The colleague immediately raised her voice. "How dare you show up at the institute? You have brought humiliation upon us! How audacious of you to show your face here!"
Cherise was completely bewildered.
Heather quickly stepped in front of Cherise. "Serena, what are you saying? Isn't this matter still under investigation? Why are you accusing Cherise like this? What if the investigation results show that Cherise is the one being plagiarized? How will you face her as her colleague?"
"Colleague?" Serena sneered, "Who would want to be colleagues with such a shameless woman? I used to think she was brave for admitting that she didn't dare to conduct surgery. Now, it seems she is just shameless!"
Serena continued to vent her anger. "She claims to have made significant contributions in medicine and to be highly professional in academia, but what's the truth? Her paper is plagiarized! If this paper is plagiarized, her other papers might be plagiarized too, and her qualifications might even be fake!"
The more Serena spoke, the more she felt justified. "Furthermore, her family and her husband's family are wealthy. For the wealthy, academic qualifications, research papers... everything can be bought! This is a mockery of those of us who are dedicated to academia. She's trampling on our dignity!"
Serena spoke with such conviction that Cherise was almost tempted to applaud her. Undoubtedly, if Serena were accusing someone else who had indeed violated the rules, Cherise might excitedly applaud her words. Unfortunately, Serena blamed her, and she had never done anything remotely close to any of the things Serena mentioned.
Still, Cherise guessed what had happened from Serena and Heather's conversation. Most likely, someone had claimed that the paper Gwenn stole from her was their own.
She took a deep breath and gently patted Heather's hand, signaling her to calm down. Then, she smiled at Serena, saying, "I think I understand the situation you are referring to. As for whether I plagiarized, that's for the expert panel to determine. I'll talk to Mr. Whitlock and the hospital director."
However, as she tried to leave, Serena extended her arms and blocked her way. "Cherise, I won't let you escape so easily!"
"Mr. Whitlock told us he was reluctant to accept you. However, the hospital director, whom he was acquainted with, recommended you, saying you were talented, which was why you could work at our institute."
"But since you started working, you haven't done anything. Apart from writing one research paper, you've been on continuous leave. Now, even your paper is plagiarized, and the person you plagiarized from has come forward to condemn you!"
"Cherise, you are a person with no medical ethics or morals. You should be banned from the entire field!"
Serena's loud voice attracted many colleagues to come and watch.
As Damien had gifted flowers and invited everyone in the institute to dinner, they knew Cherise. But in their eyes, Cherise had become a person who tarnished the institute's reputation, making them unable to hold their heads up before their peers.
They gathered around her, criticizing her. Every word they said cut deeply into Cherise's heart.
"Good-looking women are usually useless! And I say this from experience! Half of them are airheads!"
"Exactly! How could there be a woman who is beautiful, intelligent, and has a handsome husband? If such a perfect woman existed, we would have been envious to death!"
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