Chapter 38

Adeline stepped forward. “Don’t worry about him, Josie. Didn’t you hear Jefferson? He can’t stop us. Come on, let’s sign in and grab good seats. We don’t want to be late for the meeting.”

“Okay,” Josie said, giving Aiden a quick glance. “Excuse us, Aiden.”

Her cold tone made Aiden panic. This wasn’t the Josie he knew. His Josie had always been sweet, always listened, never talked back, never said anything hurtful.

He reached out, wanting to grab her arm.

But before he could touch her, Natalie grabbed his hand. “Josie’s not on our team anymore, so of course she’s joining a new one.

“I heard Professor Wilcourt’s team only had two people before. They couldn’t even compete. Now that Josie has joined, they finally have enough. I get why she wants to try hard and fit in fast.

“Aiden, I know you’re just worried she’ll be upset if things don’t go well, since she hasn’t worked with them much yet. That’s why you want her to quit, right?”

“You mean well, but Josie wants to prove herself. She might not see it as you caring—she might think you’re trying to hold her back.

“Instead of upsetting her, let’s just wait and see. I’m sure once she hits a wall and things don’t go her way, she’ll remember how good you were to her.”

Natalie’s words calmed him down. His anger faded a little.

He thought this was how a junior was supposed to act—respectful, understanding, and loyal.

But Josie had just left the team and was already acting like she was better than him, challenging him in public. It was too much.

He nodded. He agreed with Natalie. He wanted to see how far Josie could really get in a less popular field, and without David’s team to back her up.

If she thought she could go far with just one competition, she was dreaming.

“You’re right,” Aiden said. “If she won’t listen, then I don’t mind helping her see the truth a little sooner. She’ll realize that without us, she’s nothing.”

A cold smile spread across his face—nothing like his usual charming one.

Natalie blinked, thinking she must’ve seen it wrong. “Aiden?”

“Alright, go take your papers and find your seat,” Aiden said. “The meeting’s starting soon. Pay close attention to the rules, and start coming up with ideas. Do your best, alright?”

Natalie forced a smile. “Got it.”

‘Shouldn’t he and the other four be the ones coming up with ideas?’ she thought, feeling a little unsure. ‘Why’s he putting it all on me?’

‘Could it be that he wants me to outshine Josie? After all, if the ideas they came up with completely crushed Josie’s, it would almost seem unfair.’

That thought made her feel a little better—but something still felt off.

“I heard Sean’s pretty good,” she said quietly. “He almost joined Professor Lawson’s team, and he’s done well with Professor Wilcourt.

“Now he’s with Josie. What if they already have strong ideas? Maybe the only reason they didn’t sign up earlier was because they didn’t have enough people.”

Aiden laughed sharply. “He’s a nobody. Are you scared of him? What? You really think I’m gonna dump all the work on you, huh?”

He gave her a look full of condescension. “Please. The five of us aren’t just standing around. We made Josie top of the class, didn’t we?

“We’ll help you do even better. Just listen and follow along. We’ll make sure you end up with a stack of certificates.”

Natalie brightened up. “Thanks, Aiden.”

She had figured it out—Josie’s good grades weren’t all her own doing. David and the other guys must’ve helped her. As long as Natalie kept them happy, she’d just keep climbing higher.

Just wait, Josie, Natalie thought. ‘Let’s see how long you can keep this up. You’re gonna regret it.’

And right then, Natalie had an idea for the innovation part.

Josie felt great after standing up to Aiden. She and Adeline signed in and walked away, completely unaware of what Aiden and Natalie said afterward.

During the meeting, Josie made a full recording. Once it ended, she sent the file to her team’s group chat, along with photos of the event brochure.

The chat quickly lit up.

[Wow, Josie, you’re amazing. You even recorded the whole thing!] Claire said in a voice message. [Thanks for going. When I get back, I’m treating you to something good.]

Josie felt warm inside. It was just something she was supposed to do, but Claire actually thanked her and wanted to treat her for it.

She typed back: [Thanks. It’s my job. No big deal.]

Not long after, Sean replied: [I added a few things to your innovation idea and sent them to your email. See if you can fit them into the plan.]

Then he added: [No pressure if it’s too much. We can work on it together when we’re back next week.]

[Okay!] Josie replied, smiling as she put away her phone.

People at school always said Sean was hard to deal with—quiet, cold, and with a bad temper—totally different from Aiden, who was warm and friendly to everyone.

Josie let out a bitter laugh. Yeah, Aiden just saved all his bad moods for her.

But based on what she’d seen these past few days, Sean actually talked a lot. He wasn’t hard to approach, and he didn’t blow up easily either.

She now understood—rumors really weren’t reliable.

“What are you smiling at?” Adeline asked as they walked back to their dorm. Josie was so into her phone that she nearly bumped into someone. Adeline had to pull her out of the way.

Josie showed her the screen. “My team’s praising me. We’re also talking about our innovation plan. I’m just happy.”

“Happy just from being praised?” Adeline remembered what Aiden said earlier and realized Josie probably never got encouragement in David’s team—just criticism and lectures.

She finally understood why Josie lit up from just a few kind words.

Adeline’s eyes darkened a little. “Poor thing. How long has it been since someone last told you that you did great? You’re already so capable. It’s unfair.”

Josie grinned. “I’m getting praised now. I’m really happy.”

“That’s good. You should be,” Adeline said. “Come on, let’s go tell Zoey what happened with Aiden. She needs to hear it.”

Back at the dorm, Adeline filled Zoey in while Josie opened her laptop to check her email. Sure enough, there was a new one from Sean.

They wanted to use micro-robots to perform acupuncture, replacing the traditional hand method.

Micro-robots were already widely used in medicine. Applying them to acupuncture could actually count as a real innovation.

Josie’s eyes lit up. She finally knew how to write the plan.

Meanwhile, Aiden and Natalie headed back to their team’s lab. As soon as they walked in, Vincent came straight over to them.