Chapter 7 - The Hidden Drive
Hunter let out a wicked, breathless laugh that echoed through the stunned room.
He proudly admitted that while everyone was distracted by the journal, he had activated a remote wipe.
He had secretly installed a vicious malware program on her laptop months ago.
He gleefully explained that he had just permanently erased her entire hard drive and her cloud backups.
He told the committee that without her final data sets, her dissertation was completely invalid.
He truly believed he had finally won the agonizing war of attrition.
He looked at Selena with pure hatred, waiting for her to finally break down and cry.
Instead of panicking, Selena simply closed the useless laptop and pushed it aside.
She looked at Hunter with an expression of profound, unshakable pity.
She calmly explained that living with a manipulator had taught her to never trust a single system.
She reached down and unclasped the silver pendant necklace she was wearing.
She pressed a tiny button on the side of the jewelry, revealing a micro-USB port.
She had stored her final, encrypted backup directly around her neck the entire time.
Hunter's wicked smile completely vanished, replaced by a look of sheer terror.
Selena plugged the pendant into the secondary input of the projector system.
The screen instantly flooded with her pristine, completely uncorrupted data models.
The committee broke into spontaneous applause at her incredible foresight and resilience.
She quickly walked them through the final, groundbreaking conclusions of her research.
Her formulas successfully proved a new method for purifying contaminated water systems.
It was a billion-dollar discovery that would change environmental science forever.
The dean stood up, trembling with excitement, completely ignoring Hunter's presence.
He officially declared that this was the finest doctoral defense he had ever witnessed.
He formally addressed Selena as a doctor for the very first time.
Selena felt tears of pure joy finally well up in her tired eyes.
But as the committee prepared to sign her passing papers, the heavy doors opened again.
Two federal agents walked into the auditorium wearing dark suits and serious expressions.
They bypassed Hunter completely and walked straight toward the podium.
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They pulled out a heavy pair of steel handcuffs and looked directly at Selena's father.
"Arthur, you are under arrest for massive corporate embezzlement," the lead agent declared loudly.
