Then, with icy eyes, he tore the last gas mask in half before me and crushed it underfoot. My final hope shattered along with it.
“Back then, when you exposed Chloe, she begged you to let her go. And what did you say? That as head of the Research Institute, you couldn’t tolerate someone desecrating national resources!”
“Chloe’s fraud only cost the government a few million dollars, but you still got her expelled from the entire academic world!”
Three years ago, leveraging Margaret’s funding of my project, Ethan had forced Chloe—his childhood sweetheart—into my institute, polishing her résumé with my work.
If Chloe had behaved quietly, I might have turned a blind eye. But she stole my entire team’s data to win that award!
As a researcher serving the United States, living on taxpayer money, I could never tolerate an academic fraud in my lab!
Hearing Ethan twist black into white chilled me further.
“I only made sure she could never do research again. Compared to what you’re doing today, I’m nothing close to as ruthless.”
His face darkened, my words stoking his fury:
“Easy for you to say! You drove Chloe to online harassment for a whole year! She fell into depression, crying herself to sleep every night!”
I sneered. Chloe had flaunted herself on Twitter—one moment bragging about her fling with New York’s wealthy heir, the next showing off as a top researcher in a national institute, basking in adoration.
How else could people have exposed her so quickly once I reported her?
Chloe collapsed against Ethan’s shoulder, sobbing pitifully. The cry of his childhood sweetheart pulled at his heart, draining his patience.
“This toy mask is my final courtesy to you. See for yourself—do you wear it, or give it to your mom? If putting on a clownish mask can amuse Chloe, then your deaths will have meaning.”
Time was running out—Margaret had already been without oxygen for several minutes.
I couldn’t hesitate anymore. I grabbed the toy mask and rushed into the chamber.
Margaret lay weakly on the floor. Her eyes lit up when she saw me. But when her gaze fell on the mask in my hand, she propped herself up and slapped me hard across the face.
“You wretch! I told you to get me a gas mask, and you bring me a toy? Are you trying to kill me? Did you hide the real one?”
My cheek swelled instantly, burning with pain. Facing her storm of accusations, I had no choice but to tell the truth: