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He arrived on time,almost flustered.
I had monitored the final data myself.A few questions left him speechless.
His face darkened."What do you want?"
"I want the paper credited to the team."
"What?"He was incredulous."You know what this means to me..."
I cut him off."Like you're the only one who sacrificed?I gave years to this—not to mention my life and the life of my unborn baby!"
He closed his eyes."You know a result like this might come only once in a lifetime."
"Ha...haha..."I laughed uncontrollably.
"Name any other condition.This,I can't give you."
I calmed,asking softly,"But when you convinced me to drop my name,you made it sound so easy."
He was speechless.
I felt disappointed."You've got one night.Think it over."
"There's no time."
"You're part of the team too.It's not a loss actually."
His face twisted."It's not the same!You don't care about old times at all?You're so cold-blooded."
Yes,I'm cold.You're the warm,passionate one!
"Of course it's not the same!But it was never your solo work!My dad's in a coma,I lost a piece of myself..."I coughed,steadying myself."You want to take it all?Let your darling Olivia redo it with you!"
I stood to leave,tossing out,"I'll be there tomorrow.How much I help depends on you."
Science is grueling.I knew its hardships.
If he could make me give up my credit,why couldn't I make him?
It was just what he had done to me.
I went home,barely recognizing the place.
Ethan had only taken his own things away with hin,but the once-crowded living room and messy bedroom felt hollow.
Only a pile of candles on the coffee table stood out,jarring.I threw them in the trash.
I smiled indifferently,changed into formal clothes,and careully applied my makeup.
At least I wouldn't look like a dying woman crashing the event on purpose.
When I saw the updated paper crediting the whole team,I knew I had won.I met Ethan's furious glare with a nonchalant smile.
I didn't care who got the glory,as long as it wasn't Ethan's alone.
He couldn't gift my work to someone else.
The results pleased many,faces beaming,except Ethan's strained smile.
I didn't feel that justice was done,but my mindset shifted.
I stopped giving myself up,cooperated with doctors,and my condition stabilized.I returned to the lab.
But my father didn't make it.
At his funeral,staring at his stern portrait,I sighed at fate's cruelty.
He had devoted his life to the institute,missing my birth,my mother's funeral,always in the lab.
He probably never imagined he would leave this way.
Ethan left the institute.I didn't see him again until years later.
We were both shocked.
He was shocked that I still was alive;I was shocked that he looked gaunt,wasted away.
Karma,perhaps—he had bone cancer too,though diagnosed years later than me,it seemed far worse.
I asked about Olivia.
He said she died last year.Brain cancer.
I was speechless.
As two people staring death in the face,we seemed to our calm selves of when we first met.
"Do you hate me?"he asked,his face expressionless,like casual chat.
"For a while,yeah,"I said.Time had washed my hatred away."Doesn't matter now."
His eyes held a trace of envy.I chuckled.
"If I had half of your peaceful mindset,"he said,"maybe I'd be better off now."
He began coughing violently.I waited until the ambulance arrived,then left.
The street returned to quiet after the chaos.
Everything was the same as how it was when it all began.
