No Room for Three: I Accepted Another Offer

Chapter 3

After finishing all my paperwork, I went back to the lab to collect my materials.

The storage cabinet was nearly empty.

The cardiovascular case database I had spent eight months compiling was gone.

Lilian poked her head out.

"Are you looking for the raw data? Professor Alex asked me to give it to Damian."

"Why?"

"Grace Medical Center requires us to complete a joint research paper before we officially start working there. We ran out of time, so we had to use the data at hand."

I pushed open the conference room door.

Damian was sitting with Professor Alex, checking the author order for the paper.

On the screen, Damian was listed as the first author.

Lilian was second.

My name was buried at the very bottom of the acknowledgments section.

"This is my research project."

I stood in front of the projector, my voice trembling with anger despite my efforts to stay calm.

Professor Alex removed his glasses.

"Claire, don't make everything so black and white. The three of you have always worked as a team. Does the order of the names really matter that much?"

"I recorded every piece of data. I handled all the patient follow-ups. I created the entire framework for this paper."

Lilian immediately tried to explain, "I wanted to put your name first, but Grace Medical Center only recognizes work completed by their incoming employees."

"So that gives you the right to change the order without asking me?"

Damian closed his laptop and pulled me out into the hallway.

"This paper is only for our onboarding assessment. Once Lilian and I settle into Grace Medical Center, we'll help you work on another one, okay?"

"We?"

I stared at him.

"You've already started putting yourself and her together, haven't you?"

"Don't twist my words."

He rubbed his temple, looking exhausted.

"I stayed up until 3 a.m. processing the data. Lilian is under so much pressure right now. Can't you be a little more understanding?"

"Then what was all my work for?"

"Claire, you've already received an offer from St. Vincent's Hospital. You don't need this paper."

He paused.

"Lilian is different from us. She came from a difficult background, and she worked incredibly hard to get into Grace Medical Center. She can't afford anything missing from her resume."

I let out a cold laugh.

"So because she had a harder life, I'm supposed to hand over everything I worked for?"

"It's only temporary."

"You call putting her name on my research temporary?"

More and more students gathered in the hallway.

Professor Alex stepped out to calm the situation.

"You're all teammates. Don't let a small disagreement ruin years of friendship. Claire, your academic record is already decent. You learned a lot simply by participating in this project. Don't focus too much on rankings."

Several classmates nearby also tried to persuade me.

"Come on, Claire. You and Damian are together anyway. His achievements are basically yours, right?"

"If Lilian succeeds at Grace Medical Center later, she'll definitely make it up to you."

No one took my side.

In their eyes, I had only gotten this far because Damian and Lilian had carried me along the way.

If I fought for what belonged to me, I would only be seen as selfish and ungrateful.

In the end, Damian withdrew the paper.

For a moment, I thought he had finally understood.

I thought he finally took my side.

Three days later, the university announced those who graduated summa c*m laude.

I had been the top candidate for the honor.

But my name disappeared.

The position had been given to Lilian instead.

The faculty member in charge told me someone had reported me for refusing to cooperate with my team and displaying a poor attitude toward academic collaboration.

When I found Damian, he was helping Lilian pack her luggage.

After I told him what happened, his hands paused for a moment.

"It's just an award. Don't make such a big deal out of it."

"Were you the one who reported me?"

"Professor Alex asked about what happened, and I simply told him the truth."

"What truth?"

"You did refuse to cooperate."

He placed another stack of books into the cardboard box and looked at me.

"Claire, Lilian needs this honor more than you do. Grace Medical Center has a probation assessment this year. Having one more award will give her a better chance."

There it was again.

The same excuse I had heard over and over.

Lilian needed it more than me.

Four years of top grades, research projects, and volunteer work.

Everything I had achieved was erased by those few words from him. "Don't make such a big deal out of it."

Lilian walked in from the balcony with a tiny cut on her finger from the sharp edge of the cardboard box.

Damian immediately dropped the packing tape and pulled her over to the sink.

"You gotta be careful."

That tiny cut wasn't even bleeding.

Yet when I had a 102.2°F fever, he had made me wait three hours.

I stood frozen by the doorway.

Then I finally asked, "Damian, if I were the one who needed the summa c*m laude honor, would you ask Lilian to give it to me?"

He carefully pressed the bandage over Lilian's finger.

"She earned it. You can't just take something that belongs to her."

At that moment, I finally understood.

He knew exactly what fairness meant.

Every time he had to choose between Lilian and me, he never hesitated.

I was always the one he sacrificed.