Chapter 4

Elias' POV

The next day, I went to sort out the work that needed to be handed over and briefed Tamara on the experimental data.

As the new lab was short-staffed, the approval for the transfer had come through almost immediately after I applied for it.

Matthew had walked up beside me at some point. "Elias, Ivy invited the whole department for dinner last night. Why didn't you join us?"

I answered in a strictly professional tone, "I had something else going on."

But Matthew suddenly let out a mocking laugh. "Were you really occupied? Or were you just too afraid to show up because you knew Ivy was going to confess her feelings to me?"

I frowned. There was undisguised hostility in Matthew's eyes.

His lips curled into a sneer. "After all, you were the one acting as Ivy's boy toy while I was abroad for the past five years, weren't you?"

At those words, the colleagues around us all turned to look, their eyes filled with curiosity, confusion, and contempt.

I instinctively denied it. "I wasn't!"

But Matthew pulled out his phone and played a recording of a conversation with some of his friends.

"Elias? Yeah, he's the one who's been satisfying Ivy's needs for the past five years. He got into Ivy's bed the very day he found out Matt was going abroad!

"I mean, everyone in our circle knows Ivy and Matthew are childhood sweethearts. He's the only one shameless enough to keep forcing his way between them."

The recording was abruptly cut off as the mocking words stabbed repeatedly at my nerves.

Matthew raised an eyebrow at me. "Still going to deny it, Elias?"

The disbelief and contempt on my colleagues' faces were unmistakable, and their noisy chatter was laced with ridicule.

"Who would've thought? The respectable Dr. Ashford is just a kept man who climbs into Dr. Bennett's bed behind closed doors!"

"Who knows how many times he's done this? Maybe he slept his way to that PhD too."

"I've always wondered why Dr. Bennett kept her distance from him. She must have thought he was filthy!"

My fingers curled tighter and tighter into my palm as I struggled to keep my composure. "I'm not her boy toy. I'm just..."

A few colleagues who had never liked me rolled their eyes.

"Just what? The recording made it perfectly clear—Matt had barely left the country before you climbed into Dr. Bennett's bed! Don't tell me you're still going to claim you didn't do anything."

"How does someone like him deserve to be in the lab? Forget transferring him. They should just kick him out instead!"

I dug my nails into my palm. "Ivy and I were in a normal relationship."

The moment the words left my mouth, Ivy rushed over, a strained and anxious expression on her face.

I pinned my hopes on her. "Ivy, perfect timing. Tell them—we've been in a relationship for five years now, haven't we?"

But she walked right past me and went straight to Matthew. "Are you alright, Matt?"

At that, my colleagues' mockery grew louder.

"Elias, is this what you call being in a relationship? It's pretty obvious now whether or not you were ever really in a relationship, isn't it?"

One of them pointed at Matthew and then at me, his tone dripping with mockery. "Come on. Has Dr. Bennett even spared you a glance since she walked in?"

I refused to believe it and kept my gaze fixed on Ivy.

A flicker of uneasiness crossed her face, but after a pause, she said, "A relationship? With you? Why am I not aware of it? Matthew and I are childhood sweethearts. How could I possibly have been with you?"

Laughter and jeers erupted around me all at once.

"You hear that, Elias? That relationship you thought you had was nothing but wishful thinking after you climbed into her bed. Dr. Bennett doesn't even know what you're talking about!"

At some point, I tasted a metallic tang in my mouth.

When my eyes met Ivy's, she flinched as if burned and turned her head away. Then, in a cold voice, she revoked my transfer. "Elias, take a leave of absence and go home for now."

I stared straight at her and said each word slowly, "Goodbye, Ivy. May we never see each other again."

The others continued mocking me.

"Oh, please. 'May we never see each other again'? Dr. Bennett must have the worst luck in the world to have you latch onto her and spread rumors about her."

I quietly packed up my things and left without saying another word.

After I was gone, Ivy pulled Matthew back into the lab, her tone uncharacteristically cold.

"Matthew, you said you wanted to use the confession as a way to help you fit in with my colleagues as my boyfriend. Why did you have to go after Eli?"

Matthew softened his tone. "Ivy, I was only trying to help you test Elias. If he's willing to come back to you, wouldn't that prove how he really feels about you?"

When she heard his explanation, Ivy sighed and said nothing more.

…

A week passed. Then two. Ivy still hadn't heard from me. At last, she couldn't stand it anymore and called me.

But when the call connected, all she heard was a cacophony of noise. Amid the sound of music, laughter, and cheering in the background, one voice rang out clearly.

"Oh, Eli! How could he forget his phone on his wedding day? Has he gone to pick up the bride already?"