Chapter 4

【This girl is so stubborn. But I have to say, I really like her.】

【Did we overlook something? Could he actually have some hidden backing?】

【It's not that you overlooked anything. It's that old Professor Donaldson hasn't shown up yet!】

"With that many people watching you drag me into the Office of Student Affairs, if something happened to me in here, do you really think the two of you could walk away clean?"

Francis still looked ready to argue his way out, so I laid it out for him, nice and clear.

"Maybe the two of you carry some weight around this school. But surely not enough to bury anything you want?"

I handed his own words right back to him. He shook with rage, so close to putting his hands on me.

Martin gave a dry cough.

"Give her the phone back."

Francis tossed it to me, grudgingly.

I caught it and looked. Almost noon already.

"If this is still about what you accused me of, you're welcome to investigate. Or take your evidence to the police and have me arrested."

I got up, walked to the door, and pulled it open.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going. It's about time for lunch."

【Slick move. She didn't play their game at all. Our heroine's pretty sharp!】

【Good, she didn't fall into the self-incrimination trap. But these two didn't get what they wanted, and their next move will probably be even more unhinged.】

Francis moved to block me, but Martin snapped at him under his breath.

Long after I'd left, Francis finally spoke, unwilling to let it go.

"Uncle, how could you just let her leave?"

Martin shot him an irritated glare.

"This is a school. We have no authority to hold anyone. Don't you think a little too much of yourself?"

"Didn't you already put the evidence together ahead of time? Get someone to post it on the campus network. Put some pressure on her."

Francis's eyes lit up. He threw Martin a thumbs-up.

"That's why it's you!"

Of course I didn't know exactly what these two were plotting, but I could guess there'd be some kind of follow-up.

After lunch in the dining hall, I stopped by my dorm for my laptop and jogged over to the campus back courtyard.

"Professor."

I knocked, stepped inside, and greeted Professor Donaldson with a smile.

He gave a slight nod, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes.

"If I remember right, you only picked your research topic a week ago?"

"You have a wonderful memory, Professor."

I took the compliment in stride, sat down beside him, opened my laptop, and typed out a few keystrokes.

"Please take a look, Professor."

My gratitude to him ran deep.

From grade school through high school, I'd always been the champion of lopsided report cards, brilliant in some subjects, dismal in others.

Coming from a remote town, a lot of information simply reached me too late.

My teachers were always making inquiries on my behalf, and through a chance opportunity they got in touch with Professor Donaldson, who was already retired.

He quizzed me on a few problems over a video call, then made the trip out to my school in person.

"You. I'll take you as my student."

From the day I enrolled, I was Professor Donaldson's direct-track PhD student.

"I never expected this. I truly never expected…"

After a long silence, Professor Donaldson kept marveling at it.

"Finish this project, and you could earn your doctorate outright."

【What on earth did I miss? How is the heroine a PhD student?】

【Now let's see how that whole crowd ends up. She never cared about the recommendation slot in the first place, because she's already a PhD candidate!】

【Hahaha, they're all going down, every last one of them!】

After some back-and-forth and a few questions, I decided to tell Professor Donaldson the truth.

"Professor, someone reported me for rigging the stock-trading contest."