My Platonic Love

Chapter 4

The dial tone droned in my ear. Something inside me split open.

I kept the phone pressed there, my fingers trembling so hard the tremor ran up my whole arm until it went numb.

Five years. Five whole years.

Nobody knew what it took to develop that gastric drug. From graduate school onward, I buried myself in the lab. I pulled countless all-nighters alone, gave up every holiday and every day off without a second thought. To get the formula ratios right, I tested over a hundred incomplete batches on myself. My stomach lining burned and bled and scarred, and I developed a chronic gastric condition that never went away.

That drug was the one thing I had to secure a direct PhD spot at Westport University. My only card.

And Julian tossed it to Chloe with a simple sentence, "It's just a drug."

The company we had built from nothing, the biotech firm we founded together, he transferred all of it to that woman.

Seven years of platonic love. I had believed his words, believed that love was about building each other up, never anything sordid. I cooked for him. I cleared every obstacle in his path.

From beginning to end, I was never a fiancée to be cherished. I was just a disposable tool he used to build a future for Chloe.

My hand dropped slowly. My eyes fell on the screen, on the scheduled asset division agreement waiting to be sent.

Every clause was clear. Every line was clean.

I did not scream. I did not break down. I did not do what Julian expected and crawl back to beg.

I listed every cent I had put into the company at the start. Every record of my core R&D work. All of it.

Seven years together.

After that document, Julian and I were even. I owed him nothing.

The broken glass crunched under my shoe. The sound was sharp enough to cut through the fog in my head.

I used to be soft. I used to cling to those faint memories of warmth. His past tenderness. Seven years of standing by each other.

Now I finally understood. Once the love was gone, every kindness had been an illusion.

He was good to me back then because he had nothing, and I was the only one he could use. Now he had success, status, and a name people recognized. He could discard me without a second thought.

I bent down and gathered the broken glass, piece by piece. A sharp edge nicked my fingertip. A warm bead of blood welled up and dripped onto the yellowed photograph, bleeding into the paper.

The two faces in the picture were young and bright, laughing without reservation. Julian's eyes in that photo held a sincerity and gentleness I had not seen in years.

He told me he'd take care of me forever. We were supposed to have a whole life together.

What a ridiculous lie.

I tossed the ruined photo into the trash, right along with seven years of a love that was never more than pathetic and absurd.

I packed a single bag and walked out of that cramped studio for the last time.

The sky was still gray overhead, but the weight I had carried for days, the suffocating hurt and bitterness, finally lifted.

Was it sadness?

Yes.

Did it ache?

Absolutely. Right down to the bone.

But more than anything else, it was relief. I was finally free of that hollow relationship, free of that cold, faithless man.

My phone buzzed again. A bank alert.

I opened it and felt my stomach drop.

Every account had been frozen. Every balance, zeroed out.

I did not need to guess. Julian.

He had revoked the linked card and locked down all my assets. He cut off every financial lifeline I had.

He was betting I would have nowhere to go. Betting I would eventually break and show up at Chloe's feet to apologize and beg him for a way out.

For seven years, my entire world had been tied to him. Everyone saw me as the pretty little woman clinging to his arm. Without Julian, I would have nothing. Without him, there was nowhere for me to go.

I stared at that text, and a quiet laugh escaped me.

Julian had underestimated me. Badly. And he had wildly overestimated himself.

Did he really think freezing my accounts would make me kneel?

Did he think stealing my patent would crush every last bit of fight I had?

He forgot something. My foundation was never him. It was never the resources or the shine he gave me. It was my own ability.

I did not panic. I opened my contacts, found a number I had not touched in years, and pressed call without a single tremor.

The line picked up quickly. A steady, warm voice came through, carrying a note of surprise.

"Mia? It's been a long time. What made you call me out of nowhere?"

It was Arthur Landon. My graduate advisor. One of the most respected figures in pharmaceutical research.

Back then, I walked away from Arthur's direct PhD program to stay with Julian when he had nothing. I gave up top-tier research resources that were already within my reach and chose to build something from zero at his side instead.

The years that followed were swallowed by company chaos and a relationship I kept trying to hold together. I barely spoke to Arthur anymore. I faded quietly from the research world.

"Professor Landon."

I steadied my voice and kept it calm and clear. "I want to return to the lab. I want to resume development on the new gastrointestinal drug."

Arthur paused. His tone shifted, turning serious.

"I remember your research direction. That gastric drug had real promise. It was a shame you let it go. I've seen a newly patented version of the same drug on the market recently. Listed under Chloe Vance of Cross Group. That was your work, wasn't it?"

Arthur had spent decades in this field. His eye was razor-sharp. He saw through the scheme immediately.

My nose stung. I answered honestly.

"It was my core data. Stolen and appropriated."

"I knew it!" His voice darkened with anger. "I've heard of Chloe Vance. Shallow credentials. Nothing more than a pretty face propped up by publicity. She could never have produced research this mature. So that's how she did it. She stole it. Mia, listen to me. You have my full support. The research community does not tolerate thieves and frauds. Come now. My lab is always open to you."

A few words. That was all it took to warm the cold that had seeped into my bones.

Seven years of love left me with nothing. But the knowledge I had earned and the professional credibility I had built, no one could steal that.

I thanked him quietly and hung up. Then I hailed a cab and headed straight for Arthur's lab.

Sunlight cut through the car window and fell across my shoulders, driving out the gray that had clung to me for days.

I opened my laptop in the back seat and started organizing the raw data I had backed up over the years.

What Chloe took was only the final patent I had submitted to the company.

Every draft, every raw record from the actual development process, still sat right there on my private drive.

Every data point had been entered by my own hand. Every adjustment was unique and irreplaceable.

There was one thing in this world you could not fake, and that was the real, documented process of scientific research.

Julian and Chloe thought they could build their empire on my work.

They were in for a rude awakening.