My Family Stole My Run I Returned A Leader Chapter 17
She rolled down the window.
“Paloma, who were those people?”
“Strangers.”
I opened the door and got in.
The car pulled away from the hotel.
In the rearview mirror, Stefan still stood on the steps, motionless.
At his feet was a bouquet of flowers he had never gotten to give me.
I looked away and faced the road ahead.
The snow had stopped. Streetlights and headlights washed the road in a clean, bright light.
On Morningwatch’s nighttime channel, my coworkers were confirming tomorrow’s lab schedule.
I replied with a quick “Got it,” then turned off the screen.
My new life wasn’t anyone’s compensation, and it didn’t require another man to prove its worth.
It was an order I had chosen and built for myself.
Just as the car entered Morningwatch territory, a project application appeared in my work email.
The applicant’s name was:
“Bella Lombardi.”
The symptom summary contained only one line.
“Repeated uncontrolled shifts in adulthood; limited results from standard training.”
I looked at it for a few seconds, then forwarded the application to the project ethics committee.
“The applicant is a blood relative. I am requesting recusal from all evaluation and treatment involving this case.”