Chapter 3

A week earlier, on the second day of Adrian and Sienna’s Cape Cod trip, I had submitted my departure forms to the International Programs Office.

As director of the innovation center, Adrian only needed to approve my withdrawal from the robotics team and release my project files.

Just as I expected, he was too busy taking pictures of Sienna on the beach to read the documents. He gave both forms his electronic approval without hesitation.

Now there were only three days left.

Once I completed the final handover, I could leave Kingsley and begin again at the Zurich Institute for Intelligent Systems.

After some thought, I called Professor Moretti.

During my freshman year, a search-route algorithm I designed had won an international undergraduate engineering award. Professor Moretti had invited me to join her alpine rescue robotics project in Zurich.

At the time, Adrian was preparing to run for student council president. He told me the innovation center he had just founded would collapse without my help.

So I turned Zurich down.

I stayed at Kingsley, built the robotics team, wrote its operating rules, secured its sponsors, and spent most of my research time solving one emergency after another for Adrian.

Two years later, he had become the most celebrated student leader on campus.

Most people remembered me only as Adrian Hale’s difficult girlfriend.

Looking back, I had been foolish.

Feelings could change without warning. The future I built for myself would not.

Professor Moretti answered, and I explained why I was calling.

I expected her to criticize me for wasting the opportunity she had once offered. Instead, she sighed.

“I’ve heard enough about what happened at Kingsley to understand your situation,” she said. “I’ve been hoping you would come back to research.”

Then her voice turned serious.

“But Claire, is this truly your decision this time?”

“Yes. Most of the paperwork is complete. I leave on Friday.”

“Leave for where?”

Adrian’s startled voice came from behind me.

I turned and saw him standing in the study doorway, frowning.

Professor Moretti had already ended the call, so I calmly locked my phone.

I was deciding how much I should tell him when his phone chimed.

A message from Sienna appeared on the screen.

[I found a stray kitten outside my dorm. It looked so hungry that I ran all the way to the convenience store to buy it some food.]

Adrian immediately replied:

[That’s adorable.]

Her response came within seconds.

[What’s more adorable, the kitten or me?]

Another message followed, this one containing a selfie. Sienna held the kitten against her cheek, lips pursed as she made a peace sign at the camera.

Adrian’s mouth curved into a smile.

[The kitten is adorable. You’re more adorable.]

Only after sending it did he seem to remember I was still there.

The smile disappeared, and he looked at me impatiently.

“Didn’t I tell you to get some rest? Why are you still standing around in here?”

His voice was cold, completely different from the one he had used with Sienna.

He had also forgotten that, only moments ago, he had heard me say I was leaving.

I gave a quiet laugh and decided there was no point explaining.

“I still have a few things to finish.”

“It’s already late. What could possibly be so urgent?” His brows drew together. “Claire, I don’t want to criticize you, but you’re terrible at managing your time. Why can’t you plan things properly for once?”

I didn’t remind him that most of my delays came from the work he dropped on me without warning.

I also didn’t argue until we were both exhausted, as I had so many times before.

I simply remained silent.

Taking my silence as an admission, Adrian said nothing more and went into the bedroom.

Before long, I heard him laughing through the wall.

I could hardly remember the last time he had laughed that freely with me. Only Sienna seemed able to make him that happy now.

I ignored him, sat at the desk, and opened the German edition of Safety Verification for Autonomous Systems.

Five years had passed since I first began studying alpine rescue systems, and the field had already advanced far beyond what I remembered. Professor Moretti might be willing to help me return, but I still needed to prove that I belonged there.

Fortunately, my foundation was strong.

It would take time to catch up, but my ability had never disappeared.

“You’re reading a research paper in German?”

I hadn’t heard Adrian return.

He took the book from my hands, flipped carelessly through several pages, and tossed it back onto the desk.

“What are you reading this for?” A faint sneer touched his voice. “Do you even understand it?”

“I’m just looking through it.”

I closed the book and set it aside.

Adrian had no idea that one of its authors would become my new supervisor the following week.