Chapter 2

My fingers tightened around my phone as my hand slowly lowered. I stared at the contact name, which was “Business Partner,” and could not help but laugh.

Wendy finally finished her work. She poured me a glass of red wine like she was the perfect wife.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, honey!”

Her eyes kept drifting toward her phone. In the end, she could not hold back. She picked it up and checked it.

I kept my expression blank as I picked at the food on the table. I looked at the ring on her finger and found the whole situation painfully ironic.

Suddenly, she stood up. She sounded anxious.

“Honey, something happened at the lab. I might need to go there and take a look.

“You eat first. Don’t wait for me.”

She did not wait for my response. She bent down, kissed my cheek, and hurried out.

I watched her leave and let out a mocking laugh. She had become a professional actress just so she could rush off to sleep with another man.

I pulled out a disinfecting wipe and scrubbed my cheek. That was when Xavier’s message came in.

[Those two are disgusting. Yale, you can get ready to file a lawsuit. Just wait until I find more evidence. I’ll make sure those two are completely ruined!]

He sent me their travel records from the past three months, their hotel records, and Felix’s social media account.

Felix had only created his Instagram account a little over three months ago. His username was “Ms. L’s Little Puppy.”

His first post was uploaded on May 20. It was a set of breathtaking wedding photos.

I looked at the caption. [Ms. L, please take care of me for the rest of my life.]

There were only a few comments. Someone asked why the bride’s face had been blurred.

Felix replied that his wife was a very private person and did not like showing her face.

Her face was covered in the photos, but I still recognized her from her figure alone. It was Wendy.

All this time, I had been begging her to take some new wedding photos with me. It turned out that she had already taken them with someone else.

I swallowed the disgust rising within me and opened the posts one by one.

The posts that came after that were all about their honeymoon.

The trip had taken place in mid-June. The destination was Pahiti. It was the same place I had researched and planned to visit with Wendy.

They went to every attraction I had marked down in my itinerary. They tried surfing, paddleboarding, and snorkeling. They were the activities I had planned to do with her.

In the photos, Felix wore beach shorts and smiled brightly.

[Thank you, Ms. L, for planning this entire honeymoon trip for me. I’m so happy!]

Back then, Wendy told me she was attending a seminar with a business partner.

I sneered. So, this was the “business partner” she referred to.

I was stunned by how shameless they were. At that moment, Felix uploaded another post.

The photo showed two hands wearing diamond rings. They were entwined.

[Of all days, we received our custom-made wedding rings on Valentine’s Day! Ms. L, I guess we really are meant to be together.]

I had already prepared myself for the worst. Even so, each post felt like a sharp knife cutting into my chest. Every word left another wound that hurt.

Someone commented under the post.

[You’re so lucky. Let me borrow some of your luck! I hope I can meet my true love someday too.]

Felix replied right away.

[You will. Let me tell you a secret. My wife brings me luck! She has helped me a lot with my Firefly Project. It’s almost finished and will be announced soon. Maybe I’ll become someone the whole world knows then.]

The moment I saw that reply, my body went cold.

Other people might not know what the “Firefly Project” was, but I knew better than anyone.

It was the project I had spent ten years developing. It was my research into a treatment for Alzheimer’s.

From the day I became a doctor, I dreamed of finding a way to overcome this disease. I was only one step away.

I drove straight to my research lab. My fingers trembled as I typed in my wedding date to unlock my computer.

Just as I expected, the file for the “Firefly Project” showed that someone had downloaded it.

My head spun, and I collapsed into the chair.

Wendy was a leading expert in life sciences. In the past, I had asked her more than once to work with me so we could find a breakthrough for this disease together.

To convince her, I told her about the Firefly Project and showed her the clinical data I had collected.

After hearing everything, she rejected me coldly. She said, “You’re living in a fantasy. Experts around the world have spent decades trying to solve this problem but have failed. What makes you think you can do it?”

She looked down on my research but had stolen it for her lover to build his career.

I could not hold it in anymore. I rushed into the bathroom and threw up until I had nothing left.

Then, I sent a message to my colleague.

[Remember the life sciences conference you told me about? Sign me up. I’ve decided to attend.]