Chapter 2
The moment Alex walked into the lab, everyone instantly tensed up.
Everyone was practically holding their breath, terrified that Alex might spot any mistakes in their experiments.
Alex strode in with a frosty look, going down the line and inspecting everyone's work one by one.
"Alright, your steps are fine, data looks good. Just clean up your reagent bottles and you can head out," he said.
Everyone who got the all-clear practically deflated with relief. Not wanting to tempt fate by hanging around, they scrubbed their bottles at lightning speed and made a beeline for the door.
People trickled out one by one, until only one group was left. I was part of it.
But honestly, I wasn't even supposed to be in this group today. I just came to the lab to wait for Alex to finish work, and brought some matcha latte for my friends.
Sophie had something come up and skipped the experiment, so her group was short-handed, and they asked me to help out by recording the data.
Alex looked over our group's data and immediately frowned.
"Who did this experiment? Seriously, nobody noticed such a basic mistake?" Alex snapped.
His voice was ice-cold, and his eyes swept across everyone before locking onto me.
The data sheet was right next to me, and he instantly decided I was the culprit.
The lab mate next to me saw what was happening and quickly grabbed the data sheet, trying to defend me.
"Alex, it wasn't Emily. She just came here today to—" Amanda Falls began, hoping to explain.
But Alex cut Amanda off with a cold edge in his voice.
"Did I ask for your opinion?" he snapped.
Then Alex narrowed his eyes, his gaze landing right on my hands.
He asked, "Emily, is that really how you're supposed to hold a reagent bottle? Has no one ever taught you how to do experiments? Or did you leave your brain back in your dorm room?"
I just stared at him, totally stunned. In all the more than twenty years we'd known each other, this was the first time Alex had ever really tore into me like that.
Alex and I grew up together because our parents were friends.
His whole family was made up of researchers, so it was like genius was in his DNA. He skipped grades in elementary and middle school, and even jumped straight from college into a PhD program.
My family ran a business, and honestly, I was never really cut out for academics. My grades were always just so-so.
But Alex had no tolerance for anyone he considered slow. I was terrified he'd stop hanging out with me if I fell behind, so I'd burn the midnight oil every night, doing practice problems until I was in tears.
My parents felt so bad for me that they kept saying, "If you can keep up, go for it. If not, just come home and inherit millions. There's no need to put yourself through all this."
But I just wanted to stay by Alex's side, because I was in love with him.
I thought the gap between us had gotten so much smaller. After all, I managed to get into grad school with the same professor as him, and he even agreed to be my boyfriend.
But hearing him tear into me like that, my heart just clenched, and I felt a sadness I couldn't even describe.
Last time, Sophie nearly caused a fire in the lab, and Alex didn't say a single harsh word to her, not even called her stupid.
I was just helping out by handing over a reagent bottle. Who knew there was even a proper way to do that?
But Alex just stared at me, cold as ever, just waiting for me to own up in front of everyone.
It was humiliating.