Chapter 4
“Of course, it’s still possible,” came my professor’s quick reply. “Our research team needs someone like you. I know your abilities. When can you come? The whole team is excited to welcome you.”
This was the first good news I’d received in days. I tried to gather my strength, rested my body, and returned to the dorm. My things had already been thrown into the dumpster downstairs.
Holding my breath, I retrieved a few salvageable items and stashed them in the first-floor storage room, the place where the cleaning staff usually put things, and where no one came by.
Then Ethan Drake appeared, holding a bouquet of flowers at the dorm entrance. People walking by gave me scornful looks, but he acted as if he didn’t notice, leaning close to tuck a stray lock of my hair behind my ear.
“Lily, this stage of the experiment is over, and Jenna says she wants to host a small thank-you gathering for you. She even invited the professor. Excited?”
He reached out with the bouquet. I dodged quickly. He froze for a second, then smiled again.
“Still upset? I get it. I was just too anxious. You know Jenna is timid, and I didn’t want to scare her. We’ll still see each other afterward, and I didn’t want things to get awkward. I was looking out for you.”
He shoved the flowers into my hands. “You should get ready. Jenna put a lot of effort into this thank-you gathering. She even bought you a new outfit.”
He opened the bag, revealing a tight, low-cut dress that was all style and no sophistication—definitely flashy. Yet he casually folded it back into the bag. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Perfect for you.”
After Ethan left, I tossed both the flowers and the dress into the dumpster. Then my phone buzzed with a message from Jenna:
“Senior Lily, did you see the outfit I sent? So flirty, totally perfect for you. Make sure you wear it, or Ethan will be mad. I also have a surprise, the video he recorded is finally going to come in handy.”
Thinking about that video made my chest tighten, like I was being led onto a stage with the guillotine hovering above. There was nowhere to hide. Every pair of eyes in the room would pierce me, turning me into a spectacle of shame.
I couldn’t hold it anymore. I broke down and called my former professor, pouring out my ordeal like a lifeline.
He comforted me, telling me to pack up quickly. A senior nearby would pick me up.
Dragging my suitcase, I fled the campus like my life depended on it.
The “thank-you gathering” was supposed to be simple, just a few people eating together, but Jenna, as usual, overdid it. She invited too many people and even made a full-blown PowerPoint.
Ethan, as the research team leader, and my boyfriend stood on stage presenting Jenna’s PowerPoint about me.
From the audience came sneers:
“The senior herself isn’t even here. What’s the point of this?”
“She’s not here? Didn’t she run off with some rich guy?”
“Yeah, I saw her get out of a man’s fancy car with a suitcase.”
Ethan froze. His fingers twitched, and the next slide on the PowerPoint was the video he had recorded.
