Chapter 5
But the reverence in Lauren's voice made me look up.
His sorrowful eyes met mine, and he froze.
Probably because there wasn't a single tear on my face. But being an academic, he quickly regained his composure.
Murmurs and gossip started swirling all around.
"Her mother died and she hasn't shed a tear. She's just here for the inheritance."
"And her sister didn't even show up."
Lauren placed his flowers, frowned, and stepped up to defend me. "You don't need to cry to grieve. She's Victoria's daughter, and she's a child. Watch your words."
He called me a child.
In all those years, even Mom had never called me that.
Looking at his serious, righteous face, I found it amusing, but I squeezed out a look of sorrow.
He bought it immediately, pity swelling in his eyes.
He crouched down in front of me, reaching out to lightly take my wrist through my sleeve.
He crouched down, holding my wrist gently. His voice was soft, as if speaking to a little girl. "Your name is Claire, right?
"Don't be afraid. I worked under your mother's mentor. If you need anything, come to me."
He pressed a business card into my palm.
I glanced at the name on it.
And in that instant, I realized he was the one Victoria had talked about so many times.
The prodigy who became her mentor's star pupil when he was still just a kid.
A golden boy like him at the institute could probably access any important files he wanted, no problem at all.
Victoria had a diary.
It was locked, sealed away at the institute.
I figured through Lauren, I could get my hands on it.
It might contain proof of the side of her nobody knew. The dark, ugly past where she allowed Michael to abuse me.
I gripped the card, my fingertips brushing his hand.
He froze for a second, his ears turning bright red.
For a twenty-six-year-old, he was shockingly innocent. He clearly spent all his time in the lab.
He was a man of his word.
Later, no matter how late, a text from me brought him running.
I shed a fake tear, claiming I wanted to see my mother's things.
He was always a total rule-follower, but he actually snuck me into the institute behind his professor's back.
After that, I pursued him until we were together.
He gave me his heart.
When he found out I had a fragile constitution, he took a shortcut.
He went to his professor and secured an experimental drug for me.
No matter how early he had to leave for the institute in the morning, he never forgot to warm up my breakfast for me.
Then his mother found out my uterus had been removed and I couldn't have children.
He fought his mother, had a massive falling out, and moved out of their home.
That night, Northern City was blanketed in snow. He held me in our tiny apartment.
"Claire," he said. "I promised to be with you. I will never back out, and I will never let you suffer."
He walked away from his family's institute, taking only his research, and started from scratch.
During his hardest days, he swallowed his pride and beg to secure a business order.
The moment he got paid, his first thought was to take me out for a decent meal.
Countless nights, he'd come home late, never forgetting to bring me hot takeout.
I'd eat at the dining table. He wouldn't even change his clothes, just sit across from me, staring with pure affection.
That was the day I finally found Victoria's diary.
It was filled with research logs and hypocritical testaments of her passion for science.
Not a single thing in there was any use to me.
That night, I'd planned to break up with Lauren.
But through the steam of the takeout, I looked at him, his eyes brimming with love.
For a moment, I felt lost in a haze.
In my life, the love I'd received was pitifully small.
Lauren knew nothing. He continued to give me his heart.
That was exactly why he hated me later.
He found out I'd stolen the research data and sold it to a rival company.
While he was in disbelief, begging for an explanation, he discovered that the donor information for his mother's bone marrow transplant had been auctioned off by me.
The buyer paid a fortune to have the donor give their marrow to someone else instead.
By then, his mother was already in isolation.
That was why, during our final call, he spoke with such venom. "Claire, what gives you the right to keep breathing?"
I had truly thought that after running away five years ago, I would never see him again.