Chapter 81

Soon, all the posts that had been causing a stir on the school’s online forum were wiped clean.

The school issued an announcement, disciplining several students who had been making spam posts.

According to their own accounts, they just wanted to stir up some drama.

They’d heard rumors that one of David’s students had plagiarized, but since Josie was the top scorer in the first round of exams, they figured it couldn’t be her.

So they started flooding the forum with posts accusing Natalie of plagiarism, but David quickly put a stop to it, and they never got what they wanted.

Later, after Josie left David’s team, a video of Vincent arguing with her outside the girls’ dorm was posted online, which gave them another shot at going viral.

But for some reason, those posts were taken down almost immediately after being uploaded. They tried to appeal, but were told the posts violated the rules.

After that, afraid of being investigated by the school, they didn’t dare post anything else.

The logic behind both incidents was solid. Aside from the fact that their motive for wanting attention was a lie, there was nothing else anyone could use against them.

They stubbornly denied ever being paid to do it. Since the school couldn’t dig up any more evidence, the whole thing had to be dropped.

These students were disciplined by the school and made to publicly apologize to Natalie and Josie.

Not long after the disciplinary announcement was made public, the school revealed that Josie’s computer had been infected with a virus and her exam paper had been stolen.

The school initially determined that the incident was the work of a hacker targeting all of David’s students.

They also found evidence of hacking attempts on Aiden and some of the other students’ computers.

However, because Josie’s computer had weaker security, the hacker managed to break in and steal her files, while none of the other students lost any files.

David also confirmed that although Josie and Natalie’s papers had similar topics, there was no plagiarism, so he told everyone to stop spreading rumors.

In other words, even though Josie’s paper had been stolen, it had nothing to do with Natalie.

In the end, the accusation that Natalie had plagiarized was officially declared nothing but a rumor.

Josie looked at the school’s announcement on the forum, a hint of sarcasm flickering at the corner of her mouth.

That night, while the school’s announcement was still the talk of the campus, she went back to her dorm and posted the original draft of her reference paper on the school forum.

She then pulled an all-nighter, polishing and streamlining her manuscript, and by early morning, she had already submitted it to the country’s top medical journal.

After all that, she crashed into bed and was out like a light.

When she finally woke up, it was already afternoon. Zoey had brought her some food. “You’re awesome, babe, go check out the school forum!”

Josie yawned. “What’s the big news now?”

Zoey said with a faint smile, “It’s still about you. After you posted your original draft, a bunch of people started calling out Natalie.

“They asked her to upload her draft, too. They’re all saying it’s just too much of a coincidence.

“Like, why was it only your computer that got hacked, and the only thing stolen was your exam paper?

“Lots of people took the second round, so why is it only Natalie’s paper that’s similar to yours?

“Now, a bunch of people are questioning how fair David’s choices really are.

“Unless Natalie uploads her paper and lets everyone judge for themselves, they’re not buying it.

“Some people are even pointing out something.

“They asked if the plagiarism thing was just the work of internet trolls, then why are you the one who got hurt and had to leave the team, while nothing happened to Natalie.

“They felt that David and his whole team owed you an apology.”

Josie got up and splashed some water on her face to clear her head.

“I’m not looking for an apology from them,” Josie said.

She thought, ‘They can’t afford to give me what I want from them right now!’

But what really caught her off guard was how long the aftershocks of this whole mess lasted and just how wild the online buzz had gotten.

She’d originally thought this would just plant a clue in David and his teammates’ minds. Then, she could use it to slowly peel back Natalie’s mask in the future.

But now, it looked like she didn’t even have to wait. The way things were going, Natalie was already in hot water.