For years, they had been pretending to be loving parents just to set Scott up for success. It was pathetic. All I ever wanted was my own shot at success, but they would do anything to make sure that wasn’t possible.
I thought I was prepared for the worst, but I wasn’t ready for what happened on the day of my graduation defense.
Scott went up third. The moment his PPT came up on the screen, my stomach dropped.
It was my work. Word for word, slide for slide—he had stolen everything.
I stood up, my anger bubbling over. Pointing at Scott’s paper, I snapped, "Scott plagiarized my thesis! I’m reporting this!"
Everyone in the room who had already gotten expensive gifts from him exchanged looks and the whispers started.
"Plagiarized from you? What proof do you even have?" one of them asked, smirking. "You couldn’t even get a scholarship. What could you possibly have written that’s worth copying?"
"Yeah, right. He’s rich. Why would he steal your work? Get over yourself."
"I think she’s just making it up to mess with him," another said. "People like her don’t deserve a diploma! Sir, you should kick her out!"
Before I could even respond, some of the students grabbed my crutches and tossed them out the door.
I hobbled over, the sound of laughter following me.
"Hey, Savannah, your problem isn’t your leg, it’s your brain!" someone laughed. "You walk like one of those characters with cerebral palsy!"
"She waddles like a duck!" another added. "How’s she even writing papers? She could barely make money selling herself!"
"And don’t forget last time," one of them chimed in. "I saw her when I tore her clothes off. She’s got a decent figure, maybe she can sell herself for something after all."
No one stepped in. The lecturer stood by, probably thinking this was all just some entertainment. He probably had orders from the university director to back Scott no matter what.
He finally spoke up, but his tone was cold. He pulled out a chair and positioned it right in front of me, like he wanted me to trip.
"Enough of this," he said. "You’ve caused trouble before, Savannah and the school has been patient. But accusing someone of plagiarism is serious. Do you have any proof?"
I just stared at him, my fists clenched so tight my nails were digging into my palms.