Chapter 4

I managed to get a taxi to the university, my mind racing the entire way. Professor Sarah Chen was a legend in the architecture department. She had been a close colleague and friend of my father's, and she had taken me under her wing after he passed away, seeing his same passion in me.

I found her in her office, her brow furrowed with worry as she stared at her computer screen. When she saw me, relief washed over her face.

"Chloe! My goodness, I was about to call the police. Are you alright? The hospital said you collapsed."

"I'm fine, Professor Chen. Just... family drama," I said, the understatement of the century. "Am I too late? The internship..."

"No, you're not too late," she said, her expression turning serious. "But you almost were. I just got off a very strange call with Liam Peterson."

My blood ran cold. "What did he say?"

"He told me you had a change of heart," she said, watching me carefully. "He said you felt you weren't ready for the pressures of New York and that you wanted to offer your spot to your stepsister, Scarlett Hayes. He even had Scarlett on the line to confirm. She was very convincing, said you two had a long talk about it this morning."

The lie was so brazen, so complete. They were moving faster than I had imagined.

"That's a lie," I said, my voice trembling with fury. "They're trying to steal it from me. Liam proposed to me this morning on the condition that I give my spot to Scarlett. When I refused, my mother and stepfather threatened to throw me out."

Professor Chen' s eyes, which were usually warm, hardened with anger. "I knew it sounded suspicious. Your father would be spinning in his grave. That boy, Liam... I never trusted him. And Brenda..." She shook her head sadly. "She's not the woman your father married."

Just then, her office phone rang. She answered it, her expression shifting from anger to disbelief. "Yes, Dean Thompson... Yes, he's right here... What? That's outrageous."

She hung up the phone, her face pale. "That was the Dean of Students. Liam and Scarlett are in his office. They've filed a formal complaint against you."

"A complaint? For what?" I asked, bewildered.

"They're accusing you of plagiarism," she said, her voice grim. "They claim you stole the core concepts of your final portfolio-the one that won you the internship-from Scarlett."

I felt the floor drop out from under me. This was a new attack, one I hadn't faced in my past life. It was a direct assault on my integrity, on the one thing I had left: my talent.

"That's impossible! Scarlett can barely draw a straight line!" I protested.

"She has 'proof'," Professor Chen said, making air quotes with her fingers. "Sketches and notes that she claims predate your project. Liam is backing her up, saying he saw her working on them for months."

We rushed to the Dean's office. Liam and Scarlett were already there, sitting side-by-side on the couch. Scarlett was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, looking fragile and wronged. Liam had his arm around her, glaring at me as if I were a common criminal. My stepfather, Richard, was there too, standing like a guard dog, his powerful presence lending weight to their lies.

"Ms. Davis," Dean Thompson said, his tone severe. "We have a very serious accusation here. Plagiarism is grounds for expulsion, let alone the revocation of an internship."

"I didn't do it," I said, my voice shaking. "They are lying. Scarlett is the one who is lying!"

Scarlett let out a wounded gasp. "How can you say that, Chloe? We live in the same house. You saw my sketchbook on my desk every day. I trusted you!"

Richard stepped forward. "Dean Thompson, my stepdaughter is a brilliant, creative girl, but she is timid. Chloe has always been... aggressive. Ambitious. It's clear she took advantage of Scarlett's trusting nature."

Liam nodded solemnly. "I saw the sketches myself. For months, Scarlett was pouring her heart into this project. When Chloe presented her portfolio, I was shocked. It was Scarlett's work, just... polished."

It was three against one. Their story was coordinated, their performance flawless. I was the hysterical, jealous sister, and they were the poor victims.

"I can prove they're mine," I said desperately, turning to the Dean. "I have all my initial drafts, my digital files, my process logs..."

"Which you could have created after seeing Scarlett's initial genius," Richard countered smoothly. "It's your word against hers. And frankly, given your unstable behavior today-collapsing and making wild accusations-I think we know who to believe."

The Dean looked at me, his face full of doubt. The weight of their combined lies was crushing me. Professor Chen tried to defend me, but Richard, a prominent lawyer and university donor, skillfully shut her down, questioning her objectivity due to her relationship with my late father.

In the end, the Dean made his decision. "Until a full investigation is completed, your internship is on hold, Ms. Davis. And you are suspended from campus activities."

It was a punishment, a public shaming. They hadn't won completely, but they had stalled me, tainted my name. As I left the office, defeated and numb, Scarlett gave me a tiny, triumphant smirk from behind her handkerchief.

They had locked me out of my future, trapping me in a prison of their lies. But as I walked away, the numbness gave way to a cold, hard resolve. They thought they could break me. They had no idea how strong I had become. I had survived death itself. I would survive this. And then, I would make them pay.