Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

But Madeleine was overseas attending an academic summit and hadn't returned yet, so Roseanne's team was without their mentor present.

And, just their luck, they were scheduled to present right after Edna's group.

Carlson stood up, detailing the academic progress they'd made that month. The highlight was Sybil, as the lead author, publishing an article in a highly respected scientific journal.

At this point, Carlson paused, seemingly overwhelmed.

The audience was momentarily puzzled, then quickly caught on that this might be their cue to applaud.

Soon, a thunderous round of applause filled the room.

Carlson was speechless.

The university and department leaders on stage were grinning from ear to ear. Especially Babur, whose smile was so wide it was almost comical.

Edna straightened up in her chair, a small smile playing on her lips.

Amidst the applause, Sybil stood up, saying, "Thank you, everyone. But the person who truly deserves my gratitude is my mentor-Ms. Edna! Her professional guidance and patience have been invaluable."

The applause resumed, even louder this time.

acknowledged the gesture with a modest

took his

her days either out exploring or just chilling, sometimes even skips classes. Yet, she managed to quietly

barely set foot in the lab.

finished a paper and were about to submit it? Which journal were you thinking

it?" Arkle asked, eyes filled with

of having his own academic achievements

sending it home to his parents. They'd be

"I'm not submitting it."

daydreams, took a moment to process, "...Not submitting

to submit? Carlson's expression was unreadable: "There was an issue with the direction of the experiment. All the data

it was supposedly ready for submission. Such a significant discrepancy shouldn't have been discovered at the last

glimpse of Carlson's grim expression, Arkle felt a pit in

keep this moving! We don't want to waste everyone's time," he said, casting a snide glance

calm: "Last month, our group secured a lab space, self-funded the purchase of a CPRT meter, and finalized our research topic

don't have any significant findings to report, there's not

Roseanne remained silent.

a fact, and there was