Chapter 4

Summer was dressed in a white cocktail dress, a composed smile tugging at her lips as she spoke with humility.

She said, "I owe everything to Mr. Arnold's patient guidance. Without him, I wouldn't be who I am today. Enough talk, it's almost my turn to hit the stage."

Summer shot a playful wink at the camera, then strode confidently toward the podium.

The comments section exploded with praise for how Summer always remembers to repay kindness, and plenty of people wished they had a teacher as awesome as hers.

Toby gently brushed the tassel on her graduation cap aside, speaking in a soft, warm tone. "Summer has achieved outstanding grades and even published an SSCI paper while at school.

"After thorough review, we've decided to grant her direct admission to our graduate program."

The audience erupted into thunderous applause.

I just scoffed. My gaze swept over the two on stage, making eyes at each other. Without a second thought, I hit the button on my remote.

Summer smiled as she took the mic, just about to give her thank-you speech.

The next moment, everyone in the audience saw what popped up on the big screen.

The crowd started buzzing, then a wave of shocked gasps swept through the room.

The live stream chat instantly blew up. The comments section was blasted with nonstop questions and shocked reactions.

"Holy crap! Look at the big screen behind her. Is that for real?" someone exclaimed.

Summer's smile froze, and she turned around, looking confused. When she saw what was scrolling across the screen, it was like she'd been struck by lightning. Her face went ghostly pale.

"She doesn't deserve a spot in grad school! That paper wasn't even hers," someone in the audience yelled.

Toby's heart dropped, and he spun around. On the big screen, a joint accusation letter from the other students credited on the paper was projected for everyone to see.

They were all grad students Toby had been supervising for over a year.

They'd poured their blood, sweat, and tears into the research, only for their advisor to snatch the first author spot and then force them to list his so-called favorite, Summer, as the second author.

She just walked all over their hard work and grabbed the grad school slot for herself. No one could stand for that.

But before, with Toby's influence looming over them, the students had no choice but to swallow their anger and keep quiet.

But today, I finally gave them the courage to tear off the mask and expose everything.

A few students strode up to the podium, holding their accusation letters, their voices full of righteous indignation.

They looked at Summer Abbott, who was being shielded behind Toby, and let out a mocking laugh.

One of them sneered. "Stolen glory always tastes sweet, doesn't it? With your grades, you wouldn't even qualify for grad school."

Another student declared, "I'm officially reporting Summer Abbott for academic fraud and plagiarism. I urge the school to immediately revoke her graduate admission."

Toby's face flushed an ugly purple as he pointed angrily at the students on stage, his voice booming across the room. "Are you all out of your minds? Do you even want to graduate?"

Summer stood behind him, her chin tilted up in open defiance. "You're all just spouting lies. This is obviously my research. You're only trying to steal my credit because you're scared you won't graduate and can't measure up."

"That's right," Toby cut in immediately, his eyes cold and sharp as he swept his gaze over the students. "These students have always been dim-witted. Now that Summer's shining, they're jealous and trying to stir up trouble. I'll make sure this goes down as a serious mark on their record."

After those threats landed hard, the students' bravado fizzled out right before everyone's eyes.

The outrage in the crowd slowly shifted, turning into skeptical murmurs and hushed whispers.

"Could this really be fake?" someone muttered.

"Maybe some folks are just jealous 'cause Summer Abbott's too good," another person whispered.

The students who'd been leading the charge went pale. It was obvious they were rattled by Toby's threats and the way the crowd was turning against them.

They all cast desperate, anxious looks my way. I gave them a reassuring glance.

The next second, the big screen started playing the video from that day in the nurse's office.

Summer called me the side chick when I was actually his wife. Everyone's jaws hit the floor.

Everyone heard Toby promise to get her the paper and guarantee her spot in grad school, loud and clear.

What came next was even crazier. The two of them were making out in the nurse's office, totally lost in each other, like nobody else was even there.

The whole place went dead silent. Then, the room blew up with even louder gasps and outraged yelling.

All those arguments defending Toby and Summer from just moments ago were blown to bits by this undeniable evidence.

All the color drained from Summer's face in an instant. She lurched backward, almost crumpling to the ground.

Toby's face went dark with rage as he shouted at the control room. "Turn it off. Shut it down right now. This is all fake."

But his shouts were swallowed by the tidal wave of outrage and condemnation from the audience.

The whole place, both on-site and in the live stream, was in absolute shambles.

Students and viewers were snapping pics and screenshots like crazy, and the chat was blowing up with nonstop gossip.

[Holy crap! Caught red-handed in the nurse's office. Are they teacher and student, or just straight-up lovers?]

[I'm gonna puke, they were just acting all mentor and protégé a minute ago. So that's what it takes to get a grad spot? 'Repaying' him, huh? That's what it means?]

Toby forced himself to stay calm, still trying to cover for Summer Abbott and hustle her off the stage.

But I wasn't about to let him slip away that easily. Because now, it was finally my turn, the one who'd actually been wronged, to take the spotlight.