Chapter 86
She said, “No, Aiden, don’t say that. It’s not Professor Lawson’s fault. If anyone’s to blame, it’s just my bad luck. The fact that Professor Lawson thinks so highly of me is the best thing that could have happened to me. I’m proud to still be part of the team. If apologizing to Josie is what it takes, I’ll do it. As long as it puts everyone at ease, I’ll do whatever you need me to.”
Natalie’s maturity and willingness made Aiden feel even more relieved. Suddenly, apologizing to Josie didn’t seem so hard after all. At least through all this, they were once again sure of Natalie’s grace and poise. She lived up to her family background. Aiden felt that she was so impressive, not at all like Josie, who always seemed so petty and narrow-minded.
As soon as Aiden turned away, a sly, triumphant smile flickered across Natalie’s face. She thought, “Men are so easy to manipulate. Honestly, I ought to thank Josie for handing me this opportunity. If Josie hadn’t insisted on digging into the plagiarism mess, there’s no way I could’ve gained David’s trust so fast, or blended into the team this easily. Now, everyone’s falling over themselves to feel sorry for me. Just you wait, Josie. You’ve handed me such a generous gift this time. I’ll be sure to pay you back, with interest.”
After leaving the lab, Natalie pulled out a phone from her bag.
Josie had kept herself busy these past few days. She barely spent any time in her dorm. She was either holed up in the lab working on her competition project or following Delilah around the hospital for hands-on training. By the time she saw the team’s public apology that Aiden had posted online, it was already eleven at night. She had just stepped out of the hospital’s consultation room. She yawned while staring at her phone and almost laughed so hard she cried. She’d waited for this apology since before her time travel. It took so long to see them finally bow their proud heads. But she didn’t need their apology. When she saw that line about how she was welcome back to the team anytime, that just made her feel totally grossed out.
Under that apology letter, people were already placing bets. Someone commented: [I bet ten cents Josie will totally go back to Professor Lawson’s team!]
Another replied: [Ten cents? Come on, that’s obvious. She did all this just to get back into Professor Lawson’s team. After all, it’s the top team at our school.]
Someone else wrote: [Nah, you’ve got it wrong, bro. It’s not just our school. It’s the best research team in the whole country, with the hottest majors both here and abroad. She’s not dumb, of course she’ll go back.]
Pretty much every comment was saying she’d end up back with David’s team. But there was one comment that was totally wild and cocky.
It read: [I bet she won’t go back. If I lose, I’ll give everyone who comments here 3 grand each. I’m putting my money where my mouth is!]
A person asked: [Big talk there, buddy. Three grand per person? Do you know the population of our school? Can you even pay up if you lose?]
Another person wrote: [Yeah, don’t just run your mouth and then bail when it’s time to pay. Anyone with eyes can see Josie’s not gonna turn down Professor Lawson’s olive branch. Come on, it’s Professor Lawson!]
The cocky commenter wrote: [Come on, if you’ve got the guts, take my bet. If I lose, I’ll pay up 3 grand to each of you, and if I don’t… I’m a total loser and a coward. If you guys lose, you don’t owe me a cent, just go out and do a good deed, that’s all.]
That was when Aiden chimed in. Even though he was using an anonymous account, Josie could tell it was him.
He wrote: [Since you’re so serious about this, I’ll take you up on that bet. If Josie chooses to go back to Professor Lawson’s team, I’ll give 3 grand to everyone who commented here. To prove I’m serious, I’ll even show my account balance right now.]
The cocky commenter replied: [Alright, here’s my balance.]
When the other students saw that those two were so rich, the comment section exploded with people scrambling to cozy up to them. Everyone was tripping over themselves to flatter them. Josie, who’d been feeling a bit down, couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the spectacle.
Sean came out of the other room and saw Josie grinning like an idiot at her phone. He couldn’t help but smile a little. “Why aren’t you heading to bed? What’s got you laughing like that?”