Chapter 4

The controversy was still unfolding when I received a notice about the thesis film review.

Every graduating student was required to submit an original film project, and the results would directly affect our final grades and eligibility for the graduate recommendation program. I'd submitted my original documentary proposal, "Blind Spot," months earlier, after spending half a year developing it.

But the day before the review, my faculty advisor suddenly summoned me to his office.

"Evan, what's going on between you and Daniel?" He dropped two printed proposals onto his desk, his brow furrowed. "The two of you submitted graduation projects that are identical, from the concept and storyboards to the narration."

I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. I immediately picked up Daniel's proposal and flipped through it.

He'd copied everything word for word. Even the two deliberate typos I'd left in my proposal to prove it was my original work were there. And I'd only ever shared that proposal with Evelyn. I'd sent it to her because I needed her help choosing the music for the project.

I stormed out of the office and called her. "Did you send my graduation project proposal to Daniel?" My voice trembled with cold fury.

There was a two-second silence on the other end. When Evelyn finally spoke, there wasn't even a hint of guilt in her voice. "Daniel has already lost a ton of followers because of the copyright mess. If he fails his graduation project too, he'll have to delay graduation."

Then she added, almost as if she were making a perfectly reasonable request, "Evan, your grades are great. You could switch to another project and still get a good grade. Why can't you help him just this once?"

I clenched my phone so tightly that my nails dug into my palm. "That's my graduation project. What gives you the right to give it away?"

"Evan, we're going to get married someday," Evelyn sighed. Her voice was calm, almost reassuring. "Your talent is our shared resource. Daniel is our friend. What's wrong with helping him out? Once we're married, there's no need to draw such a hard line between what's yours and what's mine."

That was the moment something inside me finally broke. This wasn't some momentary lapse in judgment. Deep down, Evelyn had always seen me as a resource, someone she could keep taking from whenever Daniel needed something.

My work, my future, even my dignity could be sacrificed if it meant helping the childhood friend she cared about. And somehow, she expected me to accept it simply because we were supposed to get married someday.

I hung up. Then I opened our chat and typed, "Evelyn, this is the end of us. I'm not withdrawing my project. I'll bring all my original drafts and source files to the review tomorrow and show them to the panel."

After sending the message, I blocked her.

Meanwhile, Evelyn was just about to open my message when Daniel called. His voice was frantic. "Evelyn, what do we do? The professor says my project is identical to Evan's…"

He sounded almost panicked. "Is Evan still mad at me? He knows how important this project is to me. Why would he submit his project now? Isn't he deliberately trying to make the professor think I plagiarized him?"

Hearing the panic in Daniel's voice, Evelyn's heart ached for him.

Without thinking twice, she opened their chat and angrily typed, "Evan, enough already!"

Then she demanded, "Withdraw your graduation project! You have plenty of other drafts anyway. Let Daniel use this one for now. Don't take this too far!"

She hit "Send." But instead of going through, a system notification immediately appeared.

"Delivered. Rejected by the recipient."

Evelyn's mind went completely blank. For a moment, she could hear nothing but the ringing in her ears.