Chapter 2

Chris's face darkened. He clearly hadn't expected me to call him out in front of everyone.

A few of the more observant students gasped. "Isn't that the necklace Chris always wears? Why was it around Stella's neck? What's going on between them?"

"Does this mean Clara is the other woman? Did she break them up?"

As the whispers grew louder, Chris shot me a look of pure hatred. "I've been looking for this everywhere. So you're the one who stole it? Stella, you're shameless."

The crowd's murmurs turned to murmurs of understanding, their gazes now filled with contempt for me.

I was done. I turned to leave.

But he called out to me. "Professor Sterling is coming to visit the clinical team. I need you to work through the night and finalize the data on myocardial perfusion."

For years, our professors had praised Chris as a brilliant medical mind.

But no one knew that he was just a book-smart fool. The moment he stepped into an operating room, his hands would tremble so much he couldn't even hold a scalpel.

I was the one who had been collecting all the clinical trial data for him.

But now... he was kicking me to the curb. Why should I continue to be his doormat?

I quit the medical team on the spot and waved my phone at him. "I'm out. From now on, your mess is your own problem."

Ignoring the murderous look on his face, I walked out of the classroom, a sense of relief washing over me.

On my way to the lab, I got a text from my father. He had just landed and wanted to take me and Chris out to dinner.

My nose started to burn. I hovered my fingers over the keyboard, but in the end, I couldn't bring myself to tell him we had broken up.

I just told him to pick me up at the lab.

I walked back to the lab, my heart heavy with a sense of loss.

Chris and I were the campus sweethearts. He had promised we would get married after graduation.

But then he had said he wanted to go to grad school, and asked me to be understanding.

I had tried so hard to be the supportive girlfriend. But all I got in return was his growing distance.

All those nights I had spent in the lab, running experiments for him... was he with her?

I pushed the door to the lab open.

The red bean porridge I had made for him was still on the table.

In the incubator, the results of the experiment I had stayed up all night to run were ready.

I stared at the numbers, and my vision started to blur.

This was what I had given up my future for.

Just then, Chris and Clara walked in, in the middle of a conversation about what movie to see that night. They stopped when they saw me.

"See? I told you she was just being dramatic. She's been a part of this research team for so long, won so many awards with us. She's not going to just throw it all away."

Clara smiled and tried to take my arm, but I pulled away.

My father was the world's leading expert in cardiovascular medicine, and I had learned everything from him.

Did they really think I cared about a few student awards?

Seeing my silence, Chris just scoffed. "You're so pathetic. If it wasn't for all the grunt work you do, I would have kicked you out of this lab a long time ago."

"You're just an assistant. If you get in my way, I'll make sure your career is over before it even begins."

His eyes were cold, as if our five years together had been nothing but a joke.

His arrogance was a side of him I had never seen before.

"Oh, Chris, don't be so hard on her," Clara said with a gasp. "She did get the data for us. She worked hard."

"Stella, just apologize to him. Maybe he'll forgive you."

Chris walked over to the machine and glanced at the results. He nodded, satisfied, and reached for a form to record the data, but his tone was still dismissive. "So she spent a little extra time on an experiment. So what? As a member of the research team, it's her job."

"And Stella, don't think you're off the hook. If there's a single mistake in this data, you'll be back here, working all night to fix it."

His commanding tone was the last straw. I bent down and yanked the plug from the wall.