Airam's fingers shook as she held the research paper.
Harry's thesis.
Her stomach dropped. Was all this a lie? Did he get close to them just to observe their lives? Was she just a chapter in his doctorate?
Her throat closed. Tears spilled before she could stop them.
She grabbed the book and stormed outside, wiping her face aggressively. Jane called her name behind her, alarmed, but Airam didn't turn back. She couldn't.
Outside, the neighborhood celebration was louder than ever, kids laughing, music playing, people dancing, but it all blurred into white noise.
Airam walked further, further, until she found a bike and rode straight to Harry's campus.
Harry, meanwhile, was stepping out of his supervisor's office.
"Excellent work, Harry," Professor Leigh praised. "You finally wrote something worthy of a doctorate."
Harry let out a small, relieved laugh. "Thank you, sir."
He didn't expect anyone else to see him. He especially didn't expect Airam.
But she was already arriving at LincolnPrestigious University, eyes red, chest tight, clutching the thesis like it was a weapon.
"Excuse me, do you know Harry?" she asked the first person she saw.
"Oh! Harry Johnson? Yes. Saw him by his car a few minutes ago."
Car? Airam stared. The Harry she knew didn't have a car. The Harry she knew lived like them, struggled like them. Or… pretended to.
She followed the direction the lady pointed her toward.
As she approached the parking lot, she heard a familiar voice.
"Wow, Harry, I'm surprised you actually did it. I'm proud of you," Joe said, clapping him on the back. "So when are you going home? Your father keeps asking where you've been."
Harry groaned. "Give me a break. I finally got to celebrate. I showed that professor and my father that I'm more than some rich kid."
Airam froze.
Rich kid.
Car.
Nice clothes.
A version of Harry she had never seen before.
He turned and spotted her. His face lit up, then died instantly when he saw the book in her hand.
"A-Airam…" he breathed.
She moved closer, her eyes on him, then back to the embossed title:
Adaptive Coping Mechanisms Among Economically Disadvantaged Families: A Qualitative Immersion Study
Her voice shook. "Sothis… was us? My family? Our lives?"
"Airam, wait...let me ex.."
She flipped open the book before he could finish.
Life is a struggle each day. Airam runs… They compromise even on basic necessities such as food. They live paycheck to paycheck. There are always more mouths to feed, battling debts…
The words stabbed her deeper than any knife.
"Airam, it's not what.."
The slap echoed across the parking lot before he could finish.
Joe stepped forward. "How dare you slap him..."
Harry raised a hand, stopping him silently.
Airam's voice cracked with fury. "Was my family a joke to you? Some kind of data-collecting tool? We accepted you. We cared about you. You..."
Her words choked. Her hand flew to her lips, remembering the kiss. Her first kiss. Her first everything.
"You even went as far as to… to…" she couldn't finish. She didn't have to.
Harry looked like someone had ripped his heart out.
Airam tore the research pages from the binder, ripping and shredding the thesis paper, throwing the pieces at his chest.
"You are despicable," she spat. "I hope your doctorate was worth it."
Students around them stopped, stunned. Harry Johnson, the untouchable legend, the genius everyone feared, the man people worshipped, just stood there, silent.
And this girl? This girl had just slapped him.
Murmurs rose immediately.
"Is that really Harry Johnson?"
"She slapped him?"
"What did he do?"
"Wait, is he bleeding?"
Airam turned, head high, refusing to break. She walked away like someone carrying the weight of a shattered world on her shoulders.
Harry watched her go, his chest caving in. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.
Joe touched his arm. "Bro… are you okay?"
Harry didn't answer.
Instead, he turned and smashed his fist through his car window.
Glass shattered everywhere. Blood dripped from his knuckles, running down his wrist, but he didn't flinch. He didn't even look at it.
Joe panicked. "Harry! Harry, you're bleeding. What is wrong with you?!"
But Harry only stared in the direction Airam had disappeared.
His voice came out broken.
"…She wasn't supposed to find out like that."