Chapter 3

Olivia POV

I walked to the advisor's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

I pushed open the door. Sure enough, Summer Bennett was there too.

When Summer saw me, a flash of triumph and provocation crossed her eyes before she quickly resumed her pitiful expression.

The advisor's face was dark with anger. When he saw me enter, he slammed two papers on the desk!

"Olivia! Summer! Explain this to me! Why are your two papers exactly the same?! Even the grammatical errors are identical! Academic misconduct is strictly forbidden at this school! Whoever copied, confess now, and the school will be lenient!"

Summer immediately spoke up first, her tone aggrieved but firm: "Professor, my paper was absolutely written by me! I don't know why it's so similar to Olivia's, but I definitely didn't plagiarize!"

I looked at those two papers, my heart going cold, but I insisted: "Professor, my paper was also completed independently. I didn't plagiarize."

The advisor rubbed his temples in frustration: "You both say you wrote them yourselves? Where's your proof?"

Summer immediately said: "Professor, I have a witness!"

The office door was pushed open again. Ethan strode in on his long legs.

He didn't even glance at me, speaking directly to the advisor: "I watched Summer stay up all night writing her paper. There's no way she plagiarized. As for why they're similar, I think..."

He paused, glancing at me. "You should ask the other person."

The advisor naturally knew about Ethan's relationship with me. He seemed to understand something.

He exploded in fury, pointing at me: "Olivia! What do you have to say for yourself! All the evidence points to you! I'm so disappointed in you!"

I looked at Ethan in disbelief.

In the past, I might not have understood why he would do this to me.

But now, knowing the whole truth, how could I not understand?

For Summer's sake, he could fake a relationship with me, spread my private photos, and now pin Summer's plagiarism on me. What was so surprising about that?

I was in agony, but I also knew any explanation would be powerless against Ethan's statement.

The advisor dismissed Ethan and Summer, then severely reprimanded me again, declaring my paper void and adding it to my record.

I walked out of the advisor's office in defeat.

As soon as I stepped out, I saw Ethan alone, leaning against the hallway wall, clearly waiting for me.

I stopped, looking at this man I'd loved for two years who had deceived, used, and hurt me from beginning to end. My voice was dry and trembling: "Ethan... don't you think you owe me an explanation?"

Ethan looked up, his eyes still indifferent. "Summer accidentally deleted her paper yesterday. It was the deadline, so she asked me for yours to reference."

Reference? Direct copy-paste with identical grammatical errors was "referencing"?

My heart ached so much I could barely breathe.

He continued in that cold, pleasant yet utterly cruel voice: "Your scholarship has already been canceled, but Summer is still competing for one. So this paper is very important to her. You... you're already in this situation anyway, so it doesn't matter."

Doesn't matter...

Every word was about Summer Bennett. He never considered my feelings, never thought about how much it would hurt me.

Enormous grief and anger instantly overwhelmed me. I couldn't hold back anymore and screamed at him hysterically, pouring out all my grievances, pain, and despair!

Ethan probably saw me—usually so gentle and obedient—in such a desperate state for the first time. His brows furrowed slightly.

"It's just one paper. Why make such a fuss?" He frowned and grabbed my wrist. "You've always wanted to have dinner with me, right? I happen to be free today. I'll take you."

I violently shook off Ethan's hand, that force carrying all the despair and anger I'd suppressed for so long.

"I'm not going!" My voice trembled with agitation, my eyes red as I glared at this man I'd once loved so deeply. "I'm not that pathetic! If you really don't want to have dinner with me, then don't ever have dinner with me again!"

With that, I turned decisively and practically ran away from that suffocating place.

Ethan stood there. He didn't chase after me.

After all, in the past when I looked at him, my eyes were always full of light, filled with careful admiration and complete obedience.

If he said go east, I would never go west.

If he so much as frowned, I would immediately reflect on what I'd done wrong, then soften my voice to comfort him.

To him, this really was just a trivial matter. Coaxing Summer required effort. Coaxing me? Unnecessary.

In his understanding, even if I was angry, I'd get over it on my own.