Chapter 3

None of us had saved the data.

The moment I cut the power, all our hard work was gone.

Chris's face contorted with rage. He shoved me to the ground. "Stella, are you insane?"

He frantically plugged the machine back in, but it was too late. The data was gone.

He grabbed me by the neck, his voice a low, vicious snarl. "Do you want to die?"

The expert was coming to visit. If they couldn't produce the data, it wasn't just his recommendation that was on the line. The entire university would be humiliated.

Of course he was panicking. But what good would that do?

I just stared at him, my voice cold. "It's just some data. You two can just spend a little extra time and do it again. Or is that too much 'hard work' for you?"

He was so angry his eyes were bloodshot. He looked like he was about to tear me apart.

Clara chimed in, her voice full of accusation. "Stella, this is a medical experiment, not a playground for your tantrums. We could report you to the university for this!"

"Then go ahead. Let them investigate. Let them see that this 'team of three' is really just a team of one."

If they wanted a fight, I was ready.

I grabbed my thermos and turned to leave, but Clara blocked my path. She slammed her shoulder into mine.

The thermos fell to the floor, and the red bean porridge spilled all over the measuring instrument next to us.

"Stella!" Clara shrieked, and before I could even react, she had shoved me away. "If you're angry with us, take it out on us! But this instrument... the university had to import it! It's the only one in the entire state!"

She was so "distraught," but she just stood there, watching.

I immediately grabbed some paper towels and tried to wipe the porridge off, but the screen had already gone black.

"You did that on purpose!" The lab was spacious. She had to have deliberately bumped into me.

"Don't you dare accuse me of that! You're the one who couldn't hold on to it! And you know the rules! No food or drinks in the lab! You broke the rules, and now you're trying to blame me?"

I was frantic. This wasn't the time to argue. If that expensive instrument was damaged, it would set back the entire university's research.

It was true, there was no food allowed in the lab. But Chris had been the one to tell me to leave the porridge there, that he would be right back to get it.

And now...

Clara was still talking, her voice dripping with malice. "The security cameras have been down for maintenance since yesterday afternoon. It's just the three of us here. If Chris and I both say you did it on purpose, you'll be expelled, Stella."

Chris just nodded, his arms crossed, a look of pure contempt on his face. "You brought this on yourself, Stella. Not even God can save you now."

I just laughed. "Are you so sure about that?"

I glanced up at the small, red light on the camera in the corner of the ceiling.

On my way back to the lab, a security guard had told me they had just finished the repairs.

Everything they had said, everything they had done, had been recorded.

Seeing my confidence, Chris just scoffed and kicked the instrument. "What else can you do? Stop pretending."

"When Professor Sterling gets here tomorrow, I'm going to report you. I'm his future son-in-law, his protégé. And you? You can just crawl back to whatever hole you came from."

Just then, the lab door opened.