Chapter 2

Later, Yelena finally won the championship after a fair competition. But her opponent falsely accused her, and she was ultimately disqualified.

She cared deeply about fairness in chemistry. She also expected other scientists to follow high standards in their work.

But in the end, reality got the better of her.

Later, when she was paired with Stanley for a project, Yelena kept complaining to me about how lazy he was.

He couldn't even remember the steps of their experiments. That forced her to pull all-nighters to fix his mistakes. Once, one of his careless errors almost left her permanently disfigured.

I feared Yelena would get hurt, so I risked being accused of favoritism and moved her to another group.

As an academic advisor, I normally stayed out of student group assignments. But I couldn't stand the thought of Yelena being mistreated, so I made an exception.

Yelena was thrilled to get a chance to switch groups. But then Stanley came to see her and said something to her.

When she came back from their talk, she seemed distracted. She never mentioned switching groups again.

After that, she started spending more and more time with Stanley. They were always gaming together.

I slowly realized that Yelena and Stanley were crossing a line, so I warned them to keep their distance.

But Yelena's expression hardened. "Hank, you're Stanley's advisor, and I'm his senior. If he comes to me to exchange ideas and improve his performance, that's good for your reputation too.

"Am I doing something wrong just because I get along well with your student?"

She kept using discussions about experiments as an excuse. But I later found out that she had turned down a more talented chemistry student as a partner because of Stanley.

Even Yelena didn't realize that she had already started to favor Stanley.

And now, she had thrown her principles aside again and tampered with my experimental work to help him.

Just then, a reporter trying to stir up trouble asked, "Ms. Quincy, I've heard you're Professor Hank Yeoman's fiancee, while Mr. Johnson is his student.

"In your opinion, which of the two has greater academic ability, Professor Yeoman or Mr. Johnson?"

Yelena fell silent.

She felt guilty. After all, Stanley had won the competition by cheating.

Stanley stepped in front of her. "I'll answer that for her."

Then he continued, "Professor Yeoman is my advisor. My work might have surpassed his previous achievements this time, but he's still my mentor. His expertise is far beyond mine.

"I'm sure he'll work even harder from now on and once again become the example I strive to follow."

I sneered at his shameless words.

He added, "Still, he is one of the best in the field, yet I have managed to surpass him. I hope he'll spend less time on business and more time in the lab, teaching his students.

"It wouldn't look good if he were surpassed again."

Stanley's remarks clearly had an underlying meaning. The audience began whispering.

"The famous Professor Yeoman claims to love chemistry, but it turns out he's just a greedy businessman!"

"I was planning to study under him, but now I see how little he cares about his students."

"Maybe some of Professor Yeoman's most famous experiments were actually his students' work, and he took credit for them!"

Yelena showed no intention of defending me. "Hank has been busy with other matters lately, so he has neglected his research.

"I'll talk to him when we get home and remind him to stay true to himself. He should return to the principles that drew him to scientific research in the first place."

The crowd grew even louder. A smug smile flashed across Stanley's face as he prepared to say more.

Suddenly, someone in the audience screamed, "Oh my God! There was a massive explosion at Harwood University!

"The academic buildings have been destroyed. More than three thousand students and faculty members are dead!"

A student who disliked me sneered, "Professor Yeoman has been giving public lectures at Harwood University lately. Maybe he was killed in the blast, too!"