. Jaden used to have a good relationship with Josie. Since Josie left the team, he has been feeling down. He acted impulsively just now; please do not take it to heart."

Sean lifted his eyes slightly, his expression faint. "I do mind. From now on, stay out of her sight; without you, she’ll only get better and better."

Sean brushed past Gavin to go after Josie and ran into Aiden, who had followed them. "Well," Sean paused for a moment, "keep an eye on them. I don’t want to have to handle them myself."

Aiden frowned and said, "Don’t get any ideas about Josie–she’s completely dedicated to her research, so don’t distract her."