He slammed the door and stormed out.
Ha! Irrational.
But back then, he'd told me my fierce, confident mind showed him a world he never knew existed.
The clash between our two different worlds had once electrified him, making him feel more alive than ever.
In college, I was the resident wizard of the computer science department, while he was a literature Ph.D. student drowning in his dissertation.
Julian, a man with the soul of a brooding poet, fell for me at first sight—this woman who moved like a force of nature through the world of code.
"Your mind is as intense as your field of study."
"Oh? You saw my major and pictured a bookworm, didn't you?"
"Turns out I'm a tech nerd. Sorry to disappoint, Mr. Scholar."
He shook his head, flustered.
"No, not at all. I think you're... captivating. Like a goddess who builds new worlds."
"I've... I've never met anyone with a mind like yours."
After he said it, he ducked his head, his ears burning red.
"Well, now you have. You'll survive."
I turned to leave, but his urgent voice stopped me.
"Excuse me, can I buy you a coffee?"
"Sure."
He wasn't a smooth talker, and I didn't think much of it.
We had little contact after that.
Later, his doctoral dissertation hit a wall, stalled on a critical data model.
Just one look at him, and you could see he was utterly lost.
Since he'd called me a goddess, and I happened to find him at his wit's end, it only seemed right to step in.
"Hey. There's a logic flaw in your model."
"Let me see."
Julian had already been preparing to delay his graduation.
When he saw me offer to help, his eyes lit up with desperation.
"Evelyn! You don't have to. This is a real mess."
I shot him a look.
"That's a terrible way to cheer me on."
I pulled a few all-nighters and rebuilt the model for him from the ground up.
It was complex, but nothing I couldn't handle.
I even optimized his entire data processing flow for good measure.
Julian looked at me with pure adoration, calling me his "savior."
Later, he claimed the only way to repay my life-saving favor was to dedicate his life to me.
After graduation, I went to Silicon Valley and launched a startup.
He continued his climb up the academic ladder, eventually becoming an associate professor.
I covered most of our expenses during that time.
He came from a poor Rust Belt family and had reached a height most could only dream of.
In his decaying hometown, he was the pride of the entire community.
His parents, lifelong factory workers, became the envy of everyone they knew.
He said I was the light of his life.
Our lives improved steadily. We moved into bigger houses, and we had our daughter.
To take care of her, I sold my company shares and retired early.
I devoted myself to running our home.
And now, he was starting to despise me for it.
I didn't know how far things had gone between him and this new woman, but my guess was they were still in the hazy, flirtatious stage.
Without proof, there was nothing I could do. For now.
But I had money and I had time. I could afford to play the long game.
Julian was still impeccably dressed—his hair, his shirt, not a single wrinkle in sight.
He carried no scent that wasn't from our home.
He was still the same Professor Julian, devoted to his academic pursuits.
Except now, the kitchen was his to clean after dinner.
It was another perfectly ordinary day. I needed to look up some information for an investment project.
After firing off some emails in the study, I was about to leave.
Then, a bookmark in a folder on his open laptop screen caught my eye. It seemed out of place.
A cold premonition pulled me closer.
