weeks, Dad had been coaching Lila. He believed that because he had supported me during graduate school, he deserved a percentage of anything I invented. Mom knew. She created distractions while Lila searched my room. Breaking my glasses was the final step to make me miss the defense while Lila used my phone to send research files.
They thought a missed defense would weaken me.
Instead, it delayed the meeting by forty-three minutes.
The committee reconvened that afternoon.
Professor Shaw sat beside me.
My hands trembled once before I began.
