Chapter 4

Two days later, the call from the medical center came.

"Candidate Vance, the identity of the complainant has been verified. Please come in."

I put down my phone, threw on the same jacket I had worn that day, and smoothed my hair in the mirror.

The reflection looked calm, like someone simply heading out to pick up a parcel that had been delayed for far too long.

Back in that same examination room, all three examiners were present. An additional brown envelope lay on the desk.

The senior examiner slid the folder toward me.

"The identity of the complainant has been confirmed. It is a candidate from your same testing block: Ethan Cole."

He turned a photocopy of the formal complaint toward me. In black and white, right in the signature box at the bottom, was the name: *Ethan Cole*.

Stroke by stroke, written with painstaking care in the neat, formal script he had practiced since childhood. I recognized it instantly.

I stared at that name for several seconds, feeling nothing inside.

I had known this answer before I died in my past life; I just hadn't possessed the strength back then to demand an explanation.

"Thank you, examiners. May I confront the complainant face-to-face?"

The examiners exchanged glances, and the senior one nodded.

When Ethan was called in, Chloe followed close behind, her face an ashen, sickly pale. She tripped over the doorframe on her way in.

The second Ethan saw the photocopy in my hand, his feet rooted to the floor.

"Nina, listen to me—"

"I'm listening." I held the paper up, his signature facing him directly. "Did you write this?"

His lips trembled. Stubble shadowed his jaw; he looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"I wrote it," he choked out, forcing each word from his throat. "But Nina, I didn't mean to hurt you. I just thought..."

"You thought what?"

Behind him, Chloe spoke up in a tiny, shivering voice:

"Nina, Ethan only did it for the sake of fairness..."

I glanced at her, and she swallowed the rest of her sentence instantly.

"Ethan, your complaint states you suspected I had advance access to the color vision test materials. The re-test results are in. With three examiners present, I passed every single plate without error. How do you explain that?"

He stood there, his tall frame seemingly shrinking in on itself.

"I..." He had nothing to say.

I took a step forward, placing the photocopy onto the desk right next to his hand.

"Fine. You can't explain the complaint, so let me ask you another question."

I stared into his panicking eyes, my voice quiet, yet ringing crystal clear:

"The morning of the physical exam, where did you get that bottle of water you handed me?"

He jerked as if hit by an electric shock, taking a violent step back until his back slammed into the doorframe.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, rolling down his temples.

He was terrified—so terrified he couldn't speak.

In my past life, he had always been composed, gentle, and utterly confident in front of me. Even when he destroyed my future with his own hands, he had never worn an expression like this.

*So you can feel fear, after all.*

From behind, Chloe grabbed his sleeve, her voice breathless and frantic: "Nina, that was just an ordinary bottle of water! Ethan had a whole case in his trunk, and I drank one too!"

I didn't spare her a glance, keeping my eyes pinned on Ethan's face.

"I am asking you, Ethan Cole."

Suddenly, he threw his hands over his face, his shoulders shaking violently.

When he finally lowered his hands, his expression had completely fractured. It took him several seconds to force out a sound.

"Nina... that bottle of water... you didn't drink it, did you?"

His voice was hoarse, barely audible.

"You knew all along, didn't you?"

Chloe spun toward him, all color instantly draining from her face.

"Ethan, what on earth are you talking about?!"

Ethan ignored her, his eyes locked entirely on me.

"I remember now... I remember everything..."

The examiners glanced at each other. The senior examiner stood up, his puzzled expression turning grave.

I stood my ground, folded the photocopy neatly, and slipped it into my pocket.

"Ethan, as for your false report against me, I will be filing a formal complaint through official channels. As for what you just said, I suggest you explain it clearly in front of the three examiners."

My voice wasn't loud, but it was steady as steel.

He raised his head, his lips moving soundlessly several times, unable to utter a single word.

Chloe bit her lower lip until it almost bled, staring at Ethan's back, her fists clenched white at her sides.

I pulled the half-empty bottle of mineral water from my bag and set it gently onto the desk.

The tap of plastic against wood was quiet, but in that deathly still room, everyone heard it.

"This is the bottle of water you gave me the morning of the exam. I didn't finish it. What's left inside can be sent for a toxicology screening."

The examiner took the bottle, twisted the cap to inspect it, and tightened it back down.

The senior examiner picked up the internal phone on the desk and dialed an extension.

"Have the Disciplinary and Oversight Board come up immediately. We have a situation that requires a formal investigation."

Ethan collapsed onto his knees on the floor, staring at the bottle I had placed down, the light in his eyes dimming into absolute darkness.