He Healed Her Broken, Brilliant Heart

die

ile scent of my lab, a place where men like Barrett Ball carved up the world over single-malt scotch. I slipp

umbling sound that used to make my heart flutter. Now, it made my stomach turn. I ducked behind a large potted palm, my heart pounding against my

confront him, when a voice cut t

amber liquid in his glass. "Now that you've finally locked down Dallas, wha

my nails dug into my palms. They knew. They al

e. He exhaled a perfect smoke ring. "Elodie? She' ll keep working. She' s a genius. The

my life's work, my passion, as if it were a tool he' d com

other friend, Leo, chimed in, a cruel smirk

sound that sent a shard of ice thro

tell me you're going to let your little pe

ett cut him off, his voice flat and cold

I couldn't suppress. A backup plan. I was the backup plan. My own body was the collateral fo

's cold. But what makes you think she'll just... roll over

new all too well. It was the smirk he used when he was closing a de

m his cigar. "Seven years is a long time. People get... comfor

he intimate, private moments I thought were ours, shared in the sacred

ey were all grinning. "So you'll just show her the tapes and

naive. Believes in the purity of science, the sanctity of love. A little public humiliatio

using my love, my trust,

ou get out of

who funded a medical miracle. If it fails, I'm a hero who convinced a 'selfless donor' to save my fiancée's life. The board at

entire existence, my love, my genius, had been reduced to t

laughter of the men in the booth faded into a dull roar. I stumbled out of

ace, hot and furious. How could I have been so stupid? So blind? For seven years, I had belie

niversity mentor, a titan in the biomedical field. He'd warned me about Barrett, in his own subtle, academic way

my voice a ragged wh

e for the late hour. But the board for the Alpine Institute met tonight. The directors

world. A top-secret, government-funded facility nestl

n fully formed the thought. The grief and rage in my chest

re you sure? Last week you said you couldn't p

ining strength. "He's not a fac

"The work is highly classified. We'll need to arrange for your... extraction. Qu

oice breaking with a different em

our eternal, interwoven connection. I remembered the day clearly. We were in my tiny apartment, sunlight streaming through the window, the air smelling of the cheap coffe

d one day replace it when we could finally be public. What a fool I

to force me to be a "selfless donor"? He want

t move to find shelter. The rain was a welcome shock, a physical sensation that momentarily numbed the inf

ive games. He had underestimated his "naive little scientist." He thou

shake, not from the rain, but from the sheer weight of the emotional trauma. The wor

d was the cold, hard pavem

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