What She Broke

The new junior researcher in our lab destroyed my antigen.

Because of that, I could not submit my thesis. I lost my chance to study abroad. Three years of work gone, just like that.

I was furious. I wanted to call the police, to have it investigated, to make sure she was held responsible.

However, my fiancé stood in front of her, shielding her, and turned on me instead.

"It's just a small experiment," he said. "Is it really worth making such a big deal out of it?"

I nodded.

"Of course," I said calmly. "After all, it was only an antigen that could treat your lupus. Definitely not worth making a fuss over."

He froze on the spot.

The new junior, Sheila Jones, offered to help clean the lab. Instead, she threw all of my experimental antigens straight into the trash.

The moment I heard, I rushed over. The garbage bin was already a filthy mess. My antigens were gone.

"My… My antigens!"

Shock hit me so hard my legs gave out. I dropped to my knees with a thud, hands shaking as I dug through the trash. I found nothing.

Those antigens were the result of nearly two years of work. Countless trials in petri dishes. Endless nights without sleep.

I had only just started to see progress.

I had not even had the chance to properly record my results or continue the second phase of research before everything was destroyed.

The precious samples I had worked so hard for were nothing but contaminated waste, buried in filth.

Sheila stood off to the side, her face pale, looking wronged and pitiful.

"I'm sorry, Rose… I just wanted to help clean the lab. I didn't know those were your experimental antigens."

Her eyes turned red, and she started to sob softly.

'She didn't know? Yeah, right,' I thought.

My experiment was stored in the innermost section of the lab behind three separate doors. Anyone would have had to go out of their way to get there, and she just happened to 'not know' and threw it away?

Other lab members had gathered around, whispering as they watched.

"Sheila was just trying to help clean. How was she supposed to know that was Rose's experiment?"

"Exactly. Sheila's always kind and innocent. She must feel awful."

"Poor Sheila. She was helping out and ended up in this situation."

Everyone looked at her with sympathy, clearly feeling sorry for the sweet, pretty junior.

Some even turned to me, their tone vague but pointed.

"Rose, don't take it too seriously. Sheila meant well."

"Yeah, it's just one experiment. You can redo it. Don't scare her."

"You're the senior here. Don't go too far."

I knew Sheila was popular in the lab. I just did not realize it had gotten to that point.

She destroyed my experiment, yet they were warning me not to overreact.

At that moment, Sheila, who had been crying so pitifully, shot me a quick glance. It was just a flicker of arrogance, like she had gotten exactly what she wanted.

It was gone in an instant, but it told me everything.

That was not an accident.

She did it on purpose.

Sheila had always been hostile toward me, acting innocent in front of others, throwing passive-aggressive jabs whenever she could, and pulling all kinds of tricks behind the scenes.

She must have heard that my experiment was close to success, so she staged that whole thing to destroy it.

My chest burned with anger. Before, I had ignored her little schemes. They were not worth my time. However, that was different.

That antigen meant everything to me. It was as important as my life.

I stepped forward, grabbed her by the collar, and shoved her straight toward the trash can.

"You say it was an accident? Then, explain this. Out of every experiment in this lab, you didn't touch anything else. So, why did you just happen to 'accidentally' throw mine away?"