Chapter 1

There were only two hours left before the Riverdale University grad school application portal closed.

I logged into the academic database, only to discover that the first author of the core journal paper I had poured half a year of painstaking effort into had been replaced by Lily Summers, the girl who flunked her major classes.

A wall away, Ethan Grant, my childhood friend, was talking nonchalantly on the phone with his roommate. "Joanna's GPA is top of the class. She could get into Riverdale University without this paper. But Lily? This first authorship is her only hope for graduation.

"Joanna's so talented. Can't she cut Lily some slack?"

He was convinced I'd put up with the injustice for the greater good.

He was sure I wouldn't risk my own future by stirring up trouble.

And he was more certain I couldn't bring myself to walk away from him.

But Ethan forgot one crucial thing.

I was a law major.

If there was one thing law students excelled at, it was reclaiming what was ours, absolutely detached.

As for that dirty garbage?

I won't bother to look at it again.

*****

There were only two hours left before the Riverdale University Law School summer camp application portal closed.

The only sound in the law school library was the soft tapping of keyboards.

I sat in a corner by the window, rubbing the back of my neck, which was sore from all those late nights.

My mouse hovered over the search page on the research database.

As long as I entered the ID for the main journal article Ethan and I had poured months of effort into, my application would be absolutely perfect.

For this paper: On the Isolation of Joint Liability and Piercing the Corporate Veil for Nominee Shareholders, I sacrificed every weekend during the entire second semester of my junior year.

I sifted through hundreds of lengthy articles.

I visited three different courts to conduct field research.

I was so worn out that I had nosebleeds twice in the study room from sheer exhaustion.

Ethan only handled the basic formatting and some light editing.

But every bit of the underlying legal reasoning and all the core data that held the paper together? That was all me, line by line, word by word.

The progress bar inched forward.

The page loaded.

But the moment I saw the details of the paper on the screen, my fingers froze above the keyboard.

It felt like all the blood in my body vanished in a split second.

Then, it was as if a thousand icy needles stabbed straight into my brain.

[On the Isolation of Joint Liability and Piercing the Corporate Veil for Nominee Shareholders]

[Authors: Lily Summers, Ethan Grant, Joanna Sinclair]

First author: Lily Summers.

The same Lily who was accused of cheating on her sophomore finals and publicly shamed by the entire department.

The same Lily, that fake-innocent slacker who flunked three major courses and was at risk of not graduating.

As the one who laid out all the foundational legal arguments and held every piece of original data, I ended up as the insignificant third author.

My eyes were fixed on that glaring author list.

The sheer absurdity of it all made my chest tighten; I could hardly breathe.

At that moment, a deliberately hushed yet distinctly clear male voice drifted from the lounge area, a row of bookshelves away.

It was Ethan and his roommate, Ryan Woods.

Ryan's voice was full of disbelief. "Ethan, are you out of your mind? Did you seriously make Lily the first author on that core paper?

"If Joanna finds out, she's gonna tear you apart.

"She spent six months working her ass off for that paper to get into Riverdale University. Man, that's like stabbing her right in the heart!"

Through a wall of densely packed law books, I heard Ethan let out a scornful chuckle. "What's she gonna do, throw a tantrum?"

He sounded like he was tossing scraps to me from his high horse. "Joanna's GPA is top of the class.

"Even without this core paper, with her smarts and her track record, she could easily get into Riverdale University on her own.

"This paper is the cherry on top for her.

"But Lily's a whole different story."

He sounded almost gentle. "She's flunked classes before; her GPA is way too low.

"Without this first authorship to back her up, she won't be able to secure a spot in our own grad program, and her transcript will look terrible.

"Come on, we're all classmates. Joanna's got more than enough going for her; would it really kill her to let Lily have this one?"

Ryan sucked in a sharp breath. "Give it up? That's her hard-earned achievement.

"And you know Joanna; she's got zero tolerance for bullshit. If she finds out..."

"She won't make a scene." Ethan cut Ryan off.

Ethan was so confident that it was like he was flaunting it. "She's always been by my side since middle school. In twelve years, has she ever really lost it with me?

"Even if she gets a bit upset sometimes, once this blows over, I'll buy her a designer purse and smooth things over. She'll let it go.

"Look, even if she wanted to kick up a fuss, the grad school portal's about to close, and the paper's already out.

"At this point, all she'd do is blow things up for herself; she can't change a damn thing now.

"She'd never risk her own future to stir things up.

"She's way too attached to me to ever leave."

Their footsteps faded away as they walked out of the lounge.

I sat at my computer, watching my emotionless face reflected on the screen.

Suddenly, I felt like those twelve years were flushed down the toilet.

I always thought we were teammates, fighting side by side, dreaming we'd reach the top together.

But to him, my talent was a reason to drain me dry.

And my feelings? He treated them like trash, something he could stomp on and hand over to another woman as if they meant nothing.

He was absolutely certain I wouldn't blow things up.

He was sure I'd suck it up for the greater good.

But he probably forgot one thing.

I majored in law.

If there was one thing law students excelled at, it was reclaiming what was ours, absolutely detached.

I took a deep breath.

I didn't rush out and confront them like some scorned lover.

Not a single tear fell.

Anger was the powerless tantrum of losers. What I needed was a flawless, lethal move.

I closed the Riverdale University grad school application portal.

That paper, tainted by dirty hands, disgusted me.

I would never include it in my resume.

Then, I pulled up the Law School Academic Committee's official complaint inbox.

I hit compose and started a new email.

My fingers flew across the keyboard.

With icy calm, I typed out the subject line: [Real-Name Report: Serious Academic Plagiarism and Fabrication in "On the Isolation of Joint Liability and Piercing the Corporate Veil for Nominee Shareholders"]

In the body, I clearly outlined the timeline of the paper's creation and the division of responsibilities, using the most rigorous legal language.

Then, I opened a hidden folder tucked away on my hard drive.

As someone who dealt with evidence day in and day out, I never showed my hand to anyone.

Inside were timestamps for every edit I'd made to the paper in the last six months.

There were tens of thousands of words of raw drafts, stuff Ethan had never seen.

And there were interview recordings and signed permissions from my visits to three different courts.

Without this core data, that published paper was nothing but a house of cards; one push and it would all come crashing down.

I zipped up several gigabytes of killer proof and dropped them right into the email attachments.

At the end of the email, I dropped a statement that hit like a sledgehammer: [I, Joanna Sinclair, am the only rightful owner of the core data and the true first author of this paper.

[Due to blatant academic theft within the team, I am officially revoking all data access.

[I demand that this paper be voided and call for a thorough investigation into the misconduct of Lily Summers and Ethan Grant.]

I clicked send.

The sent successfully ping cut through the silence of the library, crisp and unmistakable.

The moment I hit send, my phone lit up on the desk. It was a message from Ethan: [Joanna, did you finish submitting your grad school stuff?

[Really appreciate all the effort you put in these past six months.

[I booked a table at the sushi spot on the back street for tonight. Lily's coming, too. Let's celebrate finally making it in.

[Hurry up and get here. Don't keep me waiting.]

I stared at those lines on the screen.

An icy, merciless smile slowly crept across my lips.

So my sweat and tears were his stepping stones for someone else?

And he expected me to sit there, watching them toast and celebrate?

Nice fantasy, Ethan.

I picked up my phone, my fingers cool and steady as I tapped the screen.

I sent back a reply: [Sure. See you tonight.]

Let's see if you could actually stomach your little victory dinner tonight.