He Wanted My Research, She Wanted My Seat, I Wanted Out Chapter 03

He Wanted My Research, She Wanted My Seat, I Wanted Out Chapter 03

“Camila, we said we’d go to Harvard together…”

I took back my acceptance letter. “Changed my mind. Don’t want to go with you guys anymore.”

Henrik grabbed my wrist. Hard.

“Sign up to retake the exam. Even if you have to wait a year, you’re going to Harvard.”

He caught himself. Forced his voice lower.

“I’m doing this for you. Your research only matters if it comes out of Harvard.”

I’d done my digging over the past few days. Henrik’s uncle was a professor at Harvard.

That was why he was so desperate for me to go there. His uncle could work from the inside to swap my submission to Tessa’s name.

“Henrik, I think I get to choose my own school, don’t you?”

Tessa tugged lightly at Henrik’s sleeve.

“Forget it. If Camila’s happy, that’s what matters.”

“Such a shame about her research, though. If only we could take it to Harvard.”

She hit the word ” take” like a hammer.

Henrik caught on. He gave a tiny nod and led Tessa out.

At 11 p.m., my computer’s attack alarm blared again.

Now that they knew I wasn’t going to Harvard, they were even more desperate to steal my research.

The system logged over a hundred attacks before it finally stopped.

Then a text from Henrik lit up my phone.

[I can’t find my watch. Is it at your place? I’ll come look tomorrow.]

Remote attacks weren’t working. Now he wanted to get inside my apartment and take it in person.

I tapped back: [Sure.]

If he was going to come up with such a flimsy excuse, it’d be rude not to let him in.

The next morning, Henrik showed up at my door with dark circles under his eyes.

“Look around yourself. I’m going out for breakfast.”

His eyes lit up when he heard I was leaving. He nodded fast.

“Take your time! No rush!”

I went downstairs to the café and ate my omelette slowly, taking my time.

Better to hand them exactly what they wanted than let him get desperate and catch me off guard.

Half an hour later, a text from Henrik:

[I’m gone.]

I knew. He’d gotten what he came for.

I didn’t reach out to either of them for the rest of summer.

In September, I dragged my suitcase to Stanford alone.

The moment I stepped into my dorm, my phone buzzed. Tessa.

[Too bad you’re not at Harvard. You’re missing me making waves here.]

Making waves? With my research?

I was about to block her when she sent a photo of her and Henrik, arms around each other in front of the Harvard crest.

His hand on her shoulder. Her arm around his waist. Like a couple.

I typed back: [Wishing you both a long and happy life together.]

Then I blocked both of them.

I took my research files to my advisor’s office.

Dr. Thompson read through it, and his face lit up. “This is brilliant. With this, we can push our department to number one in the country.”

“Any thoughts on when you want to present?”

The voice from that mysterious call echoed in my head again.

“Don’t go to Harvard. On September 29th at 10 a.m., Tessa will steal your research and present it as her own.”

I said, “I want the presentation on September 29th at 10 a.m.”

On September 28th, both Harvard and Stanford posted announcements on their websites at the same time.

[Tomorrow at 10 a.m., we will unveil our freshman research projects. Stay tuned.]

The internet exploded.

[Harvard and Stanford dropping new research on the same day? Both from freshmen? Is this a battle?]

[Stanford’s overreaching. Picking the same day as Harvard? They’re going to get crushed.]

My phone rang. Unknown number. I picked up.

It was Henrik.