Chapter 5
1/4
“She actually admitted it? What kind of trick is this, trying to act righteous?”
“This isn’t theft, it’s straight–up robbery!”
“Do rich people think they can just trample over ordinary people’s hard work? Her smug face is disgusting!”
Camera shutters clicked incessantly. Bethany looked stunned for a moment, then broke into a smug smile.
She probably thought I couldn’t clear my name, so I’d simply given up.
“I can’t believe the Palmer family would harbor such a disgrace. From today on, we will absolutely cut all ties with Jeanette!” Jessica stood up and declared indignantly.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I said it was plagiarism, not that I was the one who plagiarized.”
The room fell silent instantly.
The next second, a screen filled with dense calculations appeared on the large display.
Everyone present was dumbfounded.
Not one of them could understand the formulas on that chart.
“These are my experimental data from the past few months–just a portion, of course. The rest involves trade secrets. Look carefully at the timestamps.
2/4
Chapter 5
They predate Bethany’s PowerPoint slides by quite a margin.”
The reporters were suddenly speechless.
“Isn’t journalism supposed to be about facts? Yet from start to finish, you’ve only listened to Bethany’s side of the story and rushed to condemn me. What kind of journalistic integrity is that?”
“But this doesn’t prove Ms. Bethany doesn’t have even earlier data, does it, Ms. Bethany Yates?” One reporter still refused to admit the mistake, craning his neck toward the other side.
Bethany’s face turned ashen as she stared at the screen.
She hadn’t expected me to be so prepared.
She had thought that by catching me off guard and creating a first impression at the press conference, no matter what evidence I presented later, the
plagiarism label would stick to me forever.
I looked at her and slowly smiled–the exact same expression she had used countless times when imitating me.
“So, Ms. Bethany Yates, can you produce any earlier data?”
She leaned against Cedric, as if finding support.
“I remember now. Jeanette asked me about the experiment before. I wasn’t guarded and told her about it. I never thought she would…”
“You never thought I’d follow your line of thinking and arrive at your research results?” I laughed even louder. “Bethany, you really don’t
Chapter 5
understand anything about this experiment, do you?”
“Enough!”
Cedric, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up.
The moment he did, the entire room fell silent.
His face was dark, and the look he gave me was terrifyingly cold.
“I don’t want to see this farce continue. This ends here. Ms. Jeanette Yates, you’d better watch yourself.”
I was stunned. Was he using his authority to force the blame on me?
The reporters below, though murmuring among themselves, didn’t dare to question him.
These same people who had just been shouting about justice for the underdog were now silent with their heads bowed.
But faced with the most powerful person in the room, they all cowered.
Bethany sighed in relief, looking at me with triumph in her eyes.
noo
Beside her, the man who once swore he would marry but me now looked at me as if he wanted me dead.
I felt a bitter irony. This was human ugliness–selfishness and arrogance- exposed in its entirety.
3/4
And I, the most innocent and vulnerable person in this farce, was destined to be the only victim of this spectacle.
4/4
Chapter 5
A harsh scraping sound broke the silence.
People in the audience frowned and looked over.
I had opened the laptop on the table–previously just for show–and was skillfully typing on the keyboard, rapidly entering one obscure character after
another.
The audience watched me in confusion, surprised to find not a trace of fear or worry on my face.
I hit Enter, raised the corner of my mouth, and looked toward a bewildered. Bethany on the other side.
In both my past life and this one, she had sabotaged me twice, destroying my life and reputation with her greed and jealousy.
If I didn’t fight back now, I’d be letting down everyone who supported me and expected me to turn the tables.
I mouthed to her, “Bethany, you brought this on yourself.”
The next moment, I sat poised at the computer, my face radiating unprecedented confidence.
I gestured toward another computer with an inviting motion.
“Since some people think evidence is useless, why don’t we calculate the key data right here? Whoever gets the correct result first is the original creator. Fair enough?”
