Betrayal Leads to Freedom

Once the experimental data was generated, none of us had saved it right away. Now, with the sudden power outage, all our hard-earned data was lost. Kingsley Matthews' face darkened with anger as he rushed over and pushed me aside.

"Kori Dean, have you lost your mind?" he shouted, frantically reconnecting the power. But once the equipment rebooted, the data was irretrievably gone. He grabbed me by the collar, yelling, “Do you have a death wish?”

With a specialist set to visit the university soon, not being able to present the data would not only put Kingsley’s recommendation at risk but also tarnish the school’s reputation. But what good would panic do now?

I gripped his wrist, looking at him with icy resolve. "It's just data. You can regenerate it with more effort, can't you? Or do you find that too challenging?"

Kingsley’s eyes burned with fury, as if he was ready to tear me apart. Johanna Hunter approached, her voice full of blame.

"Kori, this isn’t the place to vent personal grudges. This is critical medical research. If this spirals out of control, we’ll have to report you to the administration!"

"Go ahead, report me," I replied, calm but assertive. "Maybe the administration will finally question why, out of three team members, I’m always the one executing the clinical trials."

I was ready to face them head-on. With that, I picked up my insulated lunch bag to leave, but Johanna wasn't about to let it go. She deliberately bumped into my shoulder. The next moment, the lunch bag hit the floor, spilling its contents of pasta salad onto the nearby measuring equipment.

Johanna gasped, pushing me out of the way before I could react. "Kori, if you're angry with us, take it out on us, not the equipment! This was imported from overseas, and it's the only one in the state!"

She sounded upset but didn’t offer any help. I frowned, hurriedly grabbing tissues to clean the pasta salad off the machine, but the screen had already gone dark.

"You did that on purpose!" I snapped at her. The lab was spacious; unless Johanna had intentionally collided with me, the salad wouldn’t have fallen.

"You're imagining things," she shot back. "Did you see me do it on purpose? You just didn’t hold it properly. The lab rules clearly state no food allowed, yet you’re blatantly violating them and trying to pin it on me?"

I was panicking. Now wasn’t the time for arguments; damaging such a valuable piece of equipment could significantly affect the school’s research progress. True, food wasn’t allowed in the lab. But this morning, it was Kingsley who suggested I leave the pasta salad in the lab for a while, assuring me he'd grab it soon.

Who could have anticipated...

Johanna kept up with her taunting. "The security cameras have been down for repairs since yesterday afternoon. With just the three of us here, as long as Kingsley and I testify that you deliberately damaged the equipment, Kori, you’ll be expelled!"

Kingsley nodded, crossing his arms with a smug look. "Kori Dean, you brought this on yourself. Not even a stroke of luck can save you now!"

I chuckled darkly. "Are you so sure about that?"

My gaze shifted to the blinking red light of the security camera above. On my way back to the lab, the security guard had informed me it had been urgently repaired. Everything they’d said and done was now recorded.

Seeing my confidence, Kingsley kicked the equipment dismissively. "What do you plan to do? Stop putting on airs."

"When Professor Lewis Ross arrives tomorrow, I’ll make sure he knows you for the disgrace you are to the medical field. I am to be his future son-in-law, his favorite protégé, and you? You can return to your modest little hometown!"

As he finished speaking, the lab door swung open.