Chapter 2

Natalie didn't reply all night.

Early the next morning, she appeared in front of Wesley looking haggard.

She pulled a small bright-yellow cloth pouch from her bag and handed it to him.

The words "Ravenmoor Abbey" were printed on it in faded gold letters. Inside was something hard—a blessing medal.

"I went to Ravenmoor Abbey for your grandmother. I started up the mountain at eight last night, knelt through the whole night vigil, and made it in time for the first prayers at dawn. I got the first medal they blessed today. They say that one's the luckiest."

Wesley put the medal away without a word, then asked, "Did you see the message I sent you yesterday?"

Natalie looked blank.

"There's no signal up on the mountain. I'll check when I get back to my dorm."

Ten minutes later, Wesley still had no reply, but Natalie's social media had updated: a mountaintop sunrise, orange-red light flooding the whole frame.

The first photo was of Derek alone, squinting in the morning light, his hair tousled by the wind, smiling shyly and contentedly.

The second showed two iced lattes clinking together.

The third showed two shadows on a rock, so close together it was impossible to tell which one belonged to whom.

The caption read: "Celebrating our recommendations early. Climbed in the dark at 3 a.m., and the second the sun came up, it was all worth it. Here's to grad school together!"

The first comment was Derek's: "Thank you for helping me lock in my spot. Once my first stipend comes in, dinner's on me for a month."

Below it was a comment from Natalie's roommate: "Wow, just the two of you hiking up to watch the sunrise? Isn't this basically a hard launch?!"

Natalie had replied with a blushing smiley. No denial.

Wesley tapped to enlarge the photos. The screen flickered, and the post vanished.

He knew Natalie had blocked him.

Wesley looked up Ravenmoor Abbey and found it wasn't on the mountain Natalie had climbed at all.

He ran an image search on the medal. A shopping app popped up a listing.

Less than a dollar apiece. Bulk discounts available.

The exact same cloth pouch. Even the edges of the faded gold lettering matched.

Wesley crushed the medal in his fist. Its sharp edge cut into his palm, and blood dripped onto the floor.

Eyes red, he typed in the email address for the academic affairs office, ready to report Natalie and Derek.

Suddenly, the residence manager was pounding on his door.

"Are you Natalie Rowan's family? Her roommate says she collapsed in her room and she's unconscious. You're the only one who knows how to use her medication!"

Wesley froze for a few seconds.

Family? Natalie's family?

He couldn't have said what he felt. He got up and hurried after the residence manager to Natalie's dorm.

One look told him Natalie was in anaphylactic shock.

It was severe this time. Her airway was already closing.

Wesley didn't trust a delivery app to get her medicine there fast enough, so he sprinted to the pharmacy himself.

He ran so recklessly that a motorcycle slammed into him and threw him into the landscaping. He didn't even stop to wipe the blood off his leg. He scrambled up and raced back to the dorm.

Once Natalie had the medicine, her symptoms finally eased.

Only then did the fog in Wesley's head clear. He didn't wait for Natalie to wake up. He went back to the lab to finish his report and send it.

That was when he discovered the video on his computer had been deleted and the trash emptied.

Wesley went back to the security office to pull the footage again.

He was told that ten minutes earlier, the security system's back end had been hit by malicious software. Every recording from before today was gone.

There was no longer any evidence that Natalie and Derek had stolen his data.

Of everyone Wesley knew, only two people could have pulled that off: Natalie and Derek.

He didn't know how he ended up outside the women's residence again in a daze.

Since he'd just saved Natalie's life, the residence manager recognized him and waved him right in.

He pushed open the door to Natalie's room. She was calmly doing her makeup.

When she saw him, she greeted him easily.

"Hey, you're here."

Wesley's voice shook.

"You set off your own allergy on purpose, just to give Derek a chance to delete the evidence that he had stolen my data.

"Natalie, you almost died just now.

"You'd die for Derek. So what am I to you?"

Natalie finished the last stroke of her eyebrow pencil and stood. With rare playfulness, she kissed him on the cheek.

"You're my future husband, of course. Derek's nothing. Everything I do for him is charity. Getting jealous over him—isn't that beneath you?"

Wesley's voice trembled.

"Natalie, how much of that do you actually mean? Derek and I are both your backups, aren't we? 'Maybe a better man's waiting for me down the road'—weren't those your exact words?"

Panic flickered in Natalie's eyes. She tried to explain.

Wesley didn't want to hear another lie. Exhausted, he walked out and dialed an overseas number.

"Professor Ellis, you once invited me to do my master's with you—full funding, as your student. I've thought it over. I'll come."

He'd always turned it down because he wanted to stay close to Natalie.

There was no reason for that now.

He'd barely finished making arrangements with the university overseas when his father called.

"Wesley, the university posted the recommendation list early! You're not on it. It went to Derek and Natalie!

"Your grandmother's being resuscitated. Get here now!"