I Was Their Lab Rat, Not Their Daughter

Chapter 4

When I woke, the sharp scent of disinfectant filled my nose.

Rohan was holding my hand, slumped over the edge of the bed, dark circles heavy beneath his eyes.

He slept lightly and woke the moment I moved. When he saw I was awake, a flicker of genuine relief crossed his face.

He raised the head of the bed, then picked up a bowl of oatmeal from the table. "The doctor said you'd wake up today. I went out early to buy this. It's still warm. Please eat something."

I knocked the bowl from his hands. "Rohan, aren't you tired of pretending?"

The oatmeal spilled across his skin, leaving it red and stinging.

Rohan kept his head bowed and said nothing.

The nurse came in to change my dressing and looked at me with clear disapproval. "You just lost a baby, can't you let him be gentle with you? You two will get through this. Rest and recover."

I touched my stomach, still dazed. There had been a child there.

Rohan leaned in, trying to pull me into his arms. "Noemi, we'll have other children."

I closed my eyes and tears spilled before I could stop them. "No, Rohan. We won't. We're done."

Rohan froze, about to say something more, until a sharp ring cut him off. He listened, his expression hardening.

He lowered his hand and looked at me, his eyes cold. "Noemi, did you do this?"

He held up his phone.

Stories were spreading everywhere calling Odette the illegitimate daughter's child. The university had revoked her graduate recommendation.

Rohan's eyes burned. "How could you be so cruel, Noemi? We both begged you. Why would you do something so low?"

I looked at the face I had once loved so deeply and felt all my strength leave me. My voice was steady, strangely calm. "It wasn't me."

Rohan gave me one cold look and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

*****

By afternoon, Rohan's statement was posted prominently on the university website.

Odette and I have always been in a relationship. If anyone is the third party, it is Noemi, who pursued her own sister's fiancé.

Everything turned upside down. Odette became the victim. I became the villain.

Insults flooded every one of my social media accounts.

Veda and Marius Wells, my so‑called parents, joined in, sharing stories about how I had bullied Odette and betrayed the family's kindness.

The university ruled I had behaved improperly and expelled me. The school in Paris also wrote to say my admission was under review.

A message came from Rohan. I read it again and again.

Rohan: Apologize to Odette. Once this dies down, I can clear your name. We can go back to how things were.

I didn't reply.

Instead, I gathered everything, the records of how I had been treated, every memory of my time with Rohan, the experiment proposal I had found, and my medical records.

I sent copies to the police, to the university in Paris, and kept one full set for myself.

Three days later, the police arrived at the university with the evidence I had submitted. As the screens went dark, I boarded my flight to Paris.

Rohan began calling, over and over again.