TimeNovelChapter 20
| never thought I'd see Pax again.
But fate, it seemed, had a cruel sense of humor.
Two years later, on another Christmas Eve, as Berlin slipped into wintertime, | found myself walking through
streets dusted in the season's first snowfall. The golden glow of streetlamps flickered against frost-coated
windows, the world outside hushed and serene.
Inside the lab, however, serenity was the last thing on our professor's mind.
“This one’s going to be a handful,” she muttered, rubbing her temples in exasperation.
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Her frustration was so uncharacteristic that Erike and | exchanged amused glances.
“What's the problem, Professor?” Erike asked, barely suppressing a grin.
“A hard case,” she sighed. “Connections. Family money. One of those. Can't be fired, hard to manage-what a
headache.”
Then, as if resigning herself to fate, she looked between the two of us.
“So? Which one of you is going to mentor him?”
-A man, then.
1 instinctively took a full step back.
“Erike you do it.” | shook my head with mock solemnity.
“I'd hate for her to fall helplessly in love with me.”
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A voice cfrom behind me.
A voice | hadn't heard in two years.
“Cecilia.”
I stilled.
For a moment, | thought | had imagined it.
But when | turned, there he was.
Pax Brown.
Standing in our lab.
That night, he officially joined our team.
And in the weeks that followed he shattered nine beakers.
Forgot to turn off the equipment fifteen times.
By the the nearly melted an expensive sensor, | couldn't take it anymore.
| turned to him and, for the first tin two years, | spoke to him directly.
“Maybe you should just marry a beaker.”
Pax froze.
For a second, he just stared at me.
Then his eyes turned red.
“Cecilia,” he breathed, voice raw. “Does this mean you've finally forgiven me?”
He looked atlike he had been waiting for this moment longer than he could bear.
He toldhe had meant every word he'd said back then..
That he had done as he promised.
That he had long since severed ties with Nina.
But that had never been the real problem, had it?
They had grown up together.
He had spent his whole life by her side,buying her gifts. Picking her up in the dead of night.
If I had been in her place, maybe | would have fallen for him too.
| shook my head.
“The fact that you're even askingthis question means you still don’t understand me.”
His breath hitched, his fingers twitching at his sides-like he wanted to reach for me.
But before he could, Huaiyu stepped forward, casually positioning himself between us.
Pax’s breathing turned uneven.
“So that’s it, then?” His voice was barely above a whisper. “You're with him?”
Erike?
What was he even talking about?
Chapter 20
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| laughed, shaking my head.
“Pax, what does this have to do with anyone else?”
| looked at him-really looked at him.
“I just can’t tolerate being lied to.”
“You lied toonce, and | will never be able to trust you again.”
There was a twhen the thought of leaving him had made my chest ache.
A twhen just the idea of walking away had felt like ripping myself apart.
But | had left.
And | had survived.
Because the truth was | didn’t want to spend the rest of my life questioning.
Did he love me?
Was | enough?
Would | always cfirst?
| had no interest in becoming that kind of woman.
So | smiled-soft, distant, untouchable.
“You're a mess, Pax. You're terrible at this. Please don’t ruin our lab too.”
Then, just as gently “Can you not makehate you?”
Chapter 21
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