Chapter 3

Aurelia Dickerson POV:

Bambi's smug face, framed by the expensive scarf, was the last thing I wanted to see. The fresh bandages on my hand throbbed, a constant reminder of Javier' s casual brutality, of her calculated malice.

"Bad day?" I echoed, my voice flat, devoid of emotion. "You mean the day you physically assaulted me and then fabricated a convenient illness to distract Javier?"

Her smirk widened, a viper's smile. "Oh, Aurelia. You always were so dramatic. A little accident, that's all. You're so clumsy." She gestured vaguely at my bandaged hand. "And really, those samples were so fragile. Perhaps you should consider a less... challenging field of study."

Her words were a deliberate jab, a sneering dismissal of my entire career. My blood boiled.

She stepped closer to the entrance of the building, her eyes sweeping over the familiar facade of my research institute, a possessive glint in their depths. "Javier says I'll have full access to your lab now. He thinks I have a 'fresh perspective' on your work."

My lab. My life's work. Her "fresh perspective" was a euphemism for plagiarism.

"You won't last a week," I said, my voice low and dangerous. "You're a leech, Bambi. You feed off others' talent, but you have none of your own."

Her eyes flashed with anger, but she quickly masked it with her usual facade of sweet innocence. "Oh, Aurelia, that's so cruel! I'm just trying to help Javier. He's been under so much stress because of you." She fluttered her eyelashes, a performance worthy of an Oscar. "He said he' s giving me a key card. To streamline my work."

My breath hitched. A key card. Full access. Javier was truly burning all bridges. There was no turning back.

"Let's see just how 'helpful' you can be, Bambi," I muttered, pushing past her. I was done with her petty mind games.

I needed to see my lab. The wreckage. I needed to find a way to salvage what I could.

The moment I stepped inside, the sterile air, usually a comfort, felt heavy with loss. My assistant, Dr. Chen, a brilliant but timid young scientist, rushed towards me, her face pale with worry.

"Dr. Dickerson! Thank goodness you're here!" she exclaimed, her voice hushed. "It's... it's worse than we thought."

My heart sank. "What happened?"

"Bambi Carey... she was in here earlier," Dr. Chen began, glancing nervously over her shoulder. "She was 'assisting' with the clean-up, as per Mr. Swanson's orders. But then... she knocked over the main cryo-tank. The one with the archived samples."

My world went silent. Archived samples. The irreplaceable ones. The ones from my mother' s tissue, from Kayla. Years of meticulous collection, gone.

"How?" I whispered, my voice trembling.

"She said she tripped," Dr. Chen mumbled, wringing her hands. "But... it was so deliberate. She was wearing these ridiculously high heels, and she just... swung her arm, and the tank went crashing down."

A sharp, metallic clang echoed from the main lab area. A high-pitched alarm blared, piercing the silence. Liquid nitrogen fumes billowed from the shattered cryo-tank, a ghostly white cloud swirling around the ruined samples.

Bambi. Her "help." Her "clumsiness."

My vision blurred, not from tears, but from a blinding rage. "Get out, Bambi! " I roared, my voice raw and guttural. "Get out of my lab! You're a disease! A parasite!"

Javier, who had just entered the building, rushed forward, his face etched with concern for Bambi. He instinctively stepped between us. He grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into my skin. "Aurelia! Stop this madness! You're upsetting Bambi!" He shoved me, hard, sending a fresh wave of agony through my bandaged hand.

I stumbled, a sharp gasp escaping my lips as the pain flared. The planter I had almost fallen on earlier scraped against my arm, reopening the wound. My head throbbed. He didn't care. He never cared.

He turned to Bambi, his voice a soothing balm. "Are you alright, darling? Don't pay attention to her. She's just... stressed."

Bambi, predictably, dissolved into theatrical tears, clutching Javier's arm. "Oh, Javier! She's so mean! I was just trying to help! She's always so jealous of me!"

Jealous. The word was a knife to my gut.

Javier's eyes, full of pity for Bambi, turned cold and hard as they met mine. "Aurelia, this is enough. Bambi is now officially the head of the neuro-oncology division. You will respect her authority. And you will stop harassing her." He gestured around the ruined lab, to the shattered cryo-tank, the billowing fumes, the irretrievable loss. "Any further damage from this point forward will be your responsibility."

My breath caught in my throat. Head of the division. Replacing me. After all this.

The betrayal was a physical weight, crushing me under its immense pressure. He had stripped me of my legacy, annihilated my work, and now, he was replacing me with the very person who had orchestrated it all.

"Javier," I whispered, my voice trembling, "this research... it's for the people who are suffering. It's for the families who are losing their loved ones. It's for Kayla."

He cut me off, his voice laced with impatience. "I don't care about your emotional attachments, Aurelia. This is business. Bambi has proven herself to be a more... amenable colleague. And she understands the need for proper protocols." He glanced pointedly at the wreckage. "You, clearly, do not."

"You are going to destroy years of invaluable work!" My voice was thick with despair. "You are going to sacrifice countless lives for a manipulative woman!"

He met my gaze, his eyes devoid of warmth. "My decision is final. Either you accept Bambi's leadership, or you leave."

Leave. He was giving me an ultimatum. But where could I go? He had systematically dismantled my career, my reputation. He had isolated me.

"And if I leave?" I asked, my voice barely audible.

His lips curled into a chilling smile. "Then you leave empty-handed, Aurelia. And I will ensure no other institution touches your 'tainted' research. You will be erased from the scientific community." He took a step closer, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper. "And your sister's legacy? It will truly be forgotten. Unless, of course, Bambi decides to claim it."

My blood ran cold. He would do it. He was capable of anything. He would erase me. And he would erase Kayla.

A cold, hard resolve settled in my chest. I wouldn't let him. I wouldn't let him win. I wouldn't let him erase Kayla's memory.

"Fine," I said, my voice flat, devoid of emotion. "I'll leave."

His eyes widened slightly, a flicker of surprise, then triumph. "A wise decision, Aurelia. Perhaps now you'll finally learn your place."

But I saw the flash of something else too, something possessive in his gaze. He didn't want me to leave truly. He wanted me broken, subservient.

"Just remember who you work for now, Aurelia," he said, his voice a low threat. "And don't you dare try anything foolish. I'll be watching your every move. And if you so much as breathe a word of this to anyone, I will make sure you regret it. I can make your life a living hell."

My heart pounded, a frantic drum against my ribs. A living hell. He had already started.

Before I could react, before I could even formulate a response, two burly security guards appeared from nowhere, grabbing my arms. They held me in a vice grip, their faces impassive.

"Javier!" I screamed, struggling against their hold. "What are you doing? Let me go!"

He ignored me, his gaze fixed on Bambi, who was now smiling sweetly, her head resting on his shoulder. He turned away, his arm around her, and walked out of the lab, leaving me struggling in the guards' grasp.

"Let go of me!" I thrashed, my bandaged hand screaming in protest. "Javier! You can't do this!"

He didn't look back. He just walked away, with Bambi by his side, leaving me suspended in the air, my feet dangling, my voice echoing in the empty, ruined lab.

My heart shattered.