Chapter 44 Chapter 7 Johnson left. Fast in, fast out. I slept like a baby. The next morning, I was at the airport right on time. Just before boarding, I got a call from my old college advisor. "Scarlett, your senior lab partner just flew back to the States today. Got time to catch up?" I paused. Thought of him. Sebastian Kane. Cool, brilliant, composed. I was an orphan. Grew up in a group home on the South Side of Chicago. Learned early that no one was coming to save me. So I studied like my life depended on it. Got into the best school in New York. Picked the hardest major. By sophomore year, I joined the university's top research group- Even if I was just the lab grunt. Sebastian was the star of that lab. He was also my first crush. But he left for grad school abroad during junior year. I never got the chance to say a word. I didn't respond right away, so my advisor kept talking. 16:25 Ditched My Toxic Duo for a Billionaire Upgrade! 33.9% You and Sebastian-my two best students." I always thought you two were going places... then you got married." I bit my lip. Felt something twist in my chest. If I hadn't married Johnson, maybe I'd still be in research. That thought alone made me stop walking toward the gate. Maybe thirty isn't the end. Maybe it's a new beginning. So I said yes. I'd meet them for the reunion. I headed to a quiet, run-down part of Brooklyn. Back in college, I used to rent a tiny apartment here. After marriage, I bought it. It became my sanctuary. Whenever I couldn't breathe at the Johnson estate- I came here. It was small. One bedroom, one bath. Maybe 400 square feet. But it was packed wall to wall with books. I dropped my suitcase and collapsed onto the bed. Pulled a random book off the shelf- Every page filled with notes. I had never stopped learning. Even while married. Even while suffocating. With the reunion tonight, I pulled out my old research notebooks. 16:25 Ditched My Toxic Duo for a Billionaire Upgrade! 31.1% Chapter 7 If I see my advisor, maybe I can ask- Even if it's just to intern again. Because even after all these wasted years.... The happiest I've ever been- Was in that lab, (0) A single mother returns to the city she left seven years ago after breaking up with her ex to seek treatment for her son’s leukemia. Upon learning of her return, the ex immediately searches for the lo...