Josie couldn’t help but wonder what Natalie would do next to try and get everyone back on her side.

Meanwhile, in David’s office.

David sat with a dark expression as he scrolled through the online posts. “What do you think about all this?”

Aiden hesitated. “I still don’t think Natalie could have plagiarized. It’s probably just a coincidence. Sure, Josie’s paper is more thorough and her arguments are more complete, but…”

Aiden looked uncertain, his expression wavering as he tried to find the right words. He asked, “Professor, Josie’s not coming back to the team. Natalie is the one who’s going to be with us from now on. How we handle this is really up to you.”

David had never been put under this kind of pressure before. Now, everyone was ganging up and demanding that Natalie upload her original draft, and even calling for an apology to Josie. David was the type who cared deeply about his image and authority. This whole mess made him feel like his power was being openly challenged. That was why he absolutely loathed Josie for it.

“Go apologize to Josie on behalf of the team, and let her know that if she’s willing to come back, she’s welcome anytime,” David ordered. He was sure that what Josie really wanted was to rejoin the team. He thought, ‘Once she comes back…’

Aiden caught the look in David’s eyes. “Understood, Professor. What about Natalie?”

David said, “Tell her to revise her original draft. I want a paper that’s even more complete and thorough. Have it on my desk by tomorrow, and I’ll make sure it gets published in the country’s top medical journal.” He thought, ‘Once it’s published, I wouldn’t even need to say anything. Natalie’s reputation would naturally eclipse Josie’s. All those people online demanding that Natalie upload her draft would have to shut their mouths.’

When Natalie saw all the posts online attacking her, she thought to herself, ‘I’m done for. No one was stupid enough to just believe it was all a coincidence. People online were suspicious. Her teammates would get suspicious, and even David would start to have doubts on whether I bought Josie’s paper from that hacker.’ She’d made some edits, but after half a month, she could barely even remember what was in it. Since she didn’t write the whole paper, it would never truly belong to her. Josie posting her original draft at that moment was basically challenging her to a head-to-head showdown.

Natalie thought, ‘Man, that’s ruthless!’

Natalie knew she was no match for Josie. After racking her brains, she finally came up with an idea. Clutching her paper, she hurried off to find Gavin.

“Gavin, I need to ask you for a favor,” she said, her voice soft and pitiful, her face drooping like she’d just been bullied.

Gavin quickly closed the forum he’d been browsing and looked at Natalie, his face giving nothing away. “What is it? Just say it, no need to be so formal.”

He thought to himself, “The plagiarism thing might really be true. I was the one who helped set up the firewall on Josie’s computer. There’s no way it should’ve been breached. And what are the odds that the only thing stolen was her exam paper? This has to be an inside job. Someone from the team must’ve done it.” Besides, Gavin knew just how talented and dedicated Josie was. In the whole team, except for him and Vincent, no one could match Josie’s drive. She could whip up a paper like that without breaking a sweat, but Natalie would not be able to do so.

“I was hoping you could take a look at my paper,” Natalie said, not caring about Gavin’s suspicious look as she handed him her original draft. She said, “Everyone online is asking me to upload my draft, but this is something I wrote before I even joined the team, so it’s kind of rough. I’m not really satisfied with it. Now that I’m part of the team, if I just toss my draft online, it’ll be Professor Lawson’s reputation on the line. Especially at a time like this, I don’t want to be defeated by Josie. Do you get it, Gavin?”

Gavin snorted inwardly, but he had to admit that Natalie had a point. David cared a lot about his image. If Natalie’s paper really got overshadowed by Josie’s and ended up getting ripped apart, David would lose face. Losing face was one thing. Having his fairness questioned was the real disaster. Besides, Gavin had already accepted favors from Natalie. He still owed her a lot of money. He had no choice but to help her, whether he wanted to or not.