Evelyn moved the class to the boardroom upstairs.

Elijah sat between Thomas and Maya while Hollis and Keene faced them across the table.

Ada connected her tablet to the wall screen.

A younger Elijah appeared, seated at Thomas’s kitchen table with the blue notebook open before him.

“Can you explain the correction term?” Ada’s recorded voice asked.

Elijah pointed to the page.

“It prevents the error from feeding back into the sequence.”

The date glowed beneath the image.

Hollis stood.

“Digital timestamps can be altered.”

Ada paused the video.

“The session was stored on our foundation server.

We also have the registration record, the original upload, and two independent backups.”

“You invited me to review youth submissions.

I may have discussed the concept with him earlier.”

Elijah looked directly at him.

“We had never spoken.”

“You waited outside my classroom for months.”

“I waited for my father.”

Hollis turned to Thomas.

“Withdraw your complaint, and I will ensure your suspension disappears.”

Thomas leaned forward.

“You cannot return what you never had the right to take.”

“I can make certain you never work at another university.”

Elijah gripped his father’s sleeve.

Thomas covered the boy’s hand with his own.

Evelyn tapped the table.

“That sounded like retaliation.”

“It was a private employment discussion.”

“In front of nine witnesses?”

Keene opened a folder.

“The board should remember the financial consequences.

Canceling this presentation may cost the university six million dollars.”

Ada looked at him.

“The foundation does not reward institutions that conceal misconduct.”

Keene’s folder closed.

“The grant is frozen,” Ada continued.

“It will remain frozen until your role is reviewed.”

Keene turned to Hollis.

“You told me the paper was derivative.”

“You knew exactly what it was.”

“I knew what you told me.”

Maya placed another document on the table.

“Then why did you approve this payment?”

Evelyn read the heading.

“Special archive maintenance?”

“It was an administrative expense,” Keene said.

“The money went to the employee who changed Elijah’s submission date,” Maya replied.

Keene pushed back his chair.

“I want counsel.”

The university attorney cleared his throat.

“I represent the institution, not either of you personally.”

Hollis reached for the blue notebook.

Lydia moved it beyond his reach.

“Do not touch it,” she said.

“You have destroyed my career over a child’s fantasy!”

“No,” Elijah said.

“You did that when you put your name on my work.”

Hollis snatched the water pitcher and swept it toward Ada’s tablet.

Thomas caught his wrist before the water spilled.

“Not this time,” Thomas said.

Security stepped forward.

Hollis pulled free but found both doors blocked.

Evelyn rose.

“Gerald Hollis, you are suspended immediately from teaching, research supervision, and access to university systems.

Your grant application is withdrawn.”

Maya let out a shaking breath.

“Richard Keene,” Evelyn continued, “you are placed on administrative leave.

Your authority over staff and student records ends now.”

Keene pointed at Hollis.

“He planned it.”

Hollis laughed bitterly.

“And you approved every step because you wanted your name on a new building.”

The officers escorted Keene toward one door.

He did not look back.

Hollis stopped beside Elijah.

“You think they will welcome you now?” he said.

“They will display you until the applause ends, then remember where you came from.”

Elijah rose.

His chair scraped once across the floor.

“I know where I came from,” he said.

“I came with my father.”

Hollis’s mouth tightened as an officer opened the second door.

Evelyn waited until he reached the threshold.

“Professor Hollis, the board’s decision today is temporary.

Tomorrow, we begin the proceeding that can take everything else.”

Hollis turned one last time.

“If I fall,” he said, “this department falls with me.”

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