Wilson shook his head. “It’s no use; Imma’s thesis has already been published. Even if someone agrees to publish Mia’s now, it won’t make a difference.”
“How is that possible?” Wyatt was surprised. “How could Luna manage to get a thesis published? She doesn’t have any connections in Velmona. She probably doesn’t even know how to contact the journal editors!”
Wilson gave a bitter smile. “You think we lost to Luna? No. We lost to her mentor. Erin has never liked losing to me. She’s always been itching for a comeback; Luna just happened to give her the perfect opportunity.”
He chuckled and continued, “It’s just unfortunate for Luna. She thought she struck gold by choosing a niche topic, not realizing she might just be a disposable pawn. She might not even graduate in the end.”
Wilson sighed, lamenting, “She was once my student. I actually pity her.”
Wyatt helped Wilson up. “Professor Hanley, you’re just too kind. She made her choice; we’ve done everything we could. If she can’t graduate, that’s her problem.”
“You’re right. Even if I feel sorry for her, I can’t help it.” Wilson waved him off. “Mia has great potential. You and the others need to look out for her and stop giving her a hard time. Also, get moving on what I asked.”
At first, Wilson had doubts about Mia’s abilities, but after reading her revised thesis, he realized she was on par with Russell aryl Trevor; with proper guidance, she could go far.
As for Luna, she used to be the perfect tool—the one Erin had snatched away. But it didn’t matter. She was just a clueless country girl with no vision or long-term thinking. She was no match for Mia. Erin’s schemes would fall apart. One loss after another, Luna would never be able to surpass herself. And the Wilders? They were no longer the kind of people he needed to cling to.
After leaving Wilson’s office, Wyatt gathered the rest of the team to discuss how to apologize to Luna.
“Professor Hanley means that we should be sincere. It’s even better if we can bring her back. If not, we’ve done all we can. From then on, whatever happens to her is no longer our concern. Understood?”
Everyone nodded, albeit unwillingly. They knew they’d truly lost this time. They could feel Luna’s firmness and coldness. She was no longer the junior they could order around. Even if she returned, she wouldn’t let them walk all over her anymore.
She went through all this trouble just to come back. After all, who would switch majors in their final year, especially to an obscure one? Not only is graduation uncertain, but finding a job would definitely be a challenge!
If it were them, they’d want to come back, too.
“I’ll write the apology letter,” Ethan volunteered.
Everyone agreed without any objections. It seemed that they all supported Luna’s return to the team.
Mia’s face turned pale as she heard this. With teary eyes, she tugged at Wyatt’s sleeve. “Wyatt, does this mean my thesis won’t be published? Has Professor Hanley given up on me?”
“Of course not!” Wyatt recalled what Wilson had said and felt both guilt and sympathy for Mia. Originally, they wanted her to step on Luna to rise higher, but who would’ve thought Lana would get lucky and end up with someone like Erin, who had a long-standing grudge with Wilson?
“This time, Luna managed to publish hers first with Professor Wilder’s help. Since your topics were the same, the journal rejected ours.”
“But Professor Hanley said it’s not your fault. It was his conflict with Professor Wilder that dragged you into this and forced you to bow to Luna. He feels guilty about it.”