Chapter 8

Neil was silent on the other end.

When he eventually spoke again, his words chilled her to the core.

"Aren't you working here just to be with me?"

Anna's fingers tightened around the phone, her knuckles turning white.

Even so, Neil continued as if everything he spoke was clear logic, "Scholarly credits are mere vanity titles that won't matter to you. Stay in my team, and I promise you job security. But it's not the same for Josie—she needs this as a stepping stone for her career to progress further."

Anna felt a ringing in her ears while her blood ran cold.

So he knew—he always knew why she had passed on better prospects to work as his assistant.

He was never oblivious; he simply didn't care.

Now, he even used all her sacrifices and concessions as a point, just to justify why he denied her credit for all her hard work.

She had spent ten years proving her unwavering loyalty, only for this dismissiveness.

She wanted to argue and tell him he had no right—to ask him if he knew how many sleepless nights and failures she had endured to obtain that data.

But in the end, she simply hung up the phone, exhausted.

-

The research center soon arranged a major press conference, and the presentation of the thesis was one of the highlights.

Naturally, Josie was presenting, dressed sharply as she explained the core arguments of the thesis, with murmurs of approval swelling through the crowd.

It was all going smoothly until the Q&A session, when an anonymous online participant suddenly posted a message in the public chat.

[Question on authorship! The core data in this thesis was identical to data submitted previously by one Anna Stark. Can Josie York provide a source for her data? Does this not constitute plagiarism and fabrication?]

A murmur of shock rippled through the conference room, even as the evidence submitted was quickly magnified clearly before their eyes.

Josie, still on stage, turned deathly pale, her eyes darting nervously to Neil in the audience.

The emcee tried to calm things down, but the murmurs of disapproval were too loud to drown out.

Anna's heart skipped a beat as she straightened—she didn't do it.

If anything, she never thought of going that far.

Nonetheless, she felt a stare and looked up to see Neil's eyes, fixed upon her through the crowd.

His brow was furrowed, his eyes filled with clear suspicion and disappointment—she could tell that much from his look without him saying a word.

He was already convinced that she had ratted him and Josie out, because she was upset about being plagiarized.

In his eyes, she was a threat who would destroy Josie's future, and at the cost of the research center's reputation.

Anna's heart sank as she watched him stand up, and stride up to the lectern as the crowd watched, taking the microphone out of Josie's stiff grasp and looking around at everyone.

"I am Neil Irons, head of research. I can directly answer the anonymous question submitted in no uncertain terms now. I insist that all the work on this thesis was completed under my supervision, and Josie York was the primary contributor. I can vouch for that with my personal reputation."

He paused, his gaze shifting to a pale Anna. "As for Anna Stark, she is only my assistant who handles my daily schedule and documentation. She has no credentials, let alone the skill to independently complete this research. It's an achievement that should only be attributed to Josie beyond any shadow of doubt."

Everyone erupted in an uproar.

"Whoa! Neil Irons himself came to the rescue!"

"Wait, so this Anna Stark was just a desk jockey?"

"Ah, it all made sense now. Guess it's just a misunderstanding."

Even as Anna stood there, feeling she was left naked in the freezing winter, Neil turned toward the tearful Josie and calmly said, "Josie, you may continue."