Part 3The Harpy’s Curse and the Broken Scholars

I scrolled to the very bottom of my contact list, found the number I hadn't

touched in years, took a deep breath, and hit dial.

"You once told me you wanted me as your permanent partner. Does that offer still

stand?"

There was no hesitation on the other end, just a clear, steady female voice.

"That spot by my side has always been yours, Oliver. You just had to say the

word."

Harper. The genius researcher who had swept countless international awards. In

our last life, she had delayed her entire project waiting for me to come to my

senses, ultimately costing her that year's top global prize.

This time, we would finally fight side by side.

After hanging up, I immediately began the paperwork for a transfer to Munich.

As I walked out of the HR office, clutching a thick stack of handover documents,

I ran straight into Stella and Toby.

Toby's sharp eyes caught the "Overseas Transfer Application" printed on my

folder. He let out an exaggerated, cold laugh.

"And here I thought you had some backbone, that you'd actually give up on

Stella. Turns out you're just going to shamelessly follow us abroad? Have you no

dignity?"

Stella let out a derisive snort, her eyes filled with a lofty pity.

"Oliver, why do you insist on torturing yourself? Even if you follow me across

the world like a stray dog, I won't give you a second glance."

I calmly flipped the file over, showing them the name of the receiving party.

"I'm going abroad because I've found a new partner. This has absolutely nothing

to do with you."

When Toby saw the thunderous name on the document—Harper—he froze, then burst

into even harsher laughter.

"You barely scraped second place in our own institute's selection, and you think

a god-tier researcher like Harper would even look at you? She's at the absolute

pinnacle of our field. You couldn't come up with a more ridiculous lie if you

tried!"

Stella, however, stared at the name, her expression shifting like a volatile

storm.

I had no time for their games and was about to walk around them when Stella

grabbed my arm, yanking me into a corner of the hallway. She lowered her voice,

her tone laced with fury.

"I know you threw the exam to let Toby win. You were trying to get back at me.

But changing partners is a massive decision. Why didn't you report it to me

first?"

"Go and cancel your application with her right now, before word gets out."

She tilted her chin up, so certain that I was still the puppet who danced on her

strings.

I wrenched my arm free, finding her entitled expression utterly ridiculous.

"And why should I take orders from you?"

Her jaw tightened, her eyes flashing with impatience.

"Because I've already planned it all out. Toby will be my public partner, a face

for the media. You will continue to be my shadow partner, working behind the

scenes. Isn't that a perfect solution?"

I frowned, unable to process her twisted logic. She looked at me as if I were an

imbecile, continuing to explain as if granting me a great favor.

"The repetitive, tedious work in the lab is draining. Toby's a light sleeper as

it is; he needs at least twelve hours of rest a day."

"So, you'll still be the one to handle the heavy lifting, the core data

analysis. When the time comes… if we win an award with that data, I'll speak to

the Dean. I'll have a brand-new lab built just for you as compensation."

Now I understood. She wanted me to sweat and slave away like a mule in a

windowless basement, while Toby strutted onto a brightly lit stage in a designer

suit to accept the accolades.

The sheer audacity was breathtaking.

I laughed, a sound devoid of any humor. "Putting someone else's name on your

work is called academic fraud. Do you have the guts to repeat that in the

Director's office?"

She was instantly enraged, her eyebrows shooting up as she pointed a finger at

my nose, hissing.

"Oliver! I'm offering you a way out! You're the one who started this jealous

drama, all to force me to acknowledge you as my partner again, weren't you?"

Seeing the fury and arrogance swirling in her eyes, a chilling coldness crept up

my spine.

I remembered my past life, how I’d unhesitatingly rejected offers from three of

the world's top labs just to stay by her side.

For the crumbs of affection she occasionally threw my way, I worked like a

machine devoid of pain, my eyes burning from sleepless nights, secretly fixing

God knows how many of Toby's screw-ups.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging deep into my palms, and stared into her

eyes, enunciating each word.

"I will never agree."

Her chest heaved with rage. Just as she was about to explode, Toby's

melodramatic sobs echoed from the other end of the hall.

Stella's expression changed in a flash. She hurried over to find Toby crumpled

on the floor, clutching a reference book that had been cut to ribbons, crying

his eyes out.

"Stella, Oliver did this! To get back at me for taking his spot as your partner,

he snuck into the lab and destroyed my core reference materials!"

Stella pulled him into a tender embrace, her voice soft enough to melt steel.

"Don't cry. I'll make him pay. I won't let anyone who bullies you get away with

it."

Toby, trembling like a frightened quail in her arms, shook his head

theatrically.

"Let's just forget it and go abroad. If we stay under the same roof as Oliver,

I'm afraid next time he'll destroy months of my research."

I watched this pathetic melodrama unfold, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Your mediocre research is hardly worth my effort. Besides, this entire hallway,

including the lab, is covered by 360-degree surveillance cameras. We can just

pull the footage and see who's really directing this little play. Or do you

prefer to just keep wailing here?"

My words only made Toby cry harder. Stella whipped her head around, her eyes

promising murder. She snatched the shredded hardcover book from the floor and

hurled it at my face.

"You commit this disgusting act of revenge against Toby, show no remorse, and

then have the audacity to bully him with your words! Oliver, you forced my

hand!"

The heavy corner of the book struck me right beside my eye. A sharp, piercing

pain erupted, and warm blood trickled down my cheekbone.

The last trace of expression vanished from my face. My voice was as cold as ice.

"You won't even check the cameras. You condemn me based on his word alone.

Stella, have you ever considered that you're nothing more than a puppet, and

he's the one pulling your strings?"

She clenched her fists, roaring like an enraged lioness.

"Toby's heart is as pure as a blank sheet of paper! Even if I willingly let him

use me, he would never stoop to something like this! Unlike you, with your mind

full of schemes and gutter-water ambition!"

Faced with her fury, I simply wiped the blood from my eye, my expression as

placid as if I were looking at a stranger.

Suddenly, she let out a chilling, eerie laugh and strode into my lab. She

grabbed a scalpel from the desk and plunged it violently into the

temperature-controlled incubator.

The specialized glass casing shattered with a sharp crack. Warm, light-blue

nutrient fluid and viscous matter spilled across the table.

Those were the rare, thought-to-be-extinct biological specimens I had spent

eight years cultivating, poring over ancient texts to bring back from the brink.

They were only three days away from hatching.

She turned her head, a sick, almost cruel smile on her face.

"How does it feel? To have your life's work destroyed in an instant?! Toby has

poured ten times more effort into his research than you ever have, so you

deserve to swallow this pain ten times over!"

She overturned the entire incubator in a frenzy. The precious eggs rolled across

the floor. In her high heels, right in front of me, she brought her foot down,

again, and again, grinding them into a stinking, putrid mess.

The crowd gathered at the door was dead silent, no one daring to breathe. They

were all waiting, waiting to see me collapse to my knees as I had in the past,

begging her to stop.

But they were disappointed. I simply bent down, expressionless, picked up my

scattered transfer documents, and walked away into the deepening night.

While waiting in the airport lounge, my phone lit up with a text from a

colleague.

[Stella says if you come crawling back right now and kneel before the whole

institute to apologize to Toby, she might consider asking the Dean to let you

stay.]

I replied without a moment's hesitation: [Tell her not to bother. From this day

forward, I am done with her, and with this place. Forever.]

I turned off the phone, snapped the SIM card in half, and dropped it into a

trash can. Boarding pass in hand, I walked onto the flight to Germany without a

single look back.

As for who would claim that grand international award, she could just watch and

see.