Hunter’s face drained of color.
Barbara staggered backward, one hand gripping the edge of an empty chair as if the floor had shifted beneath her.
Neither of them had realized the house security system had recorded everything.
And those recordings revealed a betrayal that would not only destroy their reputations.
They would expose a secret neither of them had ever intended anyone to discover.
My father opened the leather folder.
The quiet click of its clasp sounded louder than the doors Hunter had thrown open moments earlier.
“My daughter has spent eight years earning the title this committee has just awarded her,” he said. “Last night, two people entered her private study without permission, damaged her research materials, and subjected her to an @ss/@ult intended to prevent her from appearing here today.”
A murmur spread through the room.
Hunter looked toward the committee chair.
“This is ridiculous,” he said quickly. “It was a family disagreement.”
My father did not look at him.
“Family disagreements do not usually involve forced entry, destruction of property, threats, and an attempt to steal confidential university research.”
That final sentence changed the air.
Professor Helen Marlowe, the committee chair, leaned forward.
“Steal research?”
Hunter’s mouth opened, but Barbara answered first.
“She’s twisting everything,” she snapped. “Evelyn always does this. She turns ordinary situations into tragedies so people will feel sorry for her.”
I stared at her.
