?Chapter 150:


    Once they reached Choria, the car pulled up in front of the research institute. Ste got out, and the two went off in different directions.


    As she headed toward her old dorm, a familiar voice called out,


    “Stel!”


    Ste was caught slightly off guard when she saw it was Lainey waiting for her.


    Lainey gave her a subtle once-over, her gaze lingering on Ste’s brightplexion and steady demeanor. She hadn’t lost weight or looked exhausted—if anything, she looked more alive than before. A sense of relief quietly settled in Lainey’s chest.


    Clearly, life without Marc was doing wonders for her.


    “So, what’s the new project this time?” Ste asked as she unpacked her things, eager to dive back into work.


    “It’s a fresh research initiative,” Lainey exined. “There’ll be a lot of hands-on experimentation, so being back at the institute is perfect timing. The results will be submitted for an academicpetition, and”—she smiled—”I’m hoping you’ll win us a few awards.”


    The wordpetition lit a fire in Ste’s eyes. She had always been fiercely driven when it came to her work.


    “Are you joining the project team this time?” she asked.


    Ste had hoped to partner with Lainey, but Lainey shook her head. “Nope. Sitting this one out.”


    “Really?” Ste looked surprised. “Why?”


    “While you were gone, we had a batch of transfers—researchers from other institutes. This round is their shot to prove themselves. It’s policy to give new arrivals a chance.”


    Ste nodded slowly. That exined all the unfamiliar faces she’d seen around the building.


    Lainey went on to exin that the new team members had been split into several small groups. Ste had been assigned to one of them, alongside four researchers she didn’t know.


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    And William? She didn’t need to ask. It was obvious he’d be ced in Group A—whatever team had the highest status and most ess.


    “This project’spetitive,” Lainey said. “All the groups are being evaluated. Only the best-performing team will move forward to join the advanced stage of the research.”


    Ste understood, kind of.


    In other words, if William was in Group A, she and her new colleagues were in Group B.


    Trantion: Group B—her team—was still under review. If they wanted to keep moving, they’d need to outperform the others.


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