Natalie didn’t move. Instead, she turned to Vincent. "Vincent, I know you’ve had a tough day. Drink some coffee and relax."

She smiled sweetly at him. "Is your stomach okay? I saw you holding it when you got up. I have some medicinal oil. When we head back to school, I can give it to you."

Vincent forced a smile. "I’m fine, the professor didn’t kick me too hard."

"Don’t blame the professor," Natalie said sympathetically. "He was just frustrated. Deep down, he knows this isn’t your fault. But with Josie leaving the team, it’s hard for him to lecture her, especially now…"

She pouted, looking at them with an expression of pity for both the professor and the senior students.

"Especially since Josie probably won’t listen to the professor anymore. It’s really tough on you guys. You’ve been looking out for her, but who could’ve known she’d…"

Natalie sighed, her face filled with genuine sadness.

"I know I shouldn’t be saying this, but seeing you get scolded and humiliated because of her… it’s hard for me. Even if you think I’m just attacking Josie, I still need to say this: for your own sake, please, just stop trying to reach out to her. Can we please just stay away from her?"

She looked at them with a vulnerable expression, making them feel sorry for her.

"Stop saying such things," Aiden said gently, his tone full of warmth as he looked at her.

He filled her coffee cup. "Don’t be upset. I’m sure Vincent has learned his lesson and won’t reach out to her again."

Vincent gulped down some water. "Of course, I won’t reach out to her again. That heartless piece of garbage can just sink on her own."

"Alright, alright!" Gavin slapped him on the shoulder. "No need to keep going on about it. If you’re not contacting her anymore, that’s enough. I know you won’t let this get to you. Let’s focus on the competition. The idea for the innovation project was Natalie’s, but we’ll handle the rest of the execution."

"I heard you’re preparing for your grad exams. If we win the special prize in this competition, it’ll give your grad exam a nice boost," Gavin added.

Aiden nodded. "Gavin’s right. We need to focus on our studies. Let’s not get distracted. Starting tomorrow, we’ll all head to the lab and work together on our project."

Hearing this, Natalie secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like for now, everyone would ignore Josie and focus on the competition. She was determined to use this opportunity to crush Josie once and for all–turn her into a joke among all the students and faculty, and make her regret everything she’d done.

By the time Josie came crawling back to the team, Natalie would make sure she could manipulate her however she wanted. Honestly, Natalie didn’t hate Josie. What bothered her was that Josie’s paper had caught her eye. Natalie had also looked into Josie’s past work and realized she had some legitimate talent–maybe not as good as the senior students in their team, but still impressive.

As for Natalie, she didn’t have the time to write papers or organize data herself. She needed someone like Josie to handle those tasks. Josie’s work was just too useful to let go.

Dinner was over by 9 p.m., and everyone had had quite a bit to drink. They helped each other as they made their way back to school.

Vincent threw his arm around Jaden’s shoulder. "Jaden, you’ve got to help me with this."

"Help? Of course. What do you need me to do to Josie?" Jaden slurred, already tipsy. He’d always had a short temper, and Josie’s defiance had really gotten under his skin.

"No, it’s not about Josie. Aiden said we can’t mess with her right now," Vincent sighed. "I’m talking about the grad exam. Do you think you could lend me the materials Josie helped you organize? I’ve just got so much going on, and I really don’t have time to do it myself."