Chapter 6 - The Phantom Degree
The kitchen was dead silent, save for the hum of the refrigerator. The natural daylight seemed to spotlight the intense standoff between the smug 30-year-old woman and the fearless 11-year-old girl.
Nora didn't blink. She looked directly at her aunt, completely unfazed by the adults’ anger.
"How did you earn a PhD when you haven't been a student in three years?" Nora asked, her voice steady and deliberate.
The question hung in the air for a fraction of a second before it hit its target.
Chloe froze.
The smug, arrogant smile vanished from her face instantly, wiped away as if it had never existed. The color violently drained from her cheeks, leaving her looking pale, sick, and completely panicked. Her phone slipped slightly in her hand.
Evelyn looked up at her daughter in confusion, wiping away her tears. "Nora? What are you talking about?"
"What kind of nonsense is this?" her mother asked from the background, stepping away from the counter, pulling her beige cardigan tighter. "Chloe graduated from her doctoral program. We paid her tuition ourselves!"
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But Chloe wasn't defending herself. She wasn't yelling at Nora for being disrespectful. She was just staring at the little girl, her breathing suddenly shallow, a look of pure, unadulterated terror swimming in her eyes.
👉 How will the father react to Nora accusing his golden child of faking her entire life?
