Chapter 2

Professor Finch looked at me, a hint of scrutiny in his gaze:

"Tessa? Are you... sure? The project has already started. Joining now means spending the next three years almost completely cut off from the outside world."

"I'm sure." I picked up the pen without hesitation. "If possible, I'd like to move in as early as tomorrow."

"There's no problem with the process." Professor Finch adjusted his glasses. "But once you sign, all non-supervised contact will be restricted. You'll need to settle your personal affairs... especially anything involving dependents."

I understood his concern. After all, Graham had been my reason for declining last time.

But the world had changed.

"Don't worry. I have no 'dependent' matters to settle."

Professor Finch studied me for a long moment before sliding the agreement across the desk.

The moment I wrote my name, something finally settled inside me.

After I signed, he softened his tone: "Does Graham know?"

I smiled, but it was bitter and cold. "He probably doesn't have the bandwidth to care about me right now."

He sighed. "Tessa, you deserve better."

I didn't respond. I just nodded.

By the time I got home, it was past ten at night.

The apartment was so quiet it felt unlived in.

Even the floor lamp in the living room was still angled exactly where I'd left it that morning.

I had just taken off my coat when my phone lit up.

Vivian's Instagram update.

She had tagged me.

@tessa.everett

"Thank you, Graham, for staying with me through all my checkups today. The doctor says I'm recovering better than expected. Next week I can even attend the pre-isolation orientation! This is what our hard work together looks like ❤️"

The photo showed a selfie in a hospital hallway.

She still had an IV bandage on her wrist, and Graham stood beside her, head bowed, gently adjusting the collar of her coat.

The tenderness in his gesture was foreign to me.

I stared at that photo, a stone settling in my stomach.

The anxious, devoted voice I'd heard on the phone that afternoon finally had a face to match.

That was the kind of care a husband should show.

But it had never been mine.

I had no intention of waiting up for him.

I walked quietly into the kitchen and made a simple bowl of tomato noodle soup.

I hadn't even finished the broth when my phone buzzed again.

This time it was an official confirmation from the Research Bureau:

"Tessa Everett, your agreement has been approved. Please report in two days."

I didn't hesitate. I tapped "Confirm."

Once, I'd thought this would be a difficult decision.

But now that the moment had come, it was surprisingly simple.

Six months ago, when Professor Finch's project first reached out to me, Graham had blown up at me for the first time.

He knew better than anyone how dangerous the radiation levels were.

He absolutely forbade me to go—and absolutely refused to go himself.

So he made me wait. Wait for his promotion. Wait for him to take me to the base where they'd spend three years together, just the two of them.

Only now did I realize—

The "future" he'd guarded so fiercely may never have had a place for me at all.

"Graham, after tomorrow, we may never see each other again."

This time, I was going to be the one who left first.