Charlotte strolled in wearing a teasing smile. “Since I’m not exactly welcome here, maybe I should just leave…”
“Wait!”
Mr. Lane dashed over and shut the door before she could go. The scowl he wore a second ago instantly melted into a grin. “You must’ve misheard. Why would I ever hit you? Come on, have a seat.”
He all but dragged her to the sofa, then shot a glance at his assistant. “Go grab some fruit Lottie likes.”
The assistant just stood there, at a loss for words.
Once they were settled, Mr. Lane grilled Charlotte about every detail from start to finish. When he was done, he looked even more deflated.
“If you’re so good at physics, why didn’t you turn me down when I wanted you as my student?”
Charlotte popped a piece of dragon fruit in her mouth, clearly in a good mood. “You looked so happy back then. I didn’t have the heart to say no.”
Mr. Lane winced like she’d stabbed him right in the chest.
“And I bet when you heard I was going to introduce you to Dr. Cole, you were pretty pleased with yourself, weren’t you?” He sounded like he was grinding his teeth.
Charlotte grinned and leaned closer. “If I admit it, are you going to kill me?”
Mr. Lane just groaned. “Please. Stop talking.”
She’d played him for years and he just realized it.
“If today hadn’t happened, nobody would’ve found out who I really am,” Charlotte said, grabbing a tangerine and snacking away, totally unbothered. “You could’ve stayed happy for a few more years.”
“So I should thank you for that?” Mr. Lane muttered.
“No need,” Charlotte said with a shrug.
He was at a complete loss. For a second, he just stared at her.
“Alright. I’ll help with your research,” Charlotte offered. She saw his gloomy face and figured he might never recover if she didn’t throw him a bone. “But only three projects. That’s my limit.”
Three experiments would take enough of her time as it was. She still had her own work on gene mutations to do.

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