Chapter 2

For five long years, I was the one who stayed by Henry's side through the most challenging years in the lab. I had always thought we were a team.

However, I was wrong. I was just the dirty little secret, unfit to be seen in public.

Keeping my voice low, I asked him, "So who are you going to be with tonight?"

Henry's lips parted, but before he could answer, his phone rang. There was no way I'd misread the name on his screen.

It was a call from Ruby McCain, and he answered it instantly. "What's the matter?"

I didn't know what was said on the other end, but Henry's expression changed. He turned and grabbed his coat at once.

"Something happened with Ruby. I need to go see her." When he reached the door, he turned his head to look at me. "Don't overthink this. We'll talk when I get back."

This had happened so many times before. When I had a fever, Henry said he had a meeting and told me to take the medicine myself first.

When I waited for him in the lab until late at night, he said a last-minute engagement had come up and told me to go home first.

Every single time, he asked me to wait. I always thought that everything would be fine if I were just a little more understanding.

In the end, however, all I got from being so understanding was Henry leaving me behind every single time.

I sat back down at the table, picked up the pen, and moved to sign the offer letter once more—only for the doorbell to ring yet again.

I thought it was Henry, but when I opened the door, Ruby was standing outside. Her hair and makeup were immaculate, and she was smiling. It seemed like she had deliberately chosen this moment to come over.

Ruby strode right into the apartment, her gaze sweeping over the place before resting on my face.

"To be honest with you, Natasha, I've known about your relationship with Henry all along," Ruby declared.

My fingers curled a little, while her smile widened. "So, why do you think he chose me in the end?"

I hadn't expected her to be so upfront about it. I was certainly shocked by the blatant lack of guilt in her expression. In fact, she looked positively giddy at the fact that she could finally reveal the secret she'd been hiding from me all along.

Ruby and I had known each other for years.

When we first joined the lab, we stayed up late together revising data. We always made the mad dash to the cafeteria right before it closed to buy the discounted food together.

When she had stomach issues, I got her the medicine she needed. When she got drunk after a breakup, she hugged me and sobbed her heart out, saying that the luckiest thing that ever happened to her was meeting me.

Thinking about it now, I realized that perhaps I was the only person in the entire world who believed those words to be true.

Eyeing Ruby now, I questioned icily, "Since you knew about it, how could you pretend like you were completely unaware of it?"

Ruby laughed right in my face. "Why not?"

She took two steps forward and stopped in front of me. "Natasha, do you think that you deserve to get everything? That everyone should get out of your way and let you have what you want? Professor Harding always liked you more. Whenever an opportunity came up, she always offered it to you first. Even Henry liked you first. But why? Why should you get everything?"

I was startled at first, but it soon dawned on me that Ruby's attitude hadn't flipped a switch overnight. She'd simply been hiding her true colors for years.

"While pretending to be my friend, you were busy stealing my boyfriend?" I confronted her.

Ruby's expression stiffened briefly before she chortled again. "Stealing your boyfriend? If he were really that committed to his relationship with you, how could anyone steal him away?"

The words stabbed me right in the heart. What hurt most wasn't how cruelly she had said it. It was that she was right.

If Henry had truly been committed to our relationship, none of this would've happened.

I forced myself to calm down.

I asked, "Does Henry know you came here to say all this?"

"Of course he does." Ruby looked at me. "Otherwise, why would he be proposing to me tomorrow?"

When she finished, her gaze fell on the offer letter on the table.

"You're leaving?"

She reached out to pick it up, but I instinctively pressed down on the paper.

"Don't touch it!"

However, Ruby refused to let go. Instead, she looked down and skimmed through the words. Her smile became even more pronounced.

"The International Research Institute? So you've been keeping an option open for yourself, huh, Natasha?" she remarked.

"Ruby McCain," I snarled, staring right back at her. "Let go."

Amid the tussle, we bumped into a corner of the table, knocking over a glass vase. The shards went everywhere.

As Ruby stepped back, she scraped her wrist on one of the shards, drawing a bit of blood.

Just then, the door opened, and Henry came bolting in.

The first thing he saw was Ruby clutching her wrist in front of the mess on the floor, while I was still standing beside the table. He didn't even hesitate to pull Ruby behind him.

"Natasha Jameson! What the hell are you doing?" he roared.

In that instant, I lost even the slightest desire to explain myself.

It wasn't because of the way he'd rushed over to defend her, but because he didn't even bother asking what had happened. He'd jumped straight to accusing me of being at fault.

Standing behind him, Ruby said softly, "Don't be mad at her, Henry. I touched her offer letter by accident, so she got antsy about it."

Just like that, she shifted all the blame onto me.

Henry looked at the offer letter on the floor, his expression gradually darkening. "When did you receive that?"

I found his question absurd.

"Does that matter?" I shot back.

"Of course it does!" Henry stared fixedly at me. "Were you planning to leave all along, Natasha? Why didn't you tell me about it?"

I barely managed to stop myself from laughing. Who between us had taken the first step toward destroying our relationship, huh?"

However, before I could answer, Henry's phone buzzed.

It was a message in the research group chat. Someone was asking whether Henry and Ruby would be attending the media interview together tomorrow.

Ruby tilted her head toward him, her voice soft as she asked, "Henry, now that things have come to this, don't you think it's time you give me a clear answer?"

I looked at Henry as well.