Zack was walking in with Cheryl tucked protectively behind him.

"You gave her my paper?"

I could barely believe it.

Zack lifted his eyes to meet mine, his expression calm and unreadable. "Cheryl's thesis was personally supervised by me from start to finish. There is no plagiarism involved."

He paused, and when he looked at me again, there was even a trace of disappointment in his gaze.

"Joanna, I showed you that paper before because I hoped you could give her some guidance. You shouldn't be making such reckless accusations."

The accusation crashed over me like a tidal wave. My mind spun so violently that the world seemed to tilt around me.

I did not even know how Zack had pulled me outside the room. All I could hear was his cold, detached voice.

"Cheryl needs a prestigious award to secure a teaching position after graduation. Joanna, this paper means nothing to you. Just let her have this one."

I stared at him in disbelief.

I could not believe words like that were coming from someone who called himself a teacher.

"Then what about me? I already submitted that paper. If it gets flagged for plagiarism and rejected, that stain will follow me forever!"

"It's only one paper. It won't affect your status or position."

His tone remained flat, almost casual, as if this were the most reasonable thing in the world.

An overwhelming sense of grief and absurdity clenched around my chest.

I looked at his face and suddenly found it unbearably unfamiliar.

"Zack... how far have you two gone?"

He frowned slightly, not understanding.

"What, have you kissed already? Or have you slept together too?"

At last, realization hit him. Anger surged into his eyes almost instantly.

"Joanna! How could your thoughts be this filthy? Cheryl and I are nothing more than teacher and student!"

"Nothing more?"

I let out a cold laugh, my eyes falling on the scarf around his neck.

It was painfully conspicuous.

"You've been allergic to cotton-linen fabric since you were little. Back when we were kids at the clinic, even touching it would make you itch all night."

His expression stiffened.

Instinctively, he reached for the scarf, wanting to pull it off, but halfway through the motion, he abruptly stopped. A flicker of discomfort crossed his face.

Then, just as quickly, he returned to that calm, restrained version of himself.

"Joanna, you're overthinking this."

He sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Even if the school rules it as plagiarism, at most you'll receive disciplinary action. They won't remove you from your position. But Cheryl only has this one chance."

The fury that had been building inside me finally exploded.

"Do you even realize that if I'm accused of academic misconduct, the school will revoke my access to Lab C6?"

That clause had been written into the contract I signed with the university years ago. Zack had never known about it.

A trace of surprise finally appeared on his face, but it quickly faded back into his usual indifference.

"Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

The way he looked at me carried a kind of exhaustion and emotional distance that seemed to have built up over many years.

"Joanna, you've locked yourself away in that lab for eight whole years.

"You should realize by now that your father's illness may never be cured. Maybe this is a chance for you to finally stop. Maybe that's better for you."

Better for me?

So the eight years I had spent racing against time to save both my father and him... in his eyes, it had all been meaningless self-imprisonment.

The crushing disappointment and heartbreak shattered the last of my restraint.

I raised my hand and slapped him across the face with all my strength.

"Zack, I will never let you destroy my research."

His head turned slightly from the impact, a red handprint rapidly surfacing against his pale skin.

A few seconds later, the last trace of warmth disappeared from his eyes.

All that remained was ice.