Chapter 4

The notification about the ticket change had synced from Henry's phone to his laptop.

Olivia was the first to notice, and her usual delicate act slipped for a moment.

"Henry, did you change my ticket?" Olivia asked.

Henry froze for a second, let go of my wrist, and grabbed his phone. "I didn't change it."

He looked down at his phone, his frown getting deeper. "Maybe the system switched it on its own."

Olivia bit her lip, her eyes getting watery. "But I have something to do tomorrow morning. I really need to get back to school tonight."

She was a second-year master's student at Kingston University School of Dance, living in the on-campus dorms.

It was only a twenty-minute cab ride from Henry's place to campus.

I couldn't figure out what was so urgent that she needed a business-class seat and lounge access for a short train ride across the city.

Henry clearly sensed something was off.

But he didn't ask.

He looked at me and said, "Nina, did you mess with my laptop?"

That look from him crushed the last bit of foolish hope I had left.

"Me? I changed her ticket?" I shot back.

I unlocked my phone, opened the train app, and handed it to him. "I don't even buy my own tickets."

Henry didn't take it.

Olivia spoke up, her voice soft. "Nina, I didn't mean it like that. But you were the only one who touched the laptop, so of course Henry would think it was you."

Of course.

Every time something went wrong, it was always 'of course' my fault.

Henry dialed up customer service and put it on speaker.

The rep checked and said the ticket change was made on his phone, literally five minutes ago.

Five minutes ago.

Right when he was holding my wrist, saying I was threatening him with a breakup.

Henry's face went pale.

Olivia clutched her cup, rushing to explain. "My phone was in my bag. Maybe it got pressed by accident."

The customer service rep answered politely, "Miss, changing a ticket needs a second confirmation and paying the difference. It can't happen by accident."

Olivia's cheeks flushed.

Henry hung up.

This should have been crystal clear.

But after a brief silence, he only said, "Forget it. I'll book you another ticket."

Olivia's tears fell. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you two to fight, so I thought I'd leave on my own. But I couldn't bear to leave without you seeing me off, and I got all nervous and messed up the app."

Her apology was for Henry, not me.

Like I was invisible.

Henry sighed and handed her a tissue. "It's fine."

He picked up his phone to book another ticket.

I dragged my suitcase toward the door.

This time, he didn't stop me right away.

But Olivia suddenly called out to me, "Nina, your thesis is still on Henry's laptop, right?"

I stopped in my tracks.

She looked at me, eyes red and brimming with tears, her voice as innocent as ever.

"I noticed you sent it to your email. What if the formatting gets messed up? Didn't you say this recommendation spot was really important?" she asked.

Henry looked up. "You haven't backed up your thesis yet?"

I didn't answer and walked back to the laptop.

The folder was empty.

The thesis file I'd left on the desktop was gone.

The recycle bin was empty too.

I stared at the screen, my fingers slowly going numb from the cold.

Henry came up behind me, "What's wrong?"

"My thesis is gone," I choked out, barely able to get the words out.

Olivia's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh no, really? I think I might've accidentally touched the trackpad when I was sitting here."

Henry didn't even bother to ask what Olivia had done.

Instead, he looked straight at me.

"Did you send it to your advisor's email?" Henry asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Good," Henry said and let out a breath, like that was the end of it. "Nina, don't start making a fuss again because of a file."

Right then, my phone lit up.

My advisor had sent a new message: [Nina, the file you sent won't open. It's corrupted. Please resend it, and make sure it's in by midnight tonight.]

The clock in the living room hit 11:20.