Betrayed and Dumped: She Rose Stronger Than Ever novel Chapter 213

Stephen couldn’t risk landing in the headlines because of some baseless rumor about her love life. Rebecca’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Sonja. “This can’t happen again,” she said, her voice steady and cold. “If it does, I won’t let it slide.”

Sonja finally let herself breathe. Rebecca’s attitude was annoying, but at least she was off the hook for now. Before she could relax, Stephen spoke up, his voice icy. “From now on, if I hear even a hint of gossip like this, I’ll hold Sonja responsible for all of it.”

Sonja froze. How was she supposed to control what people said in the future? Why should she take the blame? But this wasn’t the moment to argue. She just forced herself to nod and let it go.

The meeting rolled on. Martha had planned to throw a few subtle jabs at Rebecca during her report, but after watching Sonja get called out, she thought better of it. She deleted anything risky from her slides right away.

Once the presentations wrapped up, Caleb announced the first progress meeting was officially done. The applause that followed was stiff and half-hearted.

People started gathering their things, ready to leave, when Dr. Palmer suddenly asked everyone to stay. He was still fighting a cold, his voice thin and breathless, but every word carried weight.

“I just figured out exactly what happened earlier,” he said. “First, let me apologize. I should have explained things more clearly, so none of you would doubt Rebecca’s place here.”

“Some of you are wondering why Rebecca, who isn’t even officially in my graduate program yet, is here at all. The answer is…”

Everyone in the room leaned forward, waiting. Dr. Palmer paused, then continued.

“The data model you’re all using right now was built bu Rebecca when she was still an undergrad.”

A hush fell over the room as the students processed what he’d said. After a long moment, Caleb finally spoke, sounding almost in shock. “Are you saying the big data model we’ve used on our computers for five years was Rebecca’s work from undergrad?”

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