Chapter 7

Despite seeing Neil standing there, Anna didn't move aside to let him in.

She didn't say a word, only staring at him and waiting for him to speak.

Neil himself was silent for a while, and eventually began, "I rejected Josie…"

He trailed off, and eventually finished, "Don't worry about it."

Anna was surprised, as she expected him to tell her that he and Josie were now together.

But now he was telling her that he had rejected Josie? Even telling her not to worry about it?

She calmly replied, "Doesn't matter. It's none of my business."

Neil's eyes were wide with surprise at her indifference.

But she really didn't care and said, "If there's nothing else, I'm going to bed."

"Anna." Neil placed his hand on the door, stopping her from closing it. "You're being weird."

Anna didn't speak as she averted her gaze and shut the door in his face, shutting up the person she had admired for ten years.

Leaning against the cold door, she breathed a long sigh while a dull ache shot through her chest.

Neil wasn't acting like himself either, what with coming to tell her about things he always labeled as 'unnecessary'.

She was the one who always tiptoed around him, while he remained oblivious to her, even though she derived all her joys and sorrows from his whims.

She could see he didn't look like he cared about Josie's declaration of love, and came here to talk to her after… Why?

Emotions swelled in her, ranging from bemusement and faint bitterness.

She didn't know how much time had passed or when she fell asleep, only that she was woken up rudely by her phone's ringtone.

"Anna! Did you see the acceptance notice on Matter Frontier? The new element thesis is on it, but it's credited to Josie York! Didn't you and Mr. Irons spearhead the project?! And you were the one who spent months collecting the data!"

Anna's heart sank. "What?!"

"Just check the intranet—hell, Josie is the sole author, even Neil wasn't credited! What's going on?"

Anna promptly turned on her computer and logged onto the research center intranet, and the latest notification in the announcement section couldn't be more prominent.

[Heartfelt Congratulations to Josie York for the publication of her thesis on Matter Frontier!]

Matter Frontier was the top science journal in their field, and the thesis title was identical to the one Anna and Neil worked blood and sweat into for months.

She came up with it, and discussed it at length with Neil, working together for months in the lab to finally obtain the decisive data for the thesis.

Considering her work, she should be credited as the author, and Neil a secondary contributor.

However, it was instead credited to Josie, while Neil wasn't mentioned too if he were merely a selfless assistant.

She promptly called Neil, demanding bluntly as soon as he picked up, "What is the meaning of this?!"

"I just rejected her, and she's distraught, which affects her upcoming promotion evaluation," Neil calmly replied.

Anna almost laughed despite her rage. "So, you're taking away all my work to comfort her? Without even asking me first?!"

"The data is readily available, and she compiled the first draft," Neil replied, his tone flat but also evasive. "There's every reason to include her name, and the rights to the thesis belong to the research center. That means I have the right to decide on authorship, and as for your contribution, it will be reflected later."

"Reflected? How? Like before, just a passing mention in the acknowledgments? Am I just a tool to you whom you don't even have to acknowledge and just slave away for your sake?!"

Anna's voice trembled with rage and indignation—her three months of hard work had been completely erased by that man, while casually handed over to someone else as a stepping stone.

It was laughable that she found some solace when Neil actually showed up at her doorstep to insist there was nothing between him and Josie, only for him to hand over all her hard work to Josie soon after… For nothing more than to comfort her!