Chapter 5

Justin studied me as I contemplated my choices. Although his voice was colored with helplessness, there was a flicker of disdain in his eyes. "Why do you have such a bad temper? Why don't you learn from Natalie? She's prettier than you, and she's good at comforting people."

I couldn't believe that such an incredibly shameless man actually existed in this world.

"Why don't you look for her then? Would she even want you?" I retorted.

"What are you trying to say, Anne?" Justin asked. His expression turned steely.

"I'm calling you a bastard!" I exclaimed furiously. "She wouldn't want you even if you threw yourself at her feet!"

"Anne!"

Natalie rushed toward us, looking like she wanted to play the mediator in our argument.

"You just forgot to do my work for me, that's all. Why are you losing your temper at everyone? Don't worry. I'm not going to hold it against you," she said as she stepped between me and Justin. "But I'll really get angry if you don't let me join your team."

I couldn't believe how shameless she was being. However, Justin didn't seem to find any fault in her actions. On the contrary, his expression softened at her arrival, and he offered the gift box to her instead.

"Thanks for not holding it against Anne despite how petty she's being. She doesn't want this, so I'm giving it to you instead as compensation. Thank you for being so understanding toward her."

He then turned to look at me before continuing. "You should leave the research team of your own accord. Let Natalie have the results. Don't make me angry anymore."

It was one thing for both Justin and Natalie to betray me, but it was a whole other matter for them to snatch my research results and graduate program qualifications from right under my nose.

The entire situation was too outrageous.

"A bitch and a bastard—the two of you are a match made in heaven!" I scolded furiously. "Do you really take me for a fool, Natalie? I saw what you posted last night."

Natalie's face stiffened.

"My research is slated to win a reward this year. I refuse to hand it over to you!"

I was about to leave when someone grabbed my wrist.

Justin frowned as he scrutinized me. "What's that on your neck?"

Pretending to be shocked, Natalie raised her voice and shouted, "Did you cheat on Justin, Anne?"

The passersby immediately glanced at us.

Noticing that her outburst had successfully drawn the attention of the people around us, Natalie raised her voice even more and screamed, "You're the one who was unfaithful, Anne, and yet you're slandering us with baseless accusations? Are you trying to steal my graduate program qualification?"

Some of the onlookers grabbed their phones and began recording us.

Enraged, I slapped Justin hard across his face. "You asshole! You're the one who cheated on me. I already broke up with you!"

I then whirled on Natalie and exclaimed, "Do you really think you can qualify for the graduate program with your dismal results? Keep dreaming! Also, why are you screaming so loudly? Are you that proud of being the other woman?"

The crowd around us grew in size.

Ignoring everything that I had just said, Justin demanded, "Who was it?"

Meanwhile, Natalie glared at me and said sharply, "You can't take your anger out on me just because Justin stood you up last night. I don't deserve to be slandered by you. Besides, you're the one who paid to cozy up with another man to cheat on Justin. Why are you behaving this way?"

I scoffed, saying, "I'm openly showing off the love between my new boyfriend and me. You can't stop me."

I was infuriated at how they were looking down on me, so I began speaking without really registering what I was saying. "My new boyfriend is someone you can only dream of having. Too bad he completely ignores your existence."

I pointed at Justin before continuing, "He's taller than you, more handsome than you, richer than you, and also has better results than you. Most importantly, he's way better than you. You can only last a minute!"

Justin glared at me furiously. "That's enough! Stop spouting nonsense!"

"You're not going to tell us that your new boyfriend is Chase, right?" Natalie asked mockingly.

I finally felt like I had dispelled some of the fury in my heart when I took in their upset expressions. As I raised my chin defiantly, I asked, "What are you going to do if I say yes?"

Silence descended upon our surroundings the moment the words left my lips.

I turned my head to see Chase standing behind me. When did he get there?

A loud ringing sounded in my head. I was done for.