POV: Maya Chen
"Dr. Chen, these results are impossible."
My hands freeze on the presentation remote. Dr. Harrison, the board chairman, stares at me from across the long table like I've grown a second head. Behind him, twelve faces—the entire medical research board—mirror his confusion.
No. Not confusion. Suspicion.
"I assure you, the results are real," I say, keeping my voice steady even though my heart starts beating too fast. "Ten years of research, over three thousand trials, peer-reviewed by—"
"That's the problem." Dr. Harrison drops a thick folder on the table. Papers scatter everywhere. "We had the data independently verified. The numbers don't match your published findings. In fact, they suggest deliberate falsification."
The room spins. "That's impossible. I documented everything—"
"Dr. Chen." James stands up. My fiancé. The man I've loved for five years. The man whose ring sits on my finger. His handsome face looks troubled, apologetic even. "I think we need to tell them."
Ice floods my veins. "Tell them what?"
Lisa rises next. My cousin. My best friend since childhood. My trusted lab partner who helped build this research from nothing. Her eyes won't meet mine.
"Maya, I'm so sorry," Lisa whispers. "We discovered the irregularities three weeks ago. We wanted to give you a chance to explain before reporting it, but—"
"Reporting what?" My voice comes out too loud. "What are you talking about?"
James walks toward the board, not me. "Lisa and I found evidence that Dr. Chen has been manipulating data for at least two years. We think the pressure to succeed after her father's death affected her judgment."
My father. He died of heart failure three years ago—the reason I created this research in the first place. Bioengineered organs that could save people like him. And James dares use his memory against me?
"You're lying." I look between them, these two people I trusted most in the world. "Why are you lying?"
"Maya, please." Lisa's voice breaks prettily. She's always been good at crying on command. "We know you've been struggling. The debt from your father's medical bills, the stress of the research—"
"We only want to help you," James adds. His voice is so sincere it makes me sick. "The board agreed to handle this quietly if you admit what you did. Resign peacefully. Get the help you need."
"Help?" I laugh, but it sounds wrong. Broken. "I need help because I did ten years of legitimate research?"
Dr. Harrison clears his throat. "Dr. Chen, we have copies of altered files from your personal computer. We have testimony from lab assistants about unusual testing procedures. And most damning, we have your own signatures on test results that contradict the raw data."
"Someone tampered with my files." I grip the edge of the table. "Someone with access to my lab, my computer, my—"
Oh God.
I look at James. He has my passwords. All of them. He stays at my apartment four nights a week.
I look at Lisa. She's my lab partner. She has keys to everything, access to every file, knowledge of every procedure.
"You." The word comes out strangled. "You did this. Both of you."
James's troubled expression cracks just slightly. For one second, I see something else underneath. Something cold and calculating.
"You're clearly upset," he says smoothly. "Security, please escort Dr. Chen—"
"No!" I lunge for my laptop, desperate to show them my backup files, the real data. My hands barely touch it before two security guards grab my arms.
"Let go of me! I can prove—"
"Dr. Chen, you're only making this worse," Dr. Harrison says tiredly. "Your credentials are suspended pending investigation. You're forbidden from entering any research facilities. If you resist, we'll call the police."
They drag me backward. I fight, but they're too strong.
"James! Lisa! Tell them the truth!" I'm screaming now, beyond caring how I look. "Please! You know this research is real! You know it could save millions of people!"
Lisa turns away, wiping her eyes.
James watches me with blank eyes. Like I'm a stranger. Like five years meant nothing.
The boardroom door slams in my face.
I stand in the hallway, gasping, while the security guards wait to escort me from the building. Through the door's window, I see James lean close to Lisa. See him whisper something. See her smile.
Not a sad smile. A triumphant one.
They planned this. Together. They destroyed me deliberately.
But why?
My phone buzzes. A news alert.
BREAKING: Dr. James Hartford and Dr. Lisa Chen to Present Revolutionary Bioengineered Organ Research at International Conference
The article loads. I see pictures of James and Lisa standing together, professional and proud. The research description uses my words. My diagrams. My ten years of life.
They didn't just frame me. They stole everything.
My phone buzzes again. My best friend Sarah: Maya, I just saw the news about the fraud allegations. Please tell me it's not true.
Again: My landlord: Dr. Chen, given the circumstances, I need you out by end of month.
Again: My bank: Your accounts have been frozen pending investigation.
Again. Again. Again.
My whole life, collapsing in real-time.
The security guards take my badge, my lab keys, my access card. They escort me to my office and watch while I pack my personal items in a cardboard box. Photos of my father. My medical school diploma. A coffee mug that says "Trust the Science."
I almost laugh at that last one.
They walk me out through the main lobby. Past colleagues who won't meet my eyes. Past interns who whisper behind their hands. Past the wall of fame where my photo hung yesterday—already removed.
Outside, reporters swarm like vultures.
"Dr. Chen! Did you falsify data?"
"Dr. Chen! Were you trying to fraudulently secure grant money?"
"Dr. Chen! Do you have a statement?"
I shove through them, clutching my pathetic box. Someone grabs my arm. A reporter shoves a microphone in my face.
"Dr. Chen, sources say your fiancé and partner discovered your fraud. Do you have any response?"
I look directly into the camera.
"James Hartford and Lisa Chen are liars and thieves. They stole my research. They framed me. And I will prove it."
The reporter's eyes light up. This will make great television.
I don't care anymore.
I walk six blocks to my lab—my private lab, the one I rent with my own money. The one place they can't touch. I still have backup drives there. Original notes. Proof that my research is real.
I'll expose them. I'll get my life back. I'll—
I smell gas before I see the broken window.
My lab. Someone broke into my lab.
I run forward, fumbling for my keys, and that's when I see him.
James. Standing across the street. Watching me. His phone is in his hand.
Our eyes meet.
He smiles.
Then he presses something on his phone screen.
The world explodes into fire.
The blast throws me backward. Heat sears my skin. Glass shreds my arms. I hit the pavement hard enough to crack something inside me.
Through the ringing in my ears, I hear screaming. Maybe it's mine.
Smoke fills my lungs. The last thing I see before darkness swallows me is James's smile.
And the last thing I think is: He tried to kill me.
Then nothing.