“Hunter provided the corporate funding through Hayes Industries.”

“The university legal team reviewed the contract.”

“They found no discrepancies in the authorship attribution.”

My father closed his eyes, his head bowing slightly.

“William,” my father interrupted, “what is the problem you mentioned?”

“Why did you call?”

Dr. Sterling cleared his throat.

The sound was dry and raspy.

“Hunter and his mother have gone public,” Dr. Sterling said.

“They did not wait for the board’s final approval on Monday.”

“What do you mean public?” my father asked, his eyes snapping open.

“They held a press conference twenty minutes ago in the lobby of the biomedical sciences building,” Dr. Sterling said.

“They have released a statement to the local press and the academic journals.”

“They are accusing Evelyn of scientific misconduct.”

The room seemed to tilt.

The mahogany panels of my father’s office shrank inward.

“Misconduct?” I whispered.

“They claim you fabricated the third-phase efficacy data,” Dr. Sterling said.

“They claim Hunter discovered the errors during a routine audit of the laboratory databases.”

“They are calling for a full retraction of your doctoral thesis.”