Chapter 1

On the night of the lab’s celebration party, my wife intentionally forgot to invite me. Instead, she handed the naming rights of our new material over to her first love.

She even told me to step down and let him have the Outstanding Young Scientist Award.

Everyone in the lab was staring at me, waiting for me to lose my mind and make a fool of myself. But I just smiled.

I walked right up to the two of them, pulled out my Lab Director ID card, and shoved it into her first love’s hand.

"You want it? It’s all yours. You can even have my job as the Lab Director!"

But what none of them knew was that I was the only one who actually had the secret formula for this new material.

If they messed up even one single step in the experiment, the final product would be complete garbage.

As I watched the orders flooding into the lab like a massive blizzard, my smile grew even wider.

I can’t wait to see if you two can actually afford the breach of contract fees!

"We finally did it! The material we've been researching for years is finally a reality!"

"To celebrate the birth of this ground-breaking material that will secure our place in history, let’s raise a glass to our biggest hero—Julian Ross!"

My wife, Chloe Miller, pushed up her glasses. She raised her champagne flute, her eyes locked onto Julian with absolute devotion.

Julian’s face flushed with pride. He returned her gaze with a deeply intimate look of his own.

Julian raised his glass high, addressing the crowded room.

"This success isn't just mine. It belongs to all of us! We worked tirelessly for this!"

"And of course, we couldn't have done it without Professor Chloe Miller's guidance. Come on, everyone, a toast to Chloe!"

The material we had just synthesized was a literal game-changer—a room-temperature superconductor.

Our small, obscure lab had just become the pioneer of a global technological revolution.

Because of this single breakthrough, every single person in this room would go down in history. Our names would be printed in physics and materials science textbooks worldwide.

For any researcher, this was the ultimate glory. No one could contain their excitement.

People were laughing, cheering, completely forgetting their usual academic restraint.

Julian grabbed an expensive bottle of Dom Pérignon, shook it violently, and popped the cork.

The sweet sparkling wine sprayed into the air. The crowd erupted into wild cheers.

Chloe looked at Julian with an increasingly intense gaze. Amidst the roaring applause, she threw herself into his arms.

Julian caught her tightly, his hands resting low on my wife's waist. Their faces were inches apart, their eyes locked.

Seeing this, the lab staff went wild. The chaotic, alcohol-fueled atmosphere made them forget Chloe's usual strictness. They started chanting:

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

My wife, who usually wouldn't even let me hold her hand in public, clung to Julian. She didn't say a single word to stop them.

Julian smiled even wider. He looked at the cheering crowd and joked, "Hey, just don't let Ethan find out about this!"

Jeers and laughter erupted from the employees.

"Oh, please! Ethan Vance is just a nobody Professor Miller keeps around. He’s just here to look pretty!"

"Exactly! In our eyes, you and Chloe are the real power couple!"

"A useless leach who knows nothing about real science doesn't deserve to lead our lab. He’s not worthy!"

Chloe didn't say a word to defend me. Instead, she blushed and buried her face in the crook of Julian’s neck.

Their lips were about to meet. The cheers in the banquet hall reached a deafening crescendo.

Right at that second, I pushed the heavy double doors open.

I had just pulled an all-nighter to finish writing the paper on the room-temperature superconductor. I was preparing to submit it to Nature.

I had come here to ask my wife if she had any final edits.

But when I searched the entire lab, it was completely empty.

I had called Chloe repeatedly. In our field, time was of the essence. We needed to publish our paper before anyone else to be recognized as the true pioneers of room-temperature superconductivity.

I called Chloe dozens of times, but she never picked up. I called every colleague I knew, but got nothing but voicemail.

Finally, Marcus, a senior technician who had been with me since I founded the lab, secretly texted me. He told me they were celebrating at the banquet hall.

But I never expected to walk into a scene like this after driving through a torrential downpour.

Chloe lifted her head from Julian’s chest and looked at me.

Her face was flushed from alcohol and embarrassment. Her brow furrowed instantly. Her gaze was colder than the freezing rain outside.

"Ethan? What are you doing here? Is the paper done?"

"Didn't I tell you to finish it as fast as possible? Are my words a joke to you?"

She was still in Julian’s arms, holding onto his warmth.

"Actually, since you're here, I have something to tell you."

"Change the author list on your paper. I’m giving the lead credit and the naming rights to Julian."

"Also, Julian needs this achievement to secure the Young Scientist of the Year Award."

There was no discussion. No negotiation. It was a cold, flat command.

The excitement that had been burning inside me was instantly extinguished.

The chill of the rainy night finally crept into my bones. I couldn't help but shiver.

How many times? How many times had she treated me like this?

Ever since Julian was hired, Chloe had forced me to put his name as the lead author on every single paper I wrote.

I would spend months running grueling experiments and pulling all-nighters to write papers. The next morning, Chloe would take my work, hand it to Julian on a silver platter, and write his name in the lead spot.

It had happened countless times. Yet, the fury that rose inside me was still suffocating.

Everyone in the room stared at me, waiting for me to explode. They wore smug, malicious smirks, eager to watch me make a fool of myself.

I looked at Chloe, my eyes burning with quiet anger.

Neither of them had ever stepped foot in the cleanroom for this project. They hadn't even read the raw data. I had yielded again and again.

I let them take co-author credits. I let them take advisory credits. But they were never satisfied. Now, they wanted to steal my life's work.

The fire in my chest flared up, threatening to consume me.

Slowly, I reached into my coat, pulled out my lab director ID badge, and slapped it into Julian’s hand.

I looked at the two of them and smiled. "Why would I be mad?"

"Take it. Take it all. In fact, you can have the director position too!"

"I quit."