Chapter 2 The First-Author Credit

"You have a point. Lucas is Jane's senior from the same academic program, and he's a postdoc at a prestigious university. He's far more impressive."

I stood there quietly, making no move to argue with them.

Just then, Jane came around from the other side. She scowled when she heard their conversation.

"All right, that's enough. Get back to work. If you have time to gossip about people behind their backs, you have time to run a couple more models."

The group immediately fell silent and scurried away.

Only then did Jane notice me standing on the other side of the room. A trace of awkwardness crossed her face as she hurried over to reassure me.

"Don't take it personally. They're just big mouths. They don't mean any harm."

I scoffed sarcastically. "I wonder how long they're going to keep running their mouths."

A flicker of irritation crossed her face.

"Well, what do you want me to do? We're all colleagues. Do you expect me to chew them out over something this trivial? Or do you want me to tell everyone right now that you wrote the lab's entire analysis system? That you're actually the lab's key researcher?"

She'd raised her voice by the end of her outburst, but then softened her tone.

"Didn't we agree from the start? That you'd focus on the research behind the scenes, while I handle everything else—the papers, presentations, awards, all of it."

She was right. That was what we'd agreed on.

I focused on research and development, while she took care of publishing papers, giving presentations, and accepting awards.

My name would appear as the second or third author every time, but all of that had been based on one assumption that I believed we were in this together.

Someone called Jane from across the lab.

She answered, then turned back to me. "Okay, let's not make a big deal out of this. Get back to work when you can."

With that, she hurried away.

I remained where I was, watching her walk away as I remembered the promises she'd made when I first joined the lab.

"I promise I'll help you apply for your own research grant within three years and make you the lab's second-in-command within five. Also, don't worry about life outside the lab. I'll take care of you. I'll handle breakfast, stay with you when you work late nights, and never leave you to handle things alone."

But now, she hadn't even made good on the first of those promises, and she'd already shifted her attention to someone else without a second thought.

…

Back at my desk, I sat there lost in thought for a while before my phone chimed.

It was an email notification from the journal submission system. "Author Information Updated."

This was the paper I'd spent three sleepless months rushing to finish.

A jolt went through me, and I opened it immediately. My name, which had been listed as the first author, had been replaced with "Lucas Miller."

Meanwhile, I had been shoved to the very end of the co-author list.

My head was buzzing.

Nearly all the data analysis and model development for the paper relied on the latest version of the analysis system I'd built.

I worked overtime for three straight months, pulled countless all-nighters, and went through more cups of coffee than I could count.

Once the project was completed, I was supposed to be eligible to apply for a national research grant on my own.

But now, Jane had handed the credit to Lucas.

I shot to my feet and rushed into Jane's office, thrusting my phone in front of her. "Explain this. Why is Lucas listed as the first author?"

With a smile on her face, she tried to pacify me.

"What's the big deal? Why are you getting so worked up about it? Remember what I told you yesterday? Lucas hasn't produced much over the past six months. I thought giving him first authorship on a paper in a renowned journal might help him regain some confidence."

She paused, then added, "If he can establish himself in the lab sooner, I can divorce him and be with you.