Aiden, while giving Kyle a reassuring pat on the shoulder, said, “It’s not as bad as you think. I’ll talk to the professor for you. But next time, keep your guard up. Honestly, if you hadn’t put so much effort into teaching Josie, she wouldn’t have been able to make you look so bad in front of everyone.”
Kyle looked embarrassed. “Yeah, I got it. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
As they walked out of the lab building, a sly glint flashed in Kyle’s eyes. Maybe only he knew that Josie wasn’t nearly as clueless or useless as she looked. She was sharp, hardworking, and picked things up fast. At first, he really did want to help her out, but she improved so quickly it actually freaked him out.
He was terrified of becoming the most irrelevant person in the team, so the only way he could keep his place was by stepping on Josie whenever he could. Luckily for him, Aiden was so arrogant that he only trusted what he saw with his own eyes. He never realized all the things Josie was doing for him behind the scenes. Aiden just assumed it was all Kyle’s doing. That was exactly why Aiden treated him differently from everyone else.
It all started the first time Josie helped Aiden prepare some materials. Aiden mistakenly thought Kyle had done it, so he took Kyle out to dinner that night and promised to put in a good word for him with David. From then on, Kyle never stopped taking advantage of Josie. It wasn’t so much that he had taught Josie anything; it was Josie’s hard work that made him look good.
But as time went on, his position in the team became more and more important, while Josie was increasingly pushed aside. He realized he couldn’t keep this up forever. Josie might be a bit slow when it came to social stuff, and she was obedient and trusting, but she was already a senior. If she didn’t achieve anything soon, she’d start questioning her own abilities. If she ever went to David, all the things he’d taken credit for would come out. Kyle was about to graduate with his master’s degree, and he wanted to get into a research center and land a good job. He didn’t want Josie to ruin his future.
So, when Natalie showed up, he helped Natalie kick Josie off the team. He thought that once Josie was gone, he could relax and just wait for graduation. But he never expected that, at this crucial moment, Josie would make him lose face completely. Since that happened, he had to deal with her in return.
Josie, I really didn’t want to go after you, but now, you can’t blame me for this, he thought.
As soon as David got back to his office, his phone rang. When he saw the caller ID, his brow furrowed. He hesitated for a moment but finally picked up. “Mrs. Kinberg?”
Audrey Kinberg said with a light laugh, “So, how did it go? Did the school agree to deal with Delilah? If not, that’s alright. You don’t have to fall out with her over this. The real issue is Josie. I simply can’t tolerate someone without genuine talent overshadowing my daughter. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to see that happen either, would you? You’ll make sure to prepare a surprise for Natalie, so she won’t have to deal with this kind of unnecessary trouble anymore, right? It’s about time. She should be arriving at the school any minute now. I’m sure she’ll be very happy today. David, thank you for everything you’ve done for her. I’m truly happy for her to have a teacher like you.”
Audrey just kept going, completely oblivious, and David’s face turned bright red. There was no way he could admit he’d totally screwed this up. Audrey was a rare prodigy. Her family had been doctors for generations, and she breezed through the country’s top medical university while she was still just a kid. After she got her PhD, she headed overseas to keep studying. When she finally came back, she landed a spot at the nation’s most prestigious research center. Back when the Reedshaw family fell apart and David broke up with Delilah’s older sister, Dolores Reedshaw, Audrey kept him company.