Sister-in-Law Stole Brother's Thesis; After Death I Ruined Them

1.

The night my brother's name blew up on the trending topics over a plagiarism scandal, I stood outside his bedroom door and heard my sister-in-law on the phone with her childhood sweetheart.

Felix, don't worry. I believe you would never plagiarize anything.

He slapped you across the face in front of all those people. I'll make him pay for it, I promise.

With Juliana defending her childhood sweetheart, my brother lost the case and was ordered to apologize in public.

Then she left the city with Felix, moved far away, and bore his child.

My brother, worn down by the online abuse, sank into depression and took his own life.

In the years after, I searched for the evidence that would clear his name while I taught myself medicine from the research papers he'd left behind.

Twenty years later, my skill had made me a rising star in the field, and I was invited as an expert to sit on a doctoral defense panel.

Reading through the theses, I found that parts of the last one bore a strange resemblance to the very paper my brother had once been falsely accused of copying.

Beside me, the defense secretary leaned in and murmured, "Dr. Dickerson, you think it's a good paper too, don't you? It belongs to Asher Henson, son of Felix Henson, one of the titans of the field. Word is that once he passes this defense, he'll be recruited by a panel of top international medical experts."

At the name Felix Henson, something cold flickered in my eyes.

After several doctoral candidates had defended, Asher Henson stood in front of me.

Looking at the confidence written all over his face, I said flatly,

"The thesis contains plagiarism. I recommend it be sent back for revision."

1.

"Plagiarism?"

The smile froze on Asher's face.

The others stared at me in disbelief.

"Dr. Dickerson, we all ran the checks ahead of time. There's no plagiarism here. There's even a trace of Academician Henson's own brilliance from his early days."

"Exactly. As Academician Henson's son, there's no way he'd stoop to plagiarism. This touches Academician Henson's reputation. Are you sure you haven't made a mistake?"

The defense secretary reminded me softly,

"Dr. Dickerson, perhaps take another look. After all, Asher is"

I cut her off before she could finish.

"I don't care whose son he is, and I don't care whether your checks turned anything up."

"I'm on the advisory panel. If I say his thesis contains plagiarism, then it contains plagiarism."

As I spoke, I watched Asher calmly.

He looked back at me,

then walked slowly up to my table, picked up the thesis, and gave a contemptuous little laugh.

"Dr. Dickerson, I'm sure by now you know who my father is. He personally vetted this paper. On what grounds do you call it plagiarism?"

"And this defense is the last hurdle before I study abroad. Do you have any idea what it means if you reject me?"

I said evenly, "What it means for you is none of my concern. All I know is that whether you pass is mine to decide."

A cold edge crept into his face, and he stared hard at me.

"Dr. Dickerson, I don't think I've ever wronged you. So what's your reason for targeting me like this?"

"I'll give you one more chance. Pass me. Otherwise I'll make sure you can't walk away from this clean."

I said flatly,

"You can give me all the chances you like. It won't matter. Fail is fail."

Something dark crossed his brow, and he said the word "fine" three times over.

"We'll see about this!"

With that, he gave a cold snort and turned and walked out.

Watching him go, I shook my head.

Next to his father's patient, cold-blooded ruthlessness, this boy's temper wasn't worth mentioning.

The other advisors in the room were still whispering among themselves.

One young advisor couldn't hold back and challenged me.

"Dr. Dickerson, do you understand? If Asher passes the evaluation of that top international medical team, he'll learn far more advanced medicine, and the whole country will benefit. By doing this, are you saying you don't want domestic medicine to advance?"

"And Academician Henson often funds the medical program at our school. He even comes to lecture regularly, to nurture the next generation of talent."

"Rejecting his son's thesis today is the same as slapping him in the face!"

"Once he's angry, the losses to the school will be enormous, and you can't carry that!"

"It won't matter that you're a rising star in the field!"

I turned my head and looked at him.

I searched his name on my phone, then closed it.

"You're one of Felix Henson's students?"

He faltered, then jabbed a finger at me, furious.

"How dare you. My teacher's name isn't something you get to say!"

"And Asher's thesis is the best I've seen apart from my teacher's own work."

"My advice is that you go to his door and apologize now. Otherwise, your career is finished right here!"

I let out a scoffing laugh.

"No plagiarism, is there?

"Fair enough. You're shallow and poorly read, so it's only natural you can't see it."

That set him off.

"Don't push this too far."

"I'll report everything that happened today to my teacher, exactly as it went. You just wait to regret it!"

With that, he shot me a glare and walked out of the defense room.

The others didn't dare come near me, afraid of being dragged down with me.

I paid them no mind. I only looked again at Asher's thesis on the table, and the cold in my chest deepened.

Back then his father seized everything, and it cost my brother his life.

All I'd done today was collect a little of the interest.

2.

The morning defense wrapped up, and I went back to the university president advisors' quarters.

But before long, a few uninvited guests came looking for me.

The university president, normally all authority and gravity, was now heaping praise on a man beside him.

"Academician Henson, this is the defense advisor you were looking for. Bernard Dickerson."

Asher stood next to him, jabbing a finger at me.

"Dad, this is the blind idiot who wouldn't pass my defense!"

At that, the man looked over at me.

The next instant, he froze.

Then he gave a cold laugh.

"I heard the medical world had a new star lately."

"Never guessed it was you. What a coincidence."

"You're the one who rejected my son's defense thesis?"

I raised my head.

Our eyes met, and in that instant the hatred I felt for the man who'd driven my brother to his death twenty years ago filled me completely.

But now wasn't the time to show my hand.

I said, flatly,

"That's right."

"Why?"

His gaze went dark.

I answered evenly,

"His thesis contains plagiarism."

Asher exploded at once.

"That's bullshit. When did I ever plagiarize? I wrote that thesis doing project experiments with my dad."

"You dare question me, you're questioning the entire medical world!"

I looked at Felix and laughed softly.

"Your son really is as shameless as you."

A cold light flickered in Felix's eyes.

"Young man, you'd do well to watch your mouth."

"Back then it was your brother who plagiarized me. Everyone knows that."

"Your brother was ruined long ago. You being able to stand here now, I'd guess he had a hand in it, didn't he?"

"For revenge?"

"Why doesn't he come himself?"

I looked at him coldly.

"A plagiarizing dog like you isn't fit to say my brother's name."

"And another thing. I failed your son because he isn't good enough. I'm his defense advisor. Whether he passes is my call, not yours to point fingers at."

At that, he couldn't hold back any longer, and his voice dropped low.

"You've got the nerve to talk to me like this? Not afraid I'll blacklist you across the field?"

By now the president had figured out what was going on.

He looked at me with something like reproach.

"Dickerson, I heard about your brother's plagiarism back then too. That case was settled a long time ago."

"I know it doesn't sit well with you, watching your own brother's name get dragged through the mud. But you can't abuse your position because of it."

"And Academician Henson is a titan of the medical world. You'd be wise to show some respect."

Then he turned to Felix, fawning.

"Academician Henson, don't be angry. Asher's thesis is so outstanding. I'll make sure the defense result is revised."

Felix flicked his sleeve and let out a cold snort.

"My son has been recognized by a panel of top international medical experts. This thesis is his last test. As long as he passes on the first try, he can go."

"You'd better change that result, or I'll make sure you can't survive in the medical world."

Then he leaned in close to my ear.

"Just like that useless brother of yours."

"Of course, if you pass my son, maybe I won't hold your brother's business against you. I might even throw some resources your way."

At that, the president shot me a quick warning look.

"Dickerson, your brother's business is all in the past. A person has to look forward. Academician Henson isn't holding it against you, he's even willing to give you resources. Hurry up and thank him."

Asher wore a cold sneer.

"New star, my ass. In front of my dad he's worth nothing."

I laughed lightly.

"You can make me say it ten thousand more times. His thesis contains plagiarism."

"No matter what, I will not pass Asher."

I looked at Felix.

"And you're in no position to lecture me."

At that, Felix's head snapped toward me, fury rising on his face.

"Luke Dickerson, is it? You really are as arrogant as your brother!"

"Don't believe me? One word from me and you won't have a single place left to stand."

Asher was just as brazen.

"My mom runs the most famous law firm there is. Fail me, and I'll ruin your name and put you behind bars too!"

Back then.

After my brother was harassed into suicide, the police had reopened their investigation into Felix.

But Juliana Pruitt, off the flimsiest scraps of evidence Felix had, didn't hesitate to stand at his side and defend him all over again.

Now, it seemed, her name carried even more weight than before.

Looking at the lot of them, I spoke calmly.

"This is a private lounge. If you keep barking in here, I can call the police for invasion of privacy."

"You piece of trash, who are you calling a dog!"

Asher lunged as if to hit me, but Felix held him back.

He stared at me. "I'll go through the legal channels. And I'm very curious to see how long you can hold out under public pressure."

With that, he coldly took Asher and left.

3.

The university president let out a long, heavy sigh and told me to look out for myself.

That same night, Felix's retaliation began.

He posted several screenshots of my thesis, then set them beside a handful of other papers that shared similar ideas.

The headline read:

"Just how good is this so-called rising star in medicine? Plagiarist or the real deal?"

Below it, he tagged a string of big names in the medical world.

None of them could afford to cross a titan like Felix, so one after another they piled in, agreeing that my thesis was plagiarized.

Their students followed, all of them resharing Felix's post.

Before long, my "plagiarized" thesis was pushed straight onto the trending topics.

Someone even tagged my brother's account, the one that had gone silent for twenty years.

"Plagiarist dog, too gutless to show your own face, so you send your little brother instead. What a waste of a man."

"Right? You did something that shameful, no wonder Attorney Pruitt dumped you. You deserved it."

At the same time, Asher was posting videos across every major platform.

On screen he held up his own thesis, his face twisted with grief and outrage.

"Everyone, I've spent years doing cancer-cure research alongside my father. This paper is the blood and sweat of all those years."

"And today, that so-called rising star in medicine has torn it all down!"

"Now I can't go abroad to study advanced medicine, and that's a huge loss for every single one of us!"

"If he can throw his weight around like this today, tomorrow he'll be prescribing whatever he wants and calling it treatment. The medical world should shut people like him out!"

"He and that brother of his who plagiarized my father, they could be spies some foreign country sent in to hold back our medical progress!"

"Years ago my father saw through the scheme of his plagiarist dog of a brother. And I won't let this one get his way either!"

The comments underneath were nothing but praise for him.

I stared at the screen and gave a cold laugh.

Quite the accusation to pin on someone.

Still, the crowd took the bait.

In no time they were all hammering me, calling me a parasite gnawing away at medical progress.

Some even dug up my contact details and my address, flooding me with messages and calls.

"Overrated plagiarist dog, apologize to Academician Henson and his son right now, or we'll make sure you never get a moment's peace!"

"Abusing your position like that, a man like you doesn't deserve to be called a medical expert!"

"They really are cut from the same cloth. You and that plagiarist dog of a brother are two of a kind!"

As the outcry grew louder, some of Felix's admirers even showed up at my door, demanding I kneel and beg their forgiveness.

For the days after that, I stayed shut inside.

I'd already had a friend look into it long before.

Asher's recruitment offer had only its final day left.

And the other side was demanding that I either come out in person and retract everything, or have it established in a court of law that I was the one making false accusations, otherwise they would drop Asher.

That night, I got a call from an unknown number.

When I answered, a woman's voice came through, cold enough to drop the temperature in the room by a few degrees.

"Luke Dickerson, so you deliberately made sure my son failed his defense?"

"I've already filed suit against you. The attorney's letter will hit your phone any moment now. Tomorrow, you'll come to the courthouse."

"And another thing. Your brother's plagiarism back then is a settled fact, nailed down."

"All these years he still couldn't let it go, sending Felix threatening letters. Truly shameless."

I frowned.

"That's not possible."

Then she let out a scornful little laugh.

"Don't bother making excuses. Every time he sent Felix a threat, Felix told me about it. I've saved every last one."

"A man like that, plagiarizes and then can't even stay gone. He'd be better off dead."

"Tomorrow I'll be filing suit against him as well, so you'd better make sure he shows up too."

"Let me get a good look at what that sewer rat has turned into after all these years."

4.

After all these years, she was still just as certain she was right, still tilting toward Felix's side, playing favorites like always.

But my brother had been dead for twenty years.

How could a dead man threaten Felix?

Before I could say another word, Juliana hung up.

I sat there a long time, staring at nothing.

Then I reached into the hidden compartment of my briefcase and pulled out the stack of evidence I'd spent years collecting, the proof of Felix's plagiarism.

The publication timeline on those papers was enough to clear my brother's name.

At the bottom of the stack was a faded photo of him.

My eyes stung.

"Bernard, tomorrow we go get justice together."

Early the next morning, I went to the courthouse alone.

At the entrance, Felix came toward me with Asher, Juliana trailing behind them, a thick briefcase in her hand.

She looked at me, cold all the way through.

She walked up and let out a sneer.

"Where's Bernard? Why isn't he here? Scared?"

All these years.

She'd never wavered from her belief that my brother had stolen from Felix.

But after she left to protect Felix, my brother killed himself.

Before I could open my mouth, Asher put on his usual arrogance.

"Dickerson, that plagiarizing dog of a brother of yours harassed my mother back then and stole my father's paper."

"And now you're coming after me too."

"My mother's already gathered every piece of evidence of your 'plagiarism.' Today we're not just going to ruin your name, we're settling accounts with that useless brother of yours too, the one hiding and too scared to show his face!"

Felix pointed off into the distance and gave a faint smile.

"See them? I brought those reporters here myself. The second you walk out, they'll swarm you and dig up every detail of how you plagiarized. You won't get away."

I followed his hand. Dozens of people stood there with cameras, plus a crowd of onlookers.

They looked at me the way you'd look at a piece of prime prey.

I kept my face blank.

Go ahead.

The bigger the scene, the harder it would be for them to clean up.

Soon the court was in session.

Juliana laid out all her so-called evidence of my "plagiarism" and submitted it to the judge.

Then, with airtight professional jargon, she twisted a handful of academic fragments into what looked like clear-cut plagiarism.

Finally she pointed at me and raised her voice:

"All of this evidence proves that he tore apart other people's academic work to pave the way for his own career."

"He has no real ability whatsoever. Every honor he's received is nothing but a con on the public!"

"And now he's abusing his position to smear my son with plagiarism charges and humiliate the man I love."

"I request a sentence of no less than ten years' imprisonment, and the stripping of all his professional standing!"

"He must pay the price for slandering my son!"

Just then something sly flickered in Felix's eyes.

"Juliana, the reason he dares to do all this, I suspect it's that plagiarist brother of his pulling the strings from behind."

"For years now, he's been threatening and intimidating me."

"I feel like if this keeps up, I'll fall into depression."

Hearing that, Juliana comforted him.

"Felix, don't worry. That crooked good-for-nothing thinks he can keep hounding you? I prepared the evidence long ago. Today he pays for it."

Then she pulled out a stack of chat records and showed them to the judge.

Righteously, she said, "These are all of Bernard's threats against the man I love, going back years."

"Many of them threaten his personal safety, which has kept my client's partner living in fear all these years, causing serious disruption to his life and his sense of security."

"The circumstances are already severe."

"I ask that coercive measures be taken against him, and that he be brought here to face punishment."

The judge looked at me.

"Defendant, do you have anything you wish to say?"

"If plaintiff's counsel is telling the truth, please have your brother come to the court."

I shook my head.

"On the matter of Asher's plagiarism, I have nothing to say."

"But on the matter of Felix's plagiarism, I have all the proof I need."

"It's just that my brother... he can't come."

Felix roared:

"You're still trying to muddy the waters! Your brother was the one who plagiarized me back then!"

"Where is he? Bring him out! The coward who only dares to scheme behind people's backs."

Juliana scoffed.

"Over the years, he really has grown more and more afraid of the light."

Then she turned back to soothing Felix.

That kind of care, I'd never once seen it given to my brother.

Rage set my whole body shaking, and cold laughter kept spilling out of me.

She frowned:

"What are you laughing at?"

I stared her down:

"I'm laughing because so this is what you look like when you care about someone."

"What a joke, that my brother never once knew it. He had to watch his own wife help another man tear him apart."

She sneered.

"Your brother plagiarized Felix and threatened him. His character was rotten. He has no one to blame but himself."

"Leaving him was the best decision I ever made."

"Get him here, now, or don't blame me for making sure he serves even longer."

"I told you, he never threatened anyone, and he can't come to court."

"Why?"

"Because he's been dead for a long time."