I took a deep breath and spoke slowly. “I was reviewing her thesis. Nothing like what you’re implying.”

Eric let out a mocking laugh.

“Lucy’s not even here, so of course you can say whatever you want.

“Lucy is ranked first in our Life Sciences department. Why would she need you to explain her thesis to her?”

I almost laughed out of anger.

Where on earth had Lucy found a guy like this?

I looked at Eric coldly.

“You said I stole your direct-entry PhD spot. But as far as I know, Adams University decides those based on GPA and research output. You don’t even have a decent SCI paper. Who exactly could steal that spot from you?”

Eric’s face turned pale, and his neck flushed red.

“I know you look down on me. Fine. I’m not as good as you at working connections or flattering female professors.

“I’m just an honest student doing real academic work. How could I possibly compete with someone like you, who sleeps with a professor to get ahead?”

He put on a wounded expression, as if he had been deeply wronged, and the room immediately turned against me.

“He looks decent enough. How can he be so vicious?”

“I hate guys like that. Pretty boys who turn academia into a mess. I feel bad for Eric.”

“So disgusting. People like him are ruining Adams University’s reputation!”

Seeing that public opinion had swung his way, Eric pressed on.

He pulled up another photo.

“Don’t blame him, everyone. Maybe I misunderstood.”

“But look at this. Someone took this picture of Professor Jackson’s car parked outside a hotel. And that silhouette really looks like him.”

I took a closer look.

The figure standing next to the car was wearing a dark gray suit.

What a coincidence.

The car was mine.

And the silhouette was me.

But I had gone to that hotel to attend an international academic conference.

“This car…”

I had barely started speaking when Eric cut me off.

“That car belongs to Professor Jackson, right? I heard she may be older, but she’s very rich.

“So that night, were you in that car servicing her?”

I smiled. “That silhouette in the photo was me. And I was the one driving the car.”

The room instantly erupted.

“Oh my god! He admitted it!”

“How shameless. He’s openly admitting he’s being kept by someone?”

The smug look in Eric’s eyes deepened as he stared at me arrogantly.

“If you ask me, Professor Jackson was probably just temporarily fooled by you. There’s no way she’d actually fall for someone like you.

“I heard Professor Jackson will be arriving soon. If you don’t leave now, things are going to get very awkward.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“You keep saying I have an improper relationship with Alva Jackson. Have you ever even met Professor Jackson?”

Eric’s eyes flickered for a moment, but he quickly straightened his back.

“Maybe we haven’t met in person yet, but I’ve already been emailing with Professor Jackson again.

“She’s very impressed with my resume. She’s practically decided that I’ll be her first graduate student.”

He crossed his arms and sneered at me.

“All that stuff you’ve been doing is pointless. You think sleeping your way up will get you academic resources? Research is a serious field.”

I had indeed received an email from someone named Eric Pensworth.

It was full of formatting mistakes, and the resume attached to it wasn’t even properly aligned. I deleted it without a second thought.

“Alright.”

I slowly took a seat.

“Since Professor Jackson is coming, I’ll just wait here.”

“I’d like to see how exactly she plans to accept you as her first graduate student.”

When Eric saw that I had no intention of leaving, he started to panic.

“How can someone be this shameless?”

“This is a group dinner, and everyone’s splitting the bill! Did you even pay before sitting down?”

“I’ll pay for him!”

A hurried female voice suddenly came from the doorway.

Lucy finally showed up.

She came in drenched in sweat, clutching a thick stack of freshly printed documents.

“Sorry! Sorry! There were way too many people at the print shop!”

I sat in the corner, glaring at my clueless little sister, my irritation rising by the second.

I had only asked her to print a few documents for me, and she had taken this long.

In that short time, I had already been turned into the villain of the story. The professor’s boy toy. A homewrecker. Public enemy number one.

The moment Lucy noticed the tension in the room, she froze.

“W... what’s going on?”

The second Eric saw her, his whole expression changed.

He frowned, strode over, and demanded, “Lucy, what took you so long?”

Startled, Lucy hurried to explain. “Eric, there were a lot of materials, and...”

Eric let out a cold laugh and pointed straight at me.

“Stop making excuses. Was it because of this guy who keeps harassing you?”

“He refused to leave, and I knew it. He clearly hasn’t given up. He wants to flirt with you right in front of everyone.”

“And Professor Jackson will be here any minute. Just having him sitting here is already making our whole group look bad.”

Lucy followed his finger and looked at me. Her face instantly went blank.

“No... Eric, I think you’ve got it wrong. He’s actually...”

She was just about to say “my brother” when I shot her a look.

Years of sibling intimidation worked instantly. She clamped her mouth shut.

I signaled with my eyes: Be quiet. Let’s watch this play out.

Lucy might be a little slow sometimes, but she knew how to read the room.

She swallowed hard, then stiffly turned back to Eric. “Um... Eric, it’s fine. He’s a guest. Adding one more chair won’t hurt.”

Eric stared at her in disbelief.

“I knew it. You’ve been completely taken in by him!”

“First you help him write his paper, and now you’re taking his side too! Don’t let him fool you. He’s ruining your future!”

“Do you even realize that if Professor Jackson finds out, you could get expelled?”

Lucy looked utterly confused. “Write his paper? Who? Me?”

She glanced down at the documents in her arms.

They were the extended analysis from the top journal paper I had just published. Every formula in it was enough to make her, as a grad student, want to kneel in worship.

Her expression turned strange. “I’m not even qualified...”

“See? You admitted it yourself!”

Eric didn’t listen at all. He took her reaction as guilt.

Then he turned and glared at me viciously. “You’re pretty good at this, I’ll give you that.

“But let me tell you something. In this field, real ability is what matters.

“When Professor Jackson gets here, I’m going to expose you for who you really are.”

“Enough!”

Lucy finally couldn’t take it anymore.

She jumped to her feet and stepped in front of me, shame written all over her face.

“Eric, he’s my brother. My actual brother!”

Eric froze when Lucy shouted at him. Then he let out a cold laugh.

“Your brother? Yeah, right. Who are you trying to fool? He’s probably just some random ‘big brother’ you picked up somewhere.”

He glanced at me with a mocking smile. “Didn’t expect you to be into that kind of thing.”

“Engaging in role-play in public now? What, is that your thing?”

With that, he grabbed Lucy’s arm and tried to sound authoritative.

“Lucy, I know you’re being threatened! Did he get some kind of leverage on you? Is that why you’re letting him control you?”

Lucy stared at Eric as if he were an alien.

Then she turned to me, her eyes clearly asking for help.

I looked away and ignored her.

At the end of the day, Eric giving me trouble had something to do with her too.

When we got home, I was definitely reporting this to our parents.

Seeing that I wouldn’t help her, Lucy grew anxious and tried to pull my hand, hoping I would say something.

But Eric misunderstood again.

“Oh, I see how it is,” he snapped. “You’re already exchanging looks right in front of me?”

“Lucy Jackson, make your choice today. Him or me.”

Lucy looked completely overwhelmed.

I stayed calm, curious to see what this silly girl would do.

She looked torn, glancing from me to Eric.

After a moment, she spoke carefully. “Alva, Eric can be a little blunt, but he doesn’t mean any harm.

“Maybe you could just… let it go this time?”

Then she turned to Eric.

“Eric, do me a favor. Let’s just drop this.”

I looked at the sister I had doted on since we were kids and felt a chill run through me.

I was just about to speak when a server’s voice suddenly came from outside the room.

“Professors, this way please.”

Eric’s eyes lit up. A flattering smile instantly spread across his face.

“That must be Professor Jackson!”

He quickly turned to the other students. “Everyone stand up! Let’s make a good impression!”

“And you, clean up that mess on the table!”

Then he leaned toward me and whispered viciously, “You’re finished.”

“Just wait. You’ll be publicly disciplined by the whole university.”

The door opened.

The dean of the Life Sciences School at Adams University walked in, followed by several administrative staff.

The dean scanned the room as soon as he stepped inside.

Eric hesitated for a moment. Although Professor Jackson wasn’t with them, the dean was still someone important.

He rushed forward immediately, his tone almost fawning.

“Hello, Dean! I’m Eric Pensworth. I sent you an email before.

“Did Professor Jackson not come with you?”

The dean frowned slightly, looking confused.

“Professor Jackson? He’s already here.”

As he spoke, his gaze landed on me.

His serious expression instantly broke into a smile, and he hurried over.

“Professor Jackson! Why are you sitting over here?”