Gemotions

"How could he?" Sarah whispered to the empty room. Across the desk, the side-by-side comparison of her thesis and the esteemed Professor Eldridge’s latest article lay in plain view. Her jaw was tight. Her fingers were curled into fists. The anger felt like a physical weight on her chest.

She had admired Eldridge for years, idolizing his work, hoping to emulate his style. Now, she felt a profound sense of violation. It was her work. Her ideas. Stolen.

She had applied for a research grant, a scholarship. But she knew that if she exposed the theft, it would destroy her career, too. That made her even angrier. She made the decision that if she was going down, so was he. She found his home address, and began sending him, every single day, a printed copy of the plagiarized passages.