I was doing my best to keep my tears at bay,
and listen to what was going on.
Jake, he would he give in?
After a long pause, I heard Jake’s voice.
“Okay, I will talk to Ashley, and get her to hand
over her work to Sarah.”
- 7.
I didn’t go home. I hid in the lab and shut my
phone off.
But, Jake found me anyway. He got the master
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He knew that was where I’d be. I had nowhere
else to go.
In the dim light, I looked up from the computer.
I had dark circles under my eyes, and I felt
exhausted.
My eyes were red as I saw Jake walk towards me. He had a smile on his face. It was like he was getting ready to do something.
“Still working late? I thought your experiment was finished,” he said with false concern.
I whispered, “Yes, it’s done.”
Jake rubbed my head, “Congrats, Ashley.”
I shut my eyes, and didn’t say anything.
I was still hoping.
Hoping that he was happy for me, hoping that he would not ask me to do the unthinkable.
After a long pause, Jake said.
“Ashley, why don’t you hand over the results of
your research to Sarah?”
It was like a punch to the gut.
I already knew this was coming, but to hear the
words made me hurt all over again.
Before I could say anything, Jake jumped in.
“You’re smart and talented you will have more
<
“You’re smart and talented, you will have more
research in the future.”
“Sarah’s about to finish her master’s degree,
and she has nothing under her belt.”
I stood up from the table, my throat felt hoarse.
I yelled at Jake.
“I’m smart and talented? Can’t you see how
hard I work?”
“I’ve been in that lab day and night, my hands
are all raw from the chemicals. I spent so much.
time, and energy to get this breakthrough.”
“Jake, do you have a heart?”
He got annoyed at my questions.
He slammed his hands on the table. He looked
down at me.
“You’re so hardworking, but so what?”
“Ashley, you should never forget where you
came from. The Smiths have given you a great
life for all these years. It’s not too much to ask
for you to make some small sacrifice!”
“You should know how to repay kindness. Do
not become an ungrateful, selfish brat!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t break up with you, if you
Int Cavah havin
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let Sarah have her win. It’s just paying her back
for all the suffering she’s gone through.”
Repay… selfish brat…
At those words, I started to laugh.
I looked at the man I’d loved for eleven years.
In the end, he just thought I was an ungrateful
brat.
I pushed him away.
“Jake, just think I’m ungrateful! I won’t give
Sarah the results of my work. This time, I won’t
step aside!”
I turned and walked away.
Jake watched me leave, anger boiling in his
eyes.
- 8.
I spent a week in a hotel near the campus. I was done with the big mansion.
I wanted to finish the report, and leave this
place.
After hiding for a few days, I didn’t hear from Jake. I thought he’d given up.
I went back to the lab, with my laptop, planning
to finish the report.
<
The door access system kept beeping at me,
“Access Denied.”
I called my professor. “Professor, why isn’t my
keycard working?”
My usually friendly professor sounded cold.
“Ashley, you’re not a member of our lab
anymore. You can’t enter the premises.”
I almost fainted. I stood there, feeling like I was
going to fall.
“Why?” I asked, not able to believe what he
said.
He just hung up.
I dropped to the ground, opening my laptop,
and seeing my access was denied.
I couldn’t even see my own work!
I stormed towards the registrar’s office. I
couldn’t find my professor.
A friendly professor gave me a warning.
“Ashley, don’t bother. He was just ordered to
do it, he can’t do anything about it.”
My whole body was freezing. I sat there, full of
despair.
I knew it. Jake was angry that I refused him,
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and he would find a way to get back at me.
There was only the Smiths and the Jakes who
could do something like this.
Meanwhile, the group chat was blowing up.
People were saying that Sarah’s experiment was successful and it had been approved by a
ton of important researchers.
I could feel Sarah’s happiness through my
phone.
“Thank you all. This experiment has been so
hard, so I’m really excited! I’m having a party at
the hotel tonight, come on over!”
“Whoa! The hotel is super expensive!”
“Sarah is the Smith’s daughter, a party means nothing for her!”
“Yeah, Sarah is nice, smart, and has incredible
research skills!”
A message popped up.
“Sarah’s research is just like Ashley’s. It’s not
like Sarah copied it?”
That was a quiet student. Silence filled the chat
after his message.
Sarah, meanwhile, was raging.
<
“Mark, what am I gonna do? Ashley released
her research, and everyone thinks I copied it!”
Mark smiled, unfazed. “Don’t worry. I’m
prepared!”
One hour later, a post went viral all over the
campus website.
The poster shared Sarah’s lab notebook,
describing all of her work.
The poster also pointed out me, and told
everyone that it was wrong to copy people.
Everyone was shocked. For three years, I’d
been top of my class.
Now people were calling me a fraud, and saying
I’d stolen someone’s research.
I walked through the campus, and people
pointed at me, called me names.
I heard all the words they used, “Copycat“.
I was a copycat now.
I went crazy and started to run, yelling, “I’m not
a copycat! I didn’t steal their research, it was
mine!”
The more I yelled, the more people gathered.
They were all around me, yelling at me.
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My phone vibrated.
“This is the registrar’s office. We have seen the
post online, and we’ve spoken to your teachers
and classmates. You are being expelled.”
