Go Bankrupt for Your First Love

Bang!The impact threw me forward in my seatBy the time I regained my senses, I heard Karina's nervous scream."Stacey, I know you're angry. Anyone would be upset after having their hard-earned project taken away. If you're still not satisfied, you can slap me twice more."She closed her eyes and deliberately leaned closer to me. It looked like she was saying, 'Go ahead, do whatever you want to me.'Before I could say a word, Timothy slapped me across the face."When is this going to end? All I did was criticize you at the meeting. Did you really have to ram Karina’s car to get back at her?”If he had only looked back once, he would have seen the positions of the two cars. There was no way I could have been the one who crashed into her.Seeing that I said nothing, Timothy pulled a credit card from his wallet and handed it out to me."Get the car repaired first. We'll talk about everything else when we get home."As soon as he finished speaking, Karina suddenly clutched her c

A flash of guilt crossed his eyes before he abruptly raised his voice."What else would you think? It's just a ring. Why would I lie to you about something like that?"I forgot a birthday present. What's the big deal? We're not teenagers anymore. Why do you always need a whole production over romance? I literally waited in line for those pastries. I was just trying to do something nice, and you're acting totally ungrateful."Weren't you the one who went out with another man and stayed out late? What right do you have to give me that attitude?"With that, he shoved me hard, turned around, and stormed out of the neighborhood.In the past, I would have frantically chased after him and apologized. Even if I had to kneel, I would have done it to earn his forgiveness.But now, I couldn't even be bothered to look back.If he wanted to leave, I would set him free.I went home, ate my birthday cake alone, and went to bed.The next morning, when I woke up, I discovered that Timothy had

Timothy’s face darkened. He shot me an irritated glare.It looked like he was blaming me for refusing to cover for him in front of everyone—for talking back instead of helping him hide the truth."Since the police are here today, I might as well make this clear. I was indeed the institute's chief designer before, but our research had not officially begun, and the design had not been finalized for submission. I retain the rights to use my independent design blueprints."If you insist on claiming that this allegedly plagiarized blueprint came from me, I’ll take legal action for defamation.”Perhaps seeing how serious I was, Karina pursed her lips and remained silent.I had done nothing wrong, so there was naturally nothing for me to feel guilty about."Have you all had enough? The relevant parties need to come with us to the police station for questioning. As for who plagiarized the designs and who committed fraud, we'll investigate everything thoroughly and give the victims a fair

The research was directly related to my field and was also an area I had always been deeply interested in, so I quickly got up to speed.After arriving at the research institute, I got changed and was about to get started when my mentor stopped me."Stacey, you just got off a long flight. This is a long-term research project, so there's no need to rush. I've invited someone else from the institute to dinner tonight. We'll have a meal together and give you a proper welcome."Since my mentor had already arranged it, I couldn't bring myself to refuse.That evening, I discovered that the “other researcher” he had mentioned was a senior colleague only two years older than me.He was outgoing and cheerful, and after chatting for a while, we discovered that we shared many of the same interests.I gradually relaxed and wasn't nearly as awkward as I had been when we first met.After dinner, when we walked out of the restaurant, I looked up and suddenly saw Timothy standing beneath a lar