Chapter 3

A staff member immediately pulled up a barrier and shut me out of the shot.

Before the camera flashed, I saw the sunny-day pin on Julian's chest.

It was mine.

I stepped past the barrier and pointed at his chest.

"Give me back my pin."

Julian glanced down but didn't remove it.

"I only borrowed it to use as a tie pin. I'll give it back after the pictures. Stop wasting everyone's time."

Chloe linked her arm through his and adjusted his position.

"Elena, it's one tiny pin. Today is the biggest moment of Julian's life. Can't you just let him have it?"

The photographer waved impatiently.

"Anyone not involved, step back. Being his girlfriend doesn't give you the right to disrupt the shoot."

Professor Reyes started toward me, but Associate Dean Langford stopped him.

"The young people can settle their collaboration dispute in private. The university just won the Best Paper Award. Don't embarrass us."

I'd thought Professor Reyes, at least, would speak up for me.

But after glancing at Julian onstage, he slipped the validation report back into its folder.

"Elena, let it go for tonight. Associate Dean Langford just pulled me aside because several major sponsors need to be entertained, and I have to go deal with them. I'll get answers for you tomorrow."

Chloe cheerfully waved everyone closer.

"Squeeze in, everyone. Julian hates wasting time."

Julian stood in the center.

The flash made the pin gleam. The number on its back was 442.

The National Weather Service had given it to me after I handled my first flash-flood warning as lead forecaster.

Julian had once threaded it onto a thin leather cord. He said that when our long-distance years ended and we finally moved in together, we'd hang it beside the calendar in our new home.

After the pictures, he removed the pin and held it out to me.

"Put it somewhere safe. Stop losing your things."

I opened my palm.

The instant I took it, the clasp snapped.

The pin itself fell onto the thick carpet.

I didn't pick it up. I only bent down, took the broken metal clasp, and slipped it into my pocket.

"If it's broken, I don't want it."

Chloe covered her mouth.

"Maybe I fastened it too tightly. Elena, don't be mad. I'll buy you a new one."

"Can you replace the number engraved on the back?"

Julian frowned, bent down, and picked up the fallen pin himself. He closed his hand around it, his voice even.

"It's just a thing, Lena. It doesn't mean anything. If you insist on using an old pin to measure our relationship, you'll only make yourself miserable."

I put my hand in my pocket and felt the broken clasp beneath my fingertips.

"Is my model just a thing too?"

"That's different."

He tapped the screen to wake his phone.

"The university is hosting an awards dinner tonight. Go back to the hotel. I'll have a driver take you to the station in the morning, so don't oversleep and miss your train."

"I was invited too."

Chloe opened the guest list and stopped at the bottom.

"There's only one seat reserved for the model's original developer. But because of the conflict of interest, the university gave it to a professor from another institution. Elena, even if you went, there wouldn't be a seat for you."

At the restaurant entrance, guests checked in one after another.

Sarah, an old friend from college, was handling reception.

When she saw me, she looked away.

"Elena, don't make this hard for me. Julian personally approved the guest list, and Associate Dean Langford already dragged Professor Reyes off to entertain several sponsors. No one can stand up for you tonight."

Cheers erupted from inside.

"Best Paper team, sit together! Let's get a picture!"

"Julian, tell us—who's the one person you couldn't have succeeded without?"

Julian accepted a glass of wine, his voice calm.

"I couldn't have done this without someone who could keep up with me."

At those words, my chest tightened.

Laughter filled the table as Chloe pushed his ulcer medication toward him.

"Then I guess I'll force myself to keep up for a few more years. Otherwise, all those pointless emotions might slow you down."

The glass doors slowly swung shut.

Sarah slipped me a manila envelope and lowered her voice.

"Elena, I shouldn't be showing you this. But we survived our senior thesis together, and the dates in here are wrong."

I didn't open it until I reached the end of the hallway.

The document stated that because I had not participated in the project for an extended period, I was voluntarily surrendering my credit and all future rights.

There was no signature at the bottom. Instead, it included an activity log exported from the shared calendar.

Blue entries filled every day for the past two years.

My yellow entries had been moved into the Rejected folder, and they hadn't been deleted on our anniversary.

The deletion date was September 17, two years ago—the night Julian first gave Chloe access to the account.

That was when the system had created the Replacement Plan.

At the very bottom of the document was one more line in tiny print.

"Pending confirmation by the original author, this change will take effect publicly at 9:00 p.m. tonight."