Chapter 3The Fire and The Fan Girl

I moved my things out of the villa and hired a cleaning crew to sanitize the place. If he wouldn't sign, I’d sue for divorce.

My legs were healing. My mentor, Professor Miller, urged me to return to the research team.

As I walked into the lab building, I heard sobbing.

"What if Harper says no? I won't graduate! It'll be a black mark on my record forever!"

"Don't worry. I'm here."

Carter was stroking Bella’s hair. She was clinging to him like a koala.

"I knew you were the best, Carter! Mwah!"

They were so wrapped up in each other they didn't see me.

When Carter finally noticed me, Bella scrambled off him. He quickly claimed they were "just playing."

But the hickey on his neck told a different story.

"Why does the house feel empty?" Carter asked, trying to change the subject.

"I threw out the trash," I said. "And I'm taking my stuff."

Bella nodded. "Out with the old, in with the new."

Carter saw my suitcase. "Where are you going?"

"To the field site. The project deadline is tight."

Carter’s expression shifted. He looked guilty. "You don't need to go. Did Professor Miller not tell you?"

I frowned. I checked my email.

My world collapsed.

Professor Miller said I was temporarily suspended from the project. He forwarded me a news article.

Bella, the "Genius Girl" of the university, had been accused of plagiarism on a major paper published in Nature. Carter had thrown me under the bus, claiming I was the one who edited her paper and inserted the plagiarized sections out of jealousy.

I was a rising star in academia. This accusation was a career-killer.

"Carter, do you realize this will ruin me?"

I glared at the scumbag and his mistress. I wanted to tear them apart.

Carter shrugged. "It's just one time, Harper. You owe her. You caused her depression relapse. Time will heal everything. Besides, Professor Miller loves you. Bella has no one."

He said Bella couldn't handle the stigma.

"Harper, if you really mind, I'll post a statement..." Bella started crying again.

It was grating.

I laughed. My expression was calm, almost serene. Carter thought I was agreeing.

"Fine," he said. "If you take the fall for Bella, I won't divorce you."

Looking at him protect her so shamelessly, I realized the love we shared from high school to marriage was rotten.

The Carter who waited in line for hours to buy my favorite cronuts, who almost drowned saving me from a flood—he was dead.

"Actually, I do mind."

I pulled out my phone and dialed the university's ethics board hotline right in front of them.

"I'm reporting Bella Davis for academic fraud, contract cheating, and malicious framing. I will not settle."