Chapter 2

The next day, I arrived at the research institute as usual. Before I could even sit down, I saw Juniper wiping away tears, looking extremely pitiful.

She said, "Victoria, I truly wished nothing but the best for your patent, but how could you steal my data and use it as your own? I understand how desperate you must've felt, but this is still wrong!"

The second she said that, it was like lighting a match in a gas leak. The whole research institute burst into chaos.

"What? Juniper, has there been a misunderstanding? Victoria is the best. She's not only helped you, but all of us with our data," a researcher said.

Another researcher agreed. "Right. Besides, Victoria has plenty of patents. Maybe you were mistaken."

I watched Juniper put on that fake, sympathetic act in front of everyone, and couldn't stop myself from laughing.

"Juniper, just because you accuse me of something doesn't naturally make it true. If you're gonna slander me, at least produce some evidence," I said.

I had already destroyed every shred of relevant material the day before, so there was no way anyone knew a thing about that patent except me.

Juniper didn't so much as flinch. She flashed me a smirk that was half mockery, half pity. "You don't think I have proof?"

She marched over and slammed a thick stack of papers onto the table. I stared, dumbstruck. Every page was identical to my research data and findings.

Then, it hit me. Connor had stammered about getting my bag for me a couple of days ago, saying he didn't want me to strain myself. My bag had never left my side, so we were the only ones that had touched it.

So, he had stolen my manuscript, made a copy, and swapped the duplicate back into my bag, before I had even realized!

My body trembled with anger. I had thought Connor finally started to care about me, but it turned out he had been in cahoots with Juniper all along.

More of our colleagues gathered around. When Connor heard the news, he rushed over and planted himself firmly by Juniper's side.

"Victoria, I know you've always been jealous of Juni for being well-educated, but you can't go and tamper with things like this!" he said. "The country invests in us to serve the people. How can you let jealousy drive you to steal her credit?"

Everyone around started looking at us with suspicion. Some even picked up the notes scattered across the table and flipped through them, whispering among themselves.

"I guess it's true, since even her husband is condemning her. That's his wife over there. Surely, he has no reason to slander her."

"But Victoria is our genius researcher! Why would she need to steal data from an unknown college graduate…"

Juniper glanced around and suddenly broke into a smug smile. She cleared her throat and said, "Settle down, everyone. I've got more proof."

She strode over in just a few steps, shoved me aside, and yanked open my desk drawer. Inside was a manuscript—my original manuscript.

Caught off guard, I stumbled and slammed my lower back into the metal cabinet. Blood started seeping out instantly.

Juniper raised her voice. "This is the proof! This manuscript contains the exact data as mine. Anyone can see this is clearly Victoria's handwriting!"

I stared at Connor in disbelief. To help her pull off this switch, he actually let her use my reputation and hard work to pave her way, all while turning a blind eye as I got accused and slandered.

"Damn. This is Victoria's handwriting, indeed…"

"I can't believe this is her true colors!"

"Hold on. We can't just say Victoria's guilty with this alone. Neither of these manuscripts has a date on it. There's no way to tell which came first. What if it was switched later?"

Juniper chortled. "Don't let her fool you, everyone. This isn't the only shady thing she's done!"

She continued, "Remember when Dr. Williams finally managed to extract that formula, and the test tube mysteriously shattered? The only person in the lab that night was Victoria.

"Then, there were Dr. Lambert's documents, which were suddenly covered in ink. Who in this place has more ink on hand than she? And what about all those half-finished samples that kept disappearing and messing up our progress every time?

"Has no one thought that maybe it wasn't just bad luck? She's the only one with a personal connection with Connor, who's the only one with keys to the lab. Who else has such a convenient excuse to get her hands on them without anyone realizing?

"Just because she's referred to as a genius researcher doesn't mean we can all turn a blind eye. Let's be real—everyone here got in by being the best of the best!"

"She's right," Connor said."Academic ability doesn't equal integrity. Just because she's called a genius doesn't mean we can overlook her problematic morals. Who knows if all her results were stolen from any of you here?"