Chapter 2

Julian, who had been wearing a smug grin, stared at the heavy metal badge in his hand. His eyes widened in sheer disbelief.

The entire room fell into a dead silence.

Only Chloe’s face twisted into a mix of shock and fury.

I kept smiling at them. "Isn't this what you wanted? The lab is yours now. Congratulations."

I walked over, patted Julian on the shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "But you better be careful. Some things are too heavy for a fraud to carry."

I pressed down hard on his shoulder. Julian, despite his tall frame, buckled under my grip.

His face flushed bright red as he tried to resist, but he couldn't push me off.

I let go and sneered. He was nothing but a weak, soft trust-fund kid ruined by too much partying.

Chloe glared at me, snatching the badge from Julian's hand and pointing it at my face.

"Ethan! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Today is our lab’s celebration party! How dare you come here and throw a temper tantrum!"

Looking at her furious eyes, I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Isn't this exactly what you wanted?"

"To hand everything to your precious first love? To put him on a pedestal? That’s all you’ve ever cared about."

"Now he has the lead author credit, he has the fame, and I’m even giving him my lab. Why are you mad?"

"I seriously want to know, Chloe. What will it actually take to make you happy?"

Chloe stared at me, speechless. She nervously tapped her glasses—a habit she only had when she was extremely anxious and angry.

If this were the past, I would have rushed to comfort her, apologizing and begging her not to be upset. But today? I didn't give a single damn.

Julian stepped forward, shielding Chloe behind him. His face was a mask of patronizing arrogance.

"Ethan, buddy, don't be like that. Take the badge back!"

"So what if we forgot to invite you to the party? There's no need to act like a child."

With just a few words, Julian painted me as a petty, jealous husband, completely glossing over their blatant betrayal.

I ignored him and looked directly at Chloe. I wanted to hear what she had to say.

Chloe seemed to snap out of her shock. She grabbed the badge and shoved it back into Julian’s hand.

"Fine! If he wants to walk away, let him. Keep the badge, Julian. Let’s see if this lab can even function without him!"

She turned to me, her voice dripping with venom. "All you do is run errands and do basic prep work anyway. You actually convinced yourself you were indispensable!"

In the end, she chose Julian.

Julian’s grin returned, wider than ever. He quickly stuffed the badge into his pocket.

He was a fraud with a pay-to-play master's degree from some sketchy overseas school. He had absolutely no right to lead a cutting-edge lab like this.

The moment he got the badge, he looked like he had won the lottery. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and turned to Chloe.

"Chloe, I won't let you down. Trust me!"

He reached out and grabbed my wife’s hand, completely ignoring the fact that I was standing right in front of them.

Chloe looked at him with adoring eyes, treating me as if I were invisible.

I just stood there, watching Julian, and smiled.

I thought that after spending years in grad school, Julian would at least have some concept of what running a lab required. I didn't realize a "pay-to-play" degree could make someone this stupid.

They had never watched me run the actual synthesis. They hadn't even read my raw laboratory logs.

They knew nothing about the experimental steps, the quantum principles, or even the exact purity of the raw materials. Trying to replicate my work with just a piece of the finished compound was pure delusion!

As long as I didn't release the exact synthesis recipe, nobody in the world could recreate that room-temperature superconductor.

He thought he had finally gotten rid of me and won. He had no idea what was waiting for him.

The news of the room-temperature superconductor had already been announced to the world. Every major lab was waiting for the paper to drop so they could verify it.

Massive purchase orders from tech giants were already pouring in.

Based on the contracts they had signed in their excitement, the breach-of-contract penalties alone would be enough to bankrupt them for life.

I looked at the lovebirds and smiled, already imagining the look on their faces when they were hit with millions of dollars in debt.

Chloe seemed to suddenly remember she was still my wife. She quickly let go of Julian's hand and turned to me.

"Ethan, I'm not a heartless person."

"If you leave this lab, you won't survive out there in the academic world."

"How about this? You can stay in the lab and assist the new grad students. Once you actually learn how to do real research, you can leave. That way, you won't embarrass us."

Assist the new grad students?

Me? The sole creator of the room-temperature superconductor, a guaranteed Nobel Prize winner, assisting a bunch of first-year master's students?

The moment I published my paper, any top university or tech company in the world would treat me like a god.

And she wanted me to wash beakers for her students?

I wasn't going to stay here and be humiliated. I frowned and said to Chloe, "Before I leave, I have one condition. I’m taking all my lab notebooks."

Chloe sneered. "Sure. You can have your notebooks. But first, you apologize to Julian. Admit that you're leaving because you lack the competence to run this lab. Do that, and the notebooks are yours."

Apologize? Admit I'm incompetent?

To a pathetic fraud who bought his way through school?

I walked straight up to Julian and slapped him across the face so hard he spun around.

"You want an apology? There's your apology!"