Chapter 3

The next day, I got a call from Phillip. He said, "Riley, are you all packed? The car's already downstairs."

Phillip was my mentor during the physics competition and one of the top physicists in the country.

The car he was talking about was a black sedan with special license plates.

I grabbed my small suitcase and headed downstairs. There wasn't a single trace of the Lynn family in that suitcase. Just a few changes of clothes and all my notes from the competitions.

The car door opened, and Phillip got out to help me put my suitcase in the trunk.

"You've been through a lot," he sighed, his gaze lingering on the fading red mark on my face.

I shook my head. "I'm okay, really. Thank you, Professor Carter."

"No need to thank me, Riley. You're one of the country's brightest minds, and the nation will make sure you're taken care of."

He paused, his voice turning serious. "This trip to Brynlian is for an elite youth training camp hosted by the National Space Research Institute and the Institute of Physics.

"They've selected thirty young people from across the country who excel in physics and math, and you're one of them.

"It's an intensive, year-long residential program. In the end, only the very best will be chosen to join the core project team.

"Riley, this isn't just a learning opportunity. It's about responsibility. Do you understand that?"

I gave a determined nod. "I understand."

I turned back for one last look at the city where I'd spent eighteen years of my life.

But I didn't even glance at the Lynn family's mansion.

Goodbye, everything.

The car pulled onto the highway, and just like that, my new life was finally starting.

Meanwhile, the Lynn family was probably still waiting for me to come back, sobbing and begging for forgiveness.

Mary would probably put on her fake sympathetic act, telling Richard that after raising me for eighteen years, they should at least throw me a bone and let me come back.

Richard would get all high and mighty, lecturing me like I was a child, before unfreezing my bank card like he was doing me some huge favor.

They believed I couldn't make it without them.

But they had no idea that I'd already found a whole new world for myself. One that was so much bigger than anything the Lynn family ever offered me.

*****

Out in the western suburbs of Brynlian, the National Space Research Institute had its training base tucked away deep in a forest.

There was no sign of city life out there, just the soft rustle of wind through the trees and the occasional bird call.

Here, I joined twenty-nine other prodigies from across the country for a training camp that felt completely cut off from the rest of the world.

To be honest, life here was pretty monotonous. Aside from eating and sleeping, it was nothing but classes, assignments, and lab work every single day.

The lectures made college courses look easy, even grad school ones. Quantum mechanics, relativity, astrophysics, high-energy particles, and so on. Every concept was a massive challenge, and I had to push myself to the limit just to keep up.

But for me, this place was paradise.

I no longer had to worry about why Mary was upset or how to get Richard to notice me.

All my mental energy went into battling complex formulas and profound theories.

That pure drive to seek knowledge was utterly addictive; I was completely immersed.

Before long, the hurt from leaving the Lynn family faded away into the endless sea of knowledge.

I was like a sponge that had been wrung dry, finally getting the chance to soak everything up.

Here, my talent was finally unleashed for everyone to see.

While most of my classmates needed days to figure out a theory, I could crack it overnight.

In the lab, while others were still figuring out how the equipment worked, I was already designing and running complex experiments on my own.