Chapter 3

"No," I said, my voice stronger than I expected. "Buddy stays with me. Or he goes to a shelter. Julian doesn't get him."

I knew Julian. He didn't love animals. He loved control. He loved taking what was mine.

Buddy was my last bastion of comfort, the only pure thing left.

Julian' s lower lip trembled. He looked like a kicked puppy.

"Oh, Ethan," he whimpered, turning his tear-filled eyes to Olivia. "I didn't mean... I just thought..."

Olivia immediately went into protective mode.

"Ethan! How can you be so cruel?" she scolded, her arm tightening around Julian. "Julian is sick! He' s asking for a small comfort, and you deny him? Buddy is a family dog! Julian has just as much right to him as you do!"

She actually believed that. That Julian, the newcomer, the manipulator, had rights to my dog.

The injustice of it, the sheer audacity, made me dizzy.

My Resonance Score was probably flatlining.

Without waiting for my response, Olivia marched towards the door. "I'll call the house. I'll have Buddy brought here. Julian needs him."

She left, Julian leaning on her, casting a triumphant smirk back at me over her shoulder.

A while later, a terrified Buddy was dragged into Julian' s room by a Harrison staff member.

Julian cooed at him, reaching out with a sickly sweet smile. "Come here, Buddy, good boy."

Buddy, sensing the malice, growled, a low warning rumble.

Julian' s smile faltered for a second, then he grabbed Buddy' s collar, yanking him hard.

"I said, come here!" he hissed, his voice no longer sweet.

Buddy yelped in pain and surprise, then, instinctively, snapped at Julian' s outstretched hand.

It wasn't a bite, more a frightened nip, but Julian screamed as if he' d been mauled.

"He bit me! Olivia, he bit me!" Julian shrieked, clutching his hand, where a small red mark was already forming.

Olivia rushed to his side, her face a mask of fury directed at me and Buddy.

"Ethan! Your dog! He attacked Julian!"

She pushed me aside as I tried to get to Buddy, who was now cowering in a corner.

I stumbled, my already weak legs giving out, and hit the floor hard. My head smacked against the metal leg of a chair.

Pain exploded behind my eyes. Black spots danced in my vision.

No one noticed. No one cared.

All attention was on Julian and his "grievous wound."

Olivia was fussing over Julian, examining his hand, cooing at him.

"We need to get this cleaned! Does it hurt much, darling?"

She glared at me, still on the floor. "I am so disappointed in you, Ethan. And that vicious animal!"

She helped Julian up. "Come on, let's get you to a doctor. And if anything happens to Julian because of that dog, Ethan, I swear, you will pay."

Her voice was cold, laced with a threat that chilled me to the bone.

They left, Olivia supporting the "traumatized" Julian, leaving me on the floor with a bleeding head and a terrified dog.

Complete alienation. My Resonance Score must be zero.

I didn' t care anymore.

I lay there for a long time, the throbbing in my head a dull counterpoint to the ache in my heart.

Olivia. She used to be so kind.

I remembered when I sprained my ankle playing basketball. She' d stayed up all night, icing it, bringing me snacks, reading to me.

Now, she couldn't even see I was injured.

Slowly, I pulled myself up. Buddy whimpered, nudging my hand with his wet nose.

"It's okay, boy," I whispered, my voice raspy. "It's okay."

I needed to get my head checked. I could feel blood matting my hair.

Alone, I made my way to the emergency room downstairs.

The irony wasn't lost on me. I was in a hospital, surrounded by medical professionals, yet I was utterly alone in my suffering.

Olivia found me there an hour later, as a doctor was stitching the gash on my scalp.

"Ethan!" she exclaimed, rushing over. "What happened to your head?"

She didn't sound angry anymore, just... surprised.

I didn't answer, just looked at her.

The doctor, sensing the tension, finished the stitches and discreetly left.

"Did you fall?" Olivia asked, her voice softer now. She reached out, gently touching the bandage on my head.

"Julian is fine, by the way. Just a scratch. But he was so scared."

I pulled away from her touch. "He provoked Buddy."

"Ethan, don't start," she sighed. "He's vulnerable. He wouldn't do that."

She sat beside me, taking my hand. Her fingers were cold.

"Look," she said, her voice low, "I know things are tense. But once the surgery is over, once Julian is better, it will all calm down. We can go back to how we were. Please, Ethan, just stop fighting this. For me."

She even tried to massage my shoulders, a gesture that once brought comfort, now felt like a violation.

Conditional affection. False comfort.

I shrugged off her hands.

"Stop it, Olivia," I said, my voice flat. "Your concern is a little late, don't you think?"

I looked her in the eyes. "You know, for someone who supposedly loves me, you' re remarkably good at ignoring my pain."

Her face fell. "Ethan, that's not fair."

"Isn't it?" I said, a bitter laugh escaping me. "You' re promising me a future, a marriage, acceptance from the Harrisons... all contingent on me giving a piece of myself to a liar. You really think that's a prize worth having anymore?"

The words hung in the air between us.

She started to speak, to promise again, to talk about our wedding, about how the Harrisons would welcome me back with open arms once Julian recovered.

I saw tears welling in her eyes, but I felt nothing.

Those rewards, her love, their acceptance... they were tainted, worthless.

I didn't want them anymore.

My Resonance Score was nonexistent. I was running on fumes, on sheer, stubborn will.

The Program had said systemic failure was imminent. Let it come.