Chapter 3

I bought a cup of hot coffee in the waiting area. Just as the lid clicked into place, a hand came down hard on my shoulder. The coffee splashed over the rim, burning my knuckles.

I spun around.

Raymond and Madelyn stood behind me.

Raymond's coat was buttoned wrong, and sweat glistened at his temples. Madelyn was still clutching her Palmaris boarding pass, breathing so hard she could barely form a sentence.

"Enough," Raymond said, taking the coffee from my hand. He touched the side of the cup, then placed it back in my palm. "At least you remembered to buy something hot. You didn't freeze, did you?"

He said it like he was comforting me, but his tone made it clear he considered the matter settled.

"We're not going to Palmaris anymore. We missed our flight because we came looking for you. We're even now. Come home with me."

Madelyn finally caught her breath. She straightened up with her hands on her knees and looked at me.

"Grace, what are you even doing at the international terminal? Are you really trying to pull some dramatic runaway act?"

I turned to Raymond. "How did you know I was here?"

He looked away. "The shared account takes a while to fully disable. I got a notification when you bought coffee."

"You monitored my purchases?" I asked.

"That's what you do when you care about someone," Raymond said with a frown. "Don't make it sound like worrying about you is a bad thing."

Madelyn reached for my backpack. "Come on, I'll take that. Your bag is packed so full. Don't tell me it's all winter clothes."

I held the strap firmly. "Don't touch it."

She stopped short, and the fake smile dropped from her face. "Why are you being so defensive all of a sudden? I'm not some stranger off the street."

Raymond lowered his voice and said, "Grace, there are people everywhere. Don't make a scene."

I stared at him. "I'm the one making a scene?"

Madelyn grabbed my backpack strap. "Come on, let me see what's inside. I even made a bet with Raymond on the way here that you'd just filled your bag with empty cases to make a point."

She jerked it toward her. I instinctively resisted and pulled the other way.

The strap sliced into the soft flesh between my thumb and forefinger, and the zipper burst open from the force of our pulling.

The next thing I knew, my backpack had hit the floor. The protective sleeve came loose, and the laptop inside crashed against the marble with a hollow thud.

The screen burst into a web of cracks, and the side corner of the laptop bent upward.

For a moment, everything around me fell silent.

I crouched down and touched the broken screen. Small slivers of glass pricked my fingertip.

A deafening ringing filled my ears, and my heart started racing out of control. The familiar suffocating feeling washed over me in waves.

I reached into my pocket by reflex, but the two emergency anti-anxiety pills I always kept on me were gone.

Madelyn stepped back and put on a pitiful look. "I didn't do it on purpose, and you were pulling just as hard. Besides, if the laptop was that valuable, you should have put it somewhere more secure."

Raymond crouched beside me and rested his hand on my shoulder. "Grace, don't panic. We can get it repaired. There are places that specialize in data recovery. And if it can't be fixed, I'll replace it for you."

I looked up, ignoring the sick feeling in my stomach. "Do you even know what's in there?"

He paused, then said, "Your artwork. I know they mean a lot to you."

"No," I said, staring at him. "You have no idea."

That laptop contained far more than just my artwork. All my original layered files were stored there, with no backups anywhere else.

Without those drafts, I couldn't recreate my competition entry after what Madelyn had done. They were also the first proposals I needed to submit for the residency application.

Madelyn burst into tears. "Grace, stop looking at me that way. You're terrifying me."

Raymond stepped in front of her and gave me a chilling look. "The laptop is gone. There's no point in making her feel worse than she already does. Maddie is sensitive. Do you really have to push her until she breaks down?"

Just then, an announcement echoed through the terminal, alerting passengers that boarding had resumed for delayed flights.

I collected the broken laptop and took a moment to compose myself before standing. My hand trembled, but I tried to sound as calm as I could.

"Move."

Raymond's face changed when he saw me walking toward the rebooking counter. "You're still going? Your laptop is broken. You need to go home and sort out your files."

"I'm going back for my backup drive."

Madelyn looked up immediately. "Then we'll come with you."

I turned to her. "You don't have the right to set foot in my home."

The blood drained from her face, and she broke down crying even more.

Raymond's expression soured. "Grace, you don't have to be this harsh."

I said nothing. Clutching the broken laptop to my chest, I made my way toward the counter. My phone buzzed suddenly, and Professor Walter's message lit up the screen.

"Do you want me to have a curator in Northgate pick you up? His name is Jeff Fowler. He's near the airport."

I looked at the message for a while before answering, "No need. My laptop broke. I'm going home first to get my backup."

Then I slipped my phone back into my pocket.

I heard Raymond mutter from behind me, "She won't actually leave."

Yet I couldn't tell if it was meant to soothe Madelyn or to reassure himself.