Chapter 3

When I returned to the lab, I had barely sat down when Quinn showed up.

She was carrying a cheap cup of instant coffee and walked over to my workstation.

She wore that same innocent, timid expression she always had, but her eyes betrayed a hint of smugness.

"Leah, thank you for the data."

She set the coffee on my desk, her voice quiet and hesitant. "Louis said I might not understand some of the programs, so he'll teach me how to run them step by step.

"Don't be mad at him. He's just too kind. He only helped me because he felt sorry for me."

I kept my eyes on the computer screen.

"Take your stuff and get out."

Quinn's expression stiffened. She bit her lip.

"Leah, I know you're upset, but Prof. Shaw was only thinking about the bigger picture..."

As she spoke, she reached out and braced a hand against my desk.

She "accidentally" tipped the cup over.

Brown liquid instantly spread across the desk, spilling onto a framed photograph in the corner.

It was the only photograph I had with my mother.

I was seven then. There was no Quinn in our lives yet, and no such thing as "avoiding favoritism."

Mom had taken me to an amusement park, smiling so warmly.

I watched the liquid seep through the edges of the glass, gradually blurring my mother's face in the photograph.

All the happiness we'd once shared had been buried beneath years of favoritism and suppression, just like that photograph.

Now, all I could remember was her cold indifference as she discarded me for the sake of an outsider.

I quietly looked at the photograph and suddenly thought that maybe it was better this way.

Maybe it was time for me to give up on my illusions about this mother-daughter relationship, too.

"I'm sorry, Leah! I didn't mean to!"

Quinn let out a startled cry, frantically grabbing tissues. As she reached across the desk, her arm deliberately swept the framed photograph off the edge, sending it crashing to the floor.

The glass shattered everywhere.

"What happened?"

Louis had just walked through the door.

When he saw Quinn standing amid the broken glass, her eyes red with tears, his expression changed instantly.

He immediately stepped between us and shoved my shoulder.

"Leah, when are you going to stop?"

"Quinn came all this way to thank you out of the goodness of her heart. Why are you taking your anger out on her?"

I stumbled backward from the shove and hit the corner of the desk. A sharp pain shot through my side.

I ignored him and pointed coldly toward the door.

"Get out."

Louis looked like he wanted to say something else, but the icy look in my eyes made him swallow his words.

He gritted his teeth.

"You're impossible! Quinn, let's go. Don't bother with this crazy woman!"

Late that night, the laboratory was completely empty.

I sat alone at my workstation, clearing out the files on my computer.

An email suddenly popped up from the Northwest National Classified Research Institute.

[Ms. Collins, your security clearance and background investigation have both been successfully approved. In view of your irreplaceable role in our classified research projects, when would you be available to report to the base?]

I stared at the words on the screen and typed my reply without hesitation.

[Tomorrow morning.]

I closed my email and packed up the folders on my desk.

Quinn wanted the data, didn't she? My mother wanted to take the work I'd poured my heart and soul into and use it to pave the way for her, didn't she?

Fine, I'd give them exactly what they wanted.

I clicked [Send] and transferred the files to Quinn.