Chapter 1

Beneath the sprawling oaks of Bramblewood University, my parents hovered like proud paparazzi. In the center of their screens stood Liora, my childhood best friend, and Kael—my boyfriend of four years.

They stood pressed together, Liora's blonde curls brushing Kael's jawline. My parents shouted directions with absolute adoration. You'd think she was their flesh and blood, or the one wearing his promise ring.

I waited in the periphery for twenty minutes. Just one photo. That was all I asked. But my mother's eyes never left her glowing screen, completely blind to her real daughter suffocating in the shadows.

"I still haven't heard back from any firms," Liora sighed, slipping into a practiced pout.

Kael's focus instantly snapped to her. "Hey, don't stress. You can always work at my agency. I'll make sure you're taken care of."

"Send me your resume tonight, Leo," my dad chimed in eagerly. "Your first job sets the tone for your career. You absolutely cannot settle."

Before I could speak, my older brother, Joren, jogged across the lawn. He breezed right past me, zeroing in on Liora. "Don't panic about the job hunt," he promised. "My department is expanding next week. I'll personally fast-track your application to the top."

...

It wasn't until silence stretched for a beat too long that anyone remembered I was there.

Joren shot me a sideways glance. "Elowen, just grab some entry-level gig somewhere. It doesn't really matter for you."

"Your brother is right," my mom said. "With your generic degree, just be grateful if any corporate office offers you a desk. Don't be too picky."

A heavy knot formed in my throat, but I kept my gaze locked on the scuffed toes of my heels.

Beside them, Kael was swiping through the massive gallery of photos my mother had just AirDropped him. He stopped, his brows knitting in sudden annoyance.

"This one's ruined," Kael muttered, holding up the screen. "Elowen stepped into the background and cast a weird shadow over Liora's face. I'm just going to delete it."

He tapped the trash icon without hesitation.

Out of three hundred and eighty photos taken today, it was the only one I had been in. And now, I was erased.

I clenched my fists. They didn't accidentally forget about me. They saw me, registered my presence, and deemed me an inconvenience ruining their perfect aesthetic.

Liora looked down at her polished smartwatch, and instantly, all color drained from her face. A rejection email. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Am I really that useless? I can't even get a simple callback."

My mother practically tackled her into a protective hug. "Don't you dare say that!" Mara scolded gently. "If Elowen couldn't find a job, now that would be believable. But not you, sweetie."

Mara shot me a sharp, defensive glare over Liora's shoulder. "Our Liora has been brilliant since pre-K. It's that HR department's loss. They have zero vision."

Once again, I was nothing more than a stepping stone—a localized failure used merely to highlight Liora's inherent worth.

Growing up, I used to pray there had been a mix-up at the hospital. I desperately wanted to believe Liora was the real Voss heir and I was just a pity case. Tragically, a frantic DNA test I took in high school confirmed the bitter truth.

For years, I told myself it was my fault. I wasn't smart enough. So, I clawed my way to the top of my classes, hoping excellence would buy their affection. Instead, I learned that their obsession with Liora wasn't about merit. It was a reflex. Liora's life was an endless safety net; the second she stumbled, a dozen hands shot out to catch her.

When we were freshmen, Liora failed her core economics prerequisite. My mother went into full crisis mode, paying a senior honor student three hundred dollars an hour for private tutoring. That same semester, I scored a 95 in advanced organic chemistry. I ran home, desperate to hear my mother say she was proud.

But she had just stared at the paper and frowned. "If you were actually studying as hard as you claim, where did the other five points go?"

During our junior year, I suffered a severe ulcer rupture. The pain hit so hard I collapsed outside the science building. Gasping for air, I called Kael, begging him to come get me.

"Liora's presentation is tomorrow," he sighed. "She's having a panic attack over her slide deck, El. She needs me to run through it with her. You pride yourself on being so independent—surely you can just call an Uber?"

An Uber driver noticed me violently pale in his rearview mirror and carried me into the ER waiting room. A random stranger knew I needed to be held. Yet my boyfriend thought I could walk it off.

Maybe I had played the low-maintenance daughter for too long. They simply assumed I couldn't feel pain.

"I still have Corin Thorne on speed dial," my father was saying, rubbing Liora's back. "He's a VP at Veridian Innovations. Veridian is where you belong anyway. Uncle Toren will fix this."

"Did you ever figure your stuff out, Elowen?" my mother asked as an afterthought.

Before I could answer, Toren waved his hand. "With her major? She'll end up in some dead-end admin role. Just take whatever pays the bills."

"If you're really desperate, El, the front desk at my building needs a receptionist," Kael offered casually, not looking up from Liora.

I didn't argue. I just looked down at my phone.

North-Aether Advanced Materials Research Institute.

An elite, government-backed lab. The only catch was the location: three thousand, two hundred miles away on the opposite coast. A six-hour flight.

The countdown timer on the acceptance portal read 05:59:12. Less than six hours before the offer expired.

Deep down, I had been waiting. Waiting for my mother to ask if I wanted to stay close to home. Waiting for my father to dial just one connection for me. Waiting for Kael to remember the promise we made at eighteen to conquer the city together.

I stood ten feet away from the people who were supposed to love me most. None of them were looking at me.

With a steady, resolute finger, I pressed Accept.

A bright green banner flashed across my screen.

[Elowen Voss, welcome to the North-Aether Advanced Materials Research Institute!]

I let out a shaky breath. How tragically fitting. The first genuine welcome I had received all day came from an automated server, three thousand and two hundred miles away.