The fluorescent lights of Room 402 hummed.

My hands shook as I adjusted the collar of my blazer.

I had spent five years on my biochemical research, surviving on black coffee and four hours of sleep a night.

Now, Dr. Sterling sat at the center of the long mahogany table, looking down at a set of corrupted data sheets.

Hunter sat in the back row of the gallery next to his mother, Barbara.

Barbara wore her trademark pearls and a cold, satisfied smile.

Hunter avoided my eyes, pretending to study his polished leather shoes.

“The data in your final presentation does not match the submitted files, Evelyn,” Dr. Sterling said.

His voice was dry, matching the sterile air of the university seminar room.

“My wife must have rushed the final phase,” Hunter spoke up from the gallery.

He stood up, adjusting his tie with a practiced, sympathetic sigh.

“She has been under immense pressure, Dr. Sterling, and I fear her conclusions were fabricated to meet the deadline.”

Barbara nodded in agreement, her eyes gleaming.

“It is a tragedy,” Barbara whispered loudly. “But academic integrity must come first.”

I gripped the edge of the podium, the wood biting into my palms.

Before I could speak, the heavy oak door at the back of the room swung open.

My father, Arthur Hayes, stepped into the room.

He wore a tailored charcoal suit that made him look like he owned the building.

Two university security guards stood in the hallway behind him.

“That is a lie, Dr. Sterling,” Arthur said.

His voice cut through the quiet room like a blade.

He walked down the center aisle and tossed a thick manila folder onto the table in front of the committee.

Hunter stiffened, his face instantly losing its color.

“What is the meaning of this?” Dr. Sterling asked, frowning.

“Inside that folder are university server logs and IP addresses,” Arthur said.

He did not look at me. He kept his eyes locked on Hunter.

“Those logs show that Hunter Vance accessed my daughter’s university drive from his personal laptop last Tuesday at midnight,” Arthur continued.

“He deleted her backup files and substituted the corrupted data you are looking at now.”