Chapter 3

Ignoring their screaming behind me, I walked out of the banquet hall.

I drove straight to the lab, wiped the experimental records from the main server, and packed up all my physical laboratory notebooks.

I would never leave my research to them. This was the result of ten years of my life. I wasn't going to let them steal it.

After packing, I sat alone on the concrete steps outside the science building, staring at the dark night sky.

I remembered the last time I had sat here alone. It was my first month back in the country after finishing my postdoc.

Back then, I was full of ambition. I wanted to lead major projects and change the toxic, bureaucratic culture of academic research.

But reality hit hard. I grew up in an orphanage. I had no family, no connections, and no money. All I had was my brain and my work ethic.

In academia, without connections, you don't get funding. Without funding, you don't get a job.

That day, I had been rejected from yet another job interview.

I sat on the steps of the building that had just rejected me, watching the sunset.

I thought about how hard my life had been. As a kid, I worked three blue-collar jobs just to pay for my tuition.

On the day my university acceptance letter arrived, I was working on a dusty construction site to save up for my first semester's books.

I had spent over a decade studying in freezing rooms, only to end up unable to afford rent.

I had exactly ten dollars left in my pocket. If I didn't find a job soon, I would be evicted and starve.

As the sky turned pitch black, my mind grew darker too. The urge to end it all began to consume me.

Without realizing it, I had walked up to the rooftop. I stood near the ledge of the fifteen-story building.

If I jumped, it would all be over.

Then, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around.

It was Chloe. She was holding a stack of textbooks, wearing thick glasses, looking just as exhausted and serious as I was.

She walked over and placed a bag of groceries next to me.

"I heard your interview earlier," she said, her voice quiet. "I don't have much money either, so I can't help you much."

"But here's some food. And here's two hundred dollars. Take it."

She wasn't good with words, and her face was expressionless, almost cold.

But I could see the pure warmth and kindness in her eyes.

In that exact moment, a light turned on in my dark world. And that light was Chloe.

We exchanged contacts and left.

Soon after, I landed a job at a materials company. I worked like a dog and rose through the ranks. Just as I was about to get promoted to director, Chloe texted me.

She said she wanted to start her own lab. She asked if I would join her.

Without a second thought, I quit my job. I took all the savings I had accumulated and invested them into her lab.

Because of my credentials, the university granted us research space and funding.

Back then, she looked at me with absolute sincerity and said, "Ethan, we are going to change the world together!"

I thought I had found my soulmate. But I didn't know she already had a boyfriend—Julian Ross.

I forced myself to bury my feelings. I threw myself entirely into the research, working sixteen-hour days to make the lab successful.

But when Julian found out that Chloe had spent her entire inheritance to build the lab, he dumped her and vanished.

I knew Julian was only with her for her money. Once the money was gone, so was he.

But Chloe was blind to it. After Julian left, she couldn't focus on research. She spent every day trying to beg him to come back.

Eventually, Julian got tired of her. He sold the house she had bought him, went abroad, and cut off all contact.

With Julian gone, Chloe and I eventually grew closer and got married.

On our wedding day, I thought I was the happiest man alive. I had the woman I loved, the career I adored, and a thriving lab.

But now, I finally saw the truth.

Chloe had never forgotten Julian. The only man she ever loved was him. No matter how much I sacrificed for her, I was just a placeholder.

The moment Julian finished his cheap master's degree and returned, Chloe hired him immediately. She became inseparable from him, completely ignoring the fact that she was a married woman.

I looked at my phone lock screen. It was our wedding photo. Chloe's face was completely blank and cold.

Then I pictured her blushing, giggling in Julian's arms tonight.

We had been married for five years. She had never once looked at me like that. She wouldn't even hold my hand.

I unlocked my phone, tossed it into a trash can on the street, and walked away.

There was nothing left for me here.