The newcomer's eyes were filled with tears and I could see her distress as I tried to focus on my experiment. To lighten the mood, my boyfriend, in a misguided attempt at humor, gave my right shoulder a sharp, playful slap.

“Haha, look at her,” he said, grinning at the girl. “She’s totally stunned! Ray, give me a smile—I’ve just slapped her to cheer you up!”

Despite his intention to amuse, the girl's forced smile was quickly overshadowed by her laughter, which felt more like a backdrop to the growing discomfort in my hand. As I tried to keep my concentration, the broken edge of a pipette tube suddenly jabbed into my palm, slicing through the skin and causing a painful injury that ultimately required hospitalization.

Later, when he encountered issues with his experiment and needed a batch of cells rechecked, I was the only person in the company who could handle it. Thanks to his callous actions, which had led to my hand injury, I was unable to help him. His thoughtless behavior had not only inflicted pain but had also rendered me incapable of assisting him with his project.

The same hand he had recklessly harmed was the one he now desperately needed. Every time I thought about the extent of his negligence, my resentment grew.

——

Everyone envies me for having a thoughtful boyfriend. He not only dutifully hands over his salary but also surprises me from time to time to keep our relationship vibrant and romantic.

That was until recently, when a new girl joined the lab.

My boyfriend's behavior changed. He began treating her differently—calling her with nickname and being so touchy with her.

Watching her spend her days idly playing games, I, as her senior, couldn’t help but say, “Stop playing with your phone. If you don’t know how to conduct experiments, at least help with some of the simpler tasks.”

Rachel looked up slowly at me. Her eyelids fluttered as tears welled up in her eyes. Her eyes reddened as she bit her lower lip. The tears filled her eyes but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. Her appearance made her look so fragile, like a jasmine petal falling from its stem and I felt a pang of sympathy.

I couldn’t force her to work, so I said what needed to be said and left it at that. That day, I threw all my effort into finishing the experiment after hours. 

Out of nowhere, Benjamin, my boyfriend, popped up behind me and gave my right shoulder a hard smack. It caught me off guard, making my heart race and the tools I was holding drop to the floor with a clatter. Instinctively, I whirled around, trying to make sense of the sudden interruption.

“Haha, look at her,” he said, grinning at the girl. “She’s totally stunned! Come on, Ray, give me a smile—I’ve just slapped her to cheer you up!”

For a brief moment, Rachel threw me a resentful glance, her face streaked with tears. The sadness was palpable, but she quickly tried to pull herself together. She covered her mouth with one hand and let out a giggle, her laughter ringing out like a bell.

Benjamin's eyes sparkled with a mesmerizing light. It was as if he were completely entranced. The intensity of his gaze seemed almost hypnotic. It was blinding to realize how much a smile could hurt. I couldn’t fathom that my boyfriend would go so far—causing me pain—just to see her smile.

In that moment, I wanted to cry, but the pain was so intense that I couldn’t even shed tears. I tried to move my right hand slowly with my left, but any movement brought an indescribable agony. 

It’s not an exaggeration to say that my hand was killing me.

The piercing pain radiated from my hand through my nerves to my brain. The sharp, unfamiliar sensation was terrifying and I struggled to hold onto the last bit of sanity.

“It hurts,” I whimpered. 

“There you go. There’s nothing that can’t be resolved with a little joke” Benjamin said, completely oblivious to my suffering. 

“Frowning doesn’t suit your pretty face. Don’t be sad just because of his scolding. Promise you won’t be sad anymore, okay Ray?” Benjamin extended his hand, intending to touch Rachel’s chin. He kept showering the smiling girl with compliments and jokes, completely absorbed in his mission to make her laugh.

Meanwhile, I was trying to manage the intense pain he had caused, struggling to keep a brave face. As he focused on brightening her day, I was left grappling with the excruciating discomfort of my own injuries, feeling utterly invisible in the midst of his careless cheer.

“Take your antics somewhere else, Benjamin. This is a laboratory, a place for work, not a stage for your nonsense,” a woman's voice cut through sharply. Her tone was firm and cold. “Don’t disturb Cora, she’s focused on her work.” A woman’s voice sounded. Her tone was firm and cold. She was a senior lab Benjamin patted my right shoulder twice more. 

“Cora is the ace operator in your lab. Her physical and psychological resilience is top-notch. I couldn’t affect her even if I tried.” Then he turned casually to me.

“Isn’t that right, Cora—”

His smile faltered and then froze as his eyes fell on my bloodied right hand. His expression shifted from playful to horrified as he took in the sight of my pale, ghostly face.

“Co—Cora, are you alright?” His voice trembled as he asked. 

The pipette I was holding slipped from my grasp. Benjamin’s slap had been so forceful that it caused the tube to break, sending a sharp fragment piercing into my palm. The pain was so excruciating that it made me break out in a cold sweat, leaving me speechless.

Not long, news of the accident spread through the company. The department’s chief hurried to the scene, his urgency evident as he insisted on sending me to the hospital immediately.

Later, I found myself in an ambulance, the siren blaring as we sped through the streets. Benjamin insisted on coming along, visibly anxious and frantic. He was like a cat on a hot tin roof, desperately urging the driver to go faster and shouting angrily at the red lights.

He looked at me with genuine concern, wiping the cold sweat from my forehead and gently patting my back in an attempt to reassure me, as if he were more frightened than I was. Even as we arrived at the hospital, he wanted to accompany me into the operating room.

“You can’t go in, sir,” said a nurse, blocking him at the door.

Benjamin's eyes were filled with worry as he kept his gaze fixed on me, following my every movement until the operating room door slowly closed. 

“Don’t be scared, Cora. Everything’s going to be okay. I’ll be right here when you’re done,” he reassured me. His insincere expression was so grating that it made my stomach churn. The forced smile and concerned words only deepened my discomfort and I couldn’t suppress the wave of nausea that overwhelmed me. I ended up throwing up.

After the surgery, I was wheeled into a general ward. The room was sterile and dimly lit, its walls adorned with the dull, calming hues typical of hospital decor. I lay there, the throbbing pain in my hand a constant reminder of the ordeal I had endured. I lost track of time, drifting in and out of uneasy consciousness.

Through the haze of my discomfort, I could faintly hear voices just outside the room. Benjamin and Rachel were talking in hushed tones.

“It’s my fault. If it weren’t for me, Cora wouldn’t have been hurt,” she said, her voice heavy with regret. “I should’ve taken it when she scolded me; a little grievance isn’t a big deal. I guess I’m just not strong enough. I can’t even handle the smallest inconvenience without falling apart. I truly feel guilty for what happened to her.”

“If Cora can’t get better, I’m willing to pay any price,” she added.

The girl’s soft voice quivered with barely audible sobs, her attempt at strength betraying a vulnerability that tugged at the heartstrings. Even as a woman, I couldn’t bring myself to blame her, let alone a man who seemed to have an instinctive protective nature.

As expected, Benjamin tried to calm Rachel. He moved closer to Rachel, his expression softening as he reached out to her. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, offering a reassuring squeeze. 

“Hey, don’t be too hard on yourself,” he said, his voice soothing. “It was an accident. Cora will be okay. The fact that you’re owning up to this shows how much you care and what a strong person you are. We’re all here for her. Right now, we need to stay hopeful and supportive.”

His comforting words were accompanied by a warm, steady gaze. “Just because she’s injured doesn’t mean you’re at fault. In fact, you’re the victim here. She shouldn’t have been scolding you and the injury wasn’t your fault. Don’t get too caught up in it, Ray.”

“You really think it’s not my fault?” Rachel hesitated, looking at him with concern. 

“Of course, it’s not.” Benjamin nodded earnestly.

“Cora should be waking up now. I’ll go check on her,” Benjamin said and with that, the conversation came to an end. 

I heard his heavy footsteps grow closer, the sound echoing down the sterile corridor. The steady rhythm of his approach was almost rhythmic. A few moments later, the door to the hospital room creaked open with a slow, groaning sound, breaking the otherwise silent atmosphere.

“Hey, Cora, how are you feeling?” Benjamin’s head peeked in, his voice tinged with concern. “Does it still hurt?” He moved carefully to my bedside and crouched down, his handsome face showing clear signs of fatigue. His eyes wandered around the room, deliberately avoiding mine. Knowing him as well as I did, it was clear he was nervous and uncomfortable. Benjamin always had this way of fidgeting and looking everywhere but at me when he was uneasy. Despite his attempts to keep it together, the tension in his body spoke volumes about his internal struggle.

“Look, I know you must be upset with me, but please give me a chance to explain,” Benjamin began, his voice earnest and filled with an urgency that hinted at his regret. He took a deep breath, searching for the right words. “Actually, I did it for you. Rachel is the manager’s niece. If you offend her, she might go complain to the manager, which wouldn’t be good for you. Not to mention, she’s your lab partner, so you’ll be seeing each other every day. I’m just trying to keep you out of trouble.”

“I didn’t expect this accident to happen. If I had known it would end up like this, I would rather have been the one injured.” Benjamin gazed at me with an earnest expression, as if desperately trying to prove the sincerity of his words. Time ticked by and the silence mocked his ridiculous pretense. Seeing my indifference, he finally couldn’t hold his composure any longer, his feigned affection cracking. 

“I have something for you. Wanna guess? ” He forced a sheepish smile and quickly pulled something from his suit jacket pocket, hiding it behind his back. “Here’s a hint. It’s something that you really like.”