Chapter 1

"I'm joining the Ares Project."

The words left my mouth and hung in the air of Professor Davies's office. The room was cluttered with books and half-finished robotic arms, a place that always felt like home.

"Ethan, you're my best student. But the Ares Project... that's five years of total isolation. No contact with the outside world. Are you sure about this?"

Professor Davies looked at me over his glasses, his expression serious. He knew I had a girlfriend, Chloe, and that we had been together for two years. He thought we were planning a future.

I was, too, until yesterday.

"I'm sure," I said, my voice firmer than I felt. I needed this. I needed to disappear.

My gaze drifted to the small, scuffed-up piggy bank on my desk back in my dorm room. It was almost full. I had been saving every spare dollar from my part-time jobs and scholarships, putting it all in there for a promise ring for Chloe. I imagined her face, the way she would smile.

That was before I heard her laugh.

A laugh that wasn't for me.

"We're over." I had said it to her just an hour ago, standing in the doorway of the apartment we were supposed to share after graduation.

She just stared at me, her beautiful face a mask of confusion. "What are you talking about, Ethan?"

Just then, my best friend Liam Hayes walked up, clueless as always. He clapped me on the shoulder, a wide grin on his face. "Ethan, man! I was just looking for you. Chloe, you're here too."

Chloe's eyes darted between me and Liam. A flicker of panic crossed her face before she smoothed it over. "Ethan's just having a bad day. He doesn't mean it."

"Yeah," I said, my voice flat. "A bad day."

Liam, bless his ignorant heart, pulled a small box from his pocket. "Speaking of good days, I finally got it." He opened it to show a ridiculously expensive-looking watch. "A little something for myself. Chloe, you helped me pick it out. Thanks."

"It looks great on you, Liam," she said, her voice soft and full of an admiration I now knew was real.

I just looked at the watch, then at Chloe, then back at Liam. My stomach churned. The cheap promise ring I was saving for felt like a joke. The extra shifts I worked, the meals I skipped, it all felt like a punchline.

"I have to go," I said, turning away from them both.

I walked away, but I didn't go far. I ducked into a nearby stairwell, my heart pounding. I pulled out my phone. My thumb hovered over her contact, then I went to our shared photo album. We had set it up so our phones would automatically sync. She must have forgotten.

Because there it was. A new photo, uploaded just yesterday. It was a selfie of her and her friends at a fancy rooftop bar. I zoomed in. On the table, next to a bottle of champagne that cost more than my monthly rent, was a small, familiar object.

My piggy bank.

They were using it as an ashtray.

The memory hit me like a physical blow. I was on my way to surprise her yesterday, carrying a bouquet of cheap daisies, the only flowers I could afford. I got to her dorm and the door was slightly ajar. I heard her voice, and the voices of her friends.

"So, Chloe, are you ever going to tell your little charity case who you really are?" one of them asked, her voice dripping with amusement.

Chloe laughed. That laugh. "Are you kidding? The look on Liam's face every time he sees me with Ethan is priceless. He gets so jealous."

"But for two years? With that... commoner? He wears the same two sweaters all winter."

"It's part of the charm, isn't it? Playing the poor, simple girl. Besides, Ethan is so devoted. He's saving up for a ring in that ridiculous little pig. Can you believe it? He thinks we're going to get married and live in some tiny suburban house."

Her words were sharp, each one cutting deeper than the last.

"He's just a tool, a pawn to make Liam finally notice me. Once Liam dumps his current girlfriend and comes crawling back, I'll drop Ethan so fast he won't know what hit him. God, he's so boring. All he talks about is engineering and... feelings."

The group erupted in laughter.

I stood there, outside the door, the cheap daisies crushed in my hand. I felt a wave of nausea so intense I had to lean against the wall. A cold sweat broke out on my forehead. My two years with her, the love I thought we shared, it was all a lie. A game.

I was just a prop in her drama with Liam.

In the stairwell, I stared at the photo on my phone. The piggy bank, my stupid, hopeful piggy bank, covered in ash. I felt a sharp pain in my chest, a physical ache that stole my breath.

I spent the night walking the campus, my mind a blank, howling void. By morning, the pain had settled into a cold, hard resolve.

That was when I went to see Professor Davies.

Five years of isolation. No friends. No family. No Chloe.

It sounded less like a punishment and more like a rescue.