Chapter 3

The next day, I arrived at the meeting room at 10:00 am.

Adam was sitting beside Vera, his eyes red, while Vera patted his hand reassuringly. When she saw me, her eyes flickered before a stern expression quickly took over.

Ms. Dawson, Mr. Jackman, and the disciplinary committee member, Kent Perry, sat on both sides, with grim expressions on their faces.

I took a seat as the mouse jerked and told me, "Let her talk first."

Adam began giving his statement. He laid out the seven screenshots of the files on the table. Every file had a creation date earlier than the date I submitted my competition entry.

He looked up at me, his voice hoarse. "Felix, I really thought of you as my best friend. Why did you do this to me? My mom is still in the ICU. I really need that money…"

Adam lowered his head, his shoulders shaking. His fists were clenched tight, his knuckles white.

"Come on now, don't get worked up." Vera handed him a tissue before glancing at me.

I had never seen her look at me that way before.

Then she looked at the teachers. "Last December, I saw Felix using Adam's laptop, with a USB drive plugged in. He was copying a large number of files. At the time, I thought he was backing up Adam's files. But now that I think about it, Felix had clearly planned this from the beginning."

Vera's voice trembled, and her eyes reddened. "I'm sorry, Adam. I trusted him too much."

I dug my nails into my palm until I nearly drew blood.

Adam's computer was acting up that day, and he told me to copy his ID photo onto the USB drive. Vera was right beside me when it happened.

Also, I had photos from that day saved on my cloud drive.

The mouse buzzed twice. "She's twisting the story. Don't lose your temper. Just let her finish."

I clamped my mouth shut and said nothing to defend myself.

Vera doubled down, her voice getting louder. "He always likes to check out Adam's work…"

My stomach churned.

Mr. Perry kept his head down, scribbling notes.

Ms. Dawson looked at me, disappointment in her eyes. "Felix, you told me that night to pick up the laptop from the security office the next morning, right?"

I nodded.

Ms. Dawson said, "I can guarantee that no one touched the laptop after I got it. But since I didn't see what happened to it before I got my hands on it, I can't completely vouch for you."

A visibly upset Adam shot to his feet, his voice hoarse and agitated. "Did you hear that? He had plenty of time to copy my files during that window! The video he recorded afterward only further proves his guilt!"

Vera nodded, her face hard.

Ryan Stewart, the department head, frowned and looked at me. Mr. Jackman, on the other hand, stayed silent, offering not a single word of defense as he leaned backward.

My throat tightened, as if something were squeezing it.

The mouse buzzed once in my pocket, its voice barely audible. "You started recording with the laptop screen in view, not after it was shut down. The folder on Adam's account was clearly visible at 11:52 pm, and it had only three files, not seven.

"But now is not the time to fight back. Ryan Stewart, the one sitting next to you, went to college with Adam's father."

I took a deep breath, my nails digging into my palms.

Mr. Perry closed his notebook. "Given the conflicting evidence, I recommend launching a formal investigation. Both of you will be temporarily suspended from the competition. Three days from now, at 2:00 pm on Friday, we'll hold the formal investigation. Bring all your evidence."

He looked at me, his voice stern. "Felix, you'd better think this through. The consequences of academic misconduct are no joke. Getting expelled or having your degree revoked would be the least of your worries. In serious cases, it'll go on your permanent record and affect you for the rest of your life."