Chapter 9
803words
After more than ten hours of intense focus, she stumbled out, her head spinning, only to find Elias waiting for her at the bottom of the lab building, a warm lunch box in his arms.
She took his hand with familiarity. "Bro, how long have you been here?"
"I just got here. Right on time to bring you breakfast, it seems."
Elias guided her to a gazebo nearby and sat down, opening the lunch box. "The chicken soup's still hot. Mrs. Yates added herbs and made sure it was just how you like it, with no oil."
Tania noticed the dampness on his shoulder and said softly, "You're fibbing. Your shoulder's all wet with dew."
Ever since she had fainted from not eating during a marathon experiment, Elias made it a point to be there for her, waiting outside the lab whenever he could.
Elias chuckled and tousled her hair, then ladled her a bowl of chicken soup.
After one sip, Tania burst into a smile. "Bro, you're messing with me again. You made this chicken soup, I can tell."
Just then, Elias's phone rang.
He stepped aside to answer. It was Tania's mother, Noelle. "Elias, is Tania back yet? I need to talk to her about that thing I mentioned before."
Noelle's voice was serious. "Tania was adopted by our family. You've had a crush on her for years, and we all know it. Once she's taken care of her personal stuff, we'll plan your wedding."
Elias ended the call and walked back to the gazebo, his cheeks still a bit red.
Tania looked at him, puzzled. "Bro, are you sick? You're breathing so hard, and your face is all red."
Her cool fingers touched his forehead as she spoke.
Elias swallowed hard, trying to find the courage to say what he felt.
He had not dated or married all those years because his heart was full with just thoughts of her.
However, before he could speak, Tania's phone buzzed with a bunch of messages.
Tania took one look and her face fell.
Elias saw the first message was a video from a hotel room. It had been cut so the man's face stayed out of frame, leaving only Tania, clearly into it, her heavy breathing turned up loud.
The next video was worse. Tania was being dragged by her hair down the street, with people around calling her a "homewrecker."
Then came an official statement from the Ferguson family business.
They were cutting ties with Tania, calling her a cheater who had gone missing. They wanted her to pay back all the money they had spent on her for the last three years, to start divorce proceedings, and to forget about getting any money or stuff from them.
There was Samuel, looking all serious in a video, saying, "Tania, I know I spoiled you too much. I've given you plenty of chances."
"After reading the message, you have to go straight to the Ferguson family to get the divorce proceedings started. Even if you're the one who messed up, I don't want anything from you. Let's just split our stuff and go our separate ways," he said.
Elias scoffed.
He remembered when Tania got married, he had secretly spent over 1.5 billion dollars on gifts and expenses. How could the Fergusons still worry about money?
Tania's hands turned ghostly white as she gripped her phone, then threw it down with all her might, shattering it on the floor.
She stumbled back and ended up crouching on the ground, hugging herself tightly, whispering, "How could they... be so mean..."
Elias had never seen her so upset, and it hurt him to see her like that.
He did not just rush to hug her. Instead, he squatted down slowly, staying close enough to make her feel safe, and said in the gentlest voice he could, "Tania, it's okay, I'm right here."
When Tania did not move, just kept shaking, he carefully put his hand on her back, stroking gently to comfort her, "I know you're hurt. I'll make sure they pay for this, okay?"
Slowly, Tania's stiff body relaxed, and she could not hold back her tears any longer. Her quiet sobs filled the room.
Just before her phone went completely dark, Elias saw the last two messages pop up:
Lucy wrote, [Tania, I found out you're the head of the research institute now. I didn't want to ruin you, but if you were still around, Samuel would've eventually caught me changing the data. Then, it would've been me in trouble.]
Samuel texted: [Tania, let's meet at the County Clerk's Office at 3pm tomorrow. We're getting a divorce, and I'm going to marry Lulu.]
