Library

Search

Home / Price of Avarice / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Price of Avarice: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

13 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Did you steal my thesis?" Megan froze before slumping to the floor, landing hard on her backside. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed. "That's crossing the line, Nelly Sullivan! You can't slander me like this just because you didn't get recommended for grad school!" People from the next dorm rooms poked their heads out, and more people gathered around. She sobbed as if she had suffered the greatest injustice in the world. I stood there, unable to say a word. In everyone else's eyes, I was just a lunatic who had lost her grad school recommendation and was jealous of her roommate. Someone helped Megan up. As she walked past me, she lowered her voice and said, "You have no proof. What can you do?" Half an hour later, the class group chat blew up. She posted a three-thousand-word message, along with a photo of herself sitting on the floor crying. She accused me of cheating on exams, having a messy private life, and not deserving a grad school recommendation. Hundred

Chapter 2

"These are my materials." I pulled the stack of papers out from Megan's bookshelf, confronting her at the same time. She did not even look up. "You can't use them anymore, so I'm using them for you. You didn't get the recommendation anyway, so it would be a waste if we just left it there." My fingers tightened around the papers, but I said nothing. But what truly crossed the line for me was the day I came back to the dorm early. The door was unlocked, and Megan was sitting in my chair as she went through my hard drive. My computer was switched on, and the screen showed the academic materials for another project. She was taking screenshots, page by page. "What are you doing?" I stood in the doorway, my voice cold. She lazily spun the chair around. "Just looking for some materials. Why are you so uptight?" Then, she stood up and walked to my desk, tearing my dream university poster off the wall. She tore the poster in half, throwing it on the floor and stepping on it. I h

Chapter 3

She presented the project without pause. The data analysis and algorithm I had built through sleepless nights came out of her mouth like lines she had memorized. She stumbled through it yet somehow sounded completely confident. Suddenly, a professor on the panel interrupted her. "What was the sample size for this data? Which cities did your research cover?" Megan froze. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. "Well... That data was... Someone else on our team handled it. I didn't memorize it." "Then who is the actual lead? How much do you actually know about this project?" Megan's face turned red. She suddenly pointed at me in the back row. "Nelly helped me make the defense presentation. She didn't hand everything over clearly, so I..." The whole room went silent as everyone looked at me. I stood up and walked onto the stage, pushing Megan aside. Then, I picked up the microphone. "Sirs and madams, I am Nelly Sullivan, the actual lead of this project. I apologize for this

Chapter 4

When Megan received the award, she turned toward the audience on purpose and raised the trophy, giving it a small shake. Her eyes fixed on me, and her mouth silently formed the words, "See that?" I sat in the third row and looked at her. Then I stood and pointed at Megan. The whole venue fell silent as Megan's smile froze. "I have something to say," I said. Then, I walked onto the stage and took out a folder from my bag, projecting its contents onto the screen, one page at a time. The first page was the patent filing receipt. The application date was three months before the "one year ago" Megan had claimed. Applicant: Nelly Sullivan. The second page showed seventeen versions of the design drafts. From the first sketch drawn by hand to the seventeenth CAD engineering drawing, every version had a timestamp and my signature. The third page showed screenshots from the full video of the design process. In the screenshots, my hand drew line after line in the modeling software,

Chapter 5

The whole venue erupted. I stood frozen, and my phone slipped from my hand. Three months ago? I had not even submitted the patent yet. How could she possibly... Megan looked at me, her sneer deepening. "Did you think you were the only one who knew how to set bait?" The whole venue went dead silent. My heart felt as if it had been squeezed, and even my breathing skipped a beat. Three months ago? I truly had not submitted the patent application yet. My design was still in its final algorithm optimization. How could she possibly... Megan turned, bowed to the judging panel, and spoke with a deliberate tremor in her voice. "Professor Grant, sirs, madams, I'm sorry. I didn't dare to say this before. Nelly... Nelly stole my design idea and rushed to apply for the patent first. I submitted the first version three months ago, but it was rejected because the materials were incomplete. I thought she would stop, but I never expected her to take my work and apply for it directly." T

Chapter 6

Megan was still standing onstage, her lips trembling. Her tears had long since dried. She turned to Professor Grant, her voice shaking. "Professor, that's not what happened. My first version really did come earlier." Professor Grant's expression darkened. He did not look at her. Instead, he looked at me and stayed silent for a long time before speaking. "Nelly, when did you apply for this international patent?" "Six months ago," I said with a nod. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" He asked again. I looked into his eyes and smiled. "Because I was waiting." "Waiting for what?" He asked yet again. "For her to take the bait on her own," I said. The whole venue went quiet. Megan's legs weakened, and she almost crumbled on the platform. I put my phone away and looked at Professor Grant. "Professor, if you need them, I can provide the complete application file for the international patent, proof of priority, and all original records from the design process. I believe the trut

Chapter 7

That afternoon, the college issued a notice. An announcement was posted in the class group chat. "Regarding the recent academic misconduct issue reported by students, the college has formed a special investigation unit. Until the result is released, Megan William's eligibility for a grad school recommendation will be temporarily frozen, and Nelly Sullivan's materials for her grad school recommendation will re-enter the review process." The group chat stayed quiet for a long time. Then Dawn sent a message. "I support the investigation to clear Nelly's name." After that, a few more people sent similar messages. The people who had once called me a plagiarist in the group chat were all silent now. I did not scroll through the messages. When I returned to the dorm room, more than half of Megan's things were already gone. Her bed was empty, and only a few old textbooks remained on her desk. The cleaner was taking out the trash. When she saw me, she sighed. "That girl with lon

Chapter 8

Megan was also called in for questioning. While I waited in the hallway, I heard her voice from the conference room. One moment she was crying, the next she was shouting, and then she said, "I didn't know it was hers!" An hour later, she came out. Her eyes were red and swollen. When she saw me in the hallway, she froze, then lowered her head and hurried away. On the fifth day, the result came out. The class group chat received a long notice. [After a thorough investigation, Megan Williams has been found to have committed the following disciplinary violations:] [Firstly, she stole Nelly's original draft, changed it to her own name, and submitted it to fraudulently obtain eligibility for a grad school recommendation.] [Secondly, she publicly posted false information in the class group chat and maliciously slandered Nelly.] [Thirdly, she repeatedly took Nelly's materials for the National Innovation Contest and other academic materials without permission and destroyed them.]

Chapter 9

The next day, the list came out. My name was in the first column. [Nelly Sullivan, School of Information Technology and Engineering, direct PhD.] Dawn was the first to post in the group chat. [Congratulations, Nelly! You earned it!] Then came a long string of congratulations. Some of the people who had cursed me earlier sent private apologies, while others said sorry publicly in the group. I read a few, but did not reply. It was not that I held a grudge. It just felt unnecessary. The nightmare of the past three months had finally ended. - On the third day after the grad school recommendation list was posted again, Megan came to complete the paperwork for taking a leave of absence. She had already moved out of the dorm and was staying in a budget hotel near the university. I heard her mother had rushed over from their hometown and was helping her with all the procedures. At noon, when I was eating in the cafeteria, Dawn suddenly nudged me with her elbow. "Look. The e

Chapter 10

I thought everything was over. But some people would never accept defeat. It happened on the seventh day after the grad school recommendation list was posted. I had just left the lab and was preparing to head to the cafeteria for lunch. When I reached the entrance of the college building, I saw a crowd gathered there. Someone was crying. Not crying quietly like a sob, but loud wailing that everyone could hear. "My daughter was bullied! That Nelly ruined her so badly she had to take a leave of absence! The university has to give me an explanation!" I stopped walking. A middle-aged woman stood at the entrance of the college building, wearing a dark red coat. Her hair was messy, and tears covered her face. She held up a printed sheet with a few large words on it: [Give my daughter justice!] It was Megan's mother. Megan stood beside her, head lowered. She held the corner of her mother's clothes and said quietly, "Mom, stop causing trouble here. Let's go back." "I'm not go

PREV

NEXT

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP

DMCA.com Protection Status