Chapter 8 - WHY NATHAN WANTED ME TO QUIT
Professor Carter let me use her office computer.
Rachel stayed with me.
Neither of us spoke as I inserted the flash drive.
Folders appeared.
Scholarship records.
Financial aid reports.
Emails.
I opened the file Rachel had mentioned.
The email was six years old.
From Nathan.
To Victoria Harlan.
Subject:
EMILY.
My throat tightened.
Nathan had written:
She’s better than I am.
I read the sentence twice.
Then continued.
If Emily stays in the program, she will probably qualify for the same research track I want. Carter already told her she’s one of the strongest students in the class. I can’t compete with both grades and finances falling apart.
I stopped breathing.
Nathan had wanted me gone because I was competition.
Not because one of us needed to sacrifice.
Not because his family was struggling.
He wanted my seat.
My opportunities.
My future.
Another email from Victoria appeared beneath it.
Then convince her leaving is her idea.
I covered my mouth.
Rachel whispered, “Keep reading.”
Nathan responded:
She loves me. She’ll do it if she believes I’m about to drop out.
My vision blurred.
I remembered the night he came home carrying an overdue tuition notice.
The way his hands trembled.
The tears.
The whispered sentence:
Maybe I’m not supposed to be a doctor.
It had all been theater.
A performance carefully designed for one person.
Me.
There were more emails.
Victoria arranged the scholarship.
Nathan exaggerated his financial crisis.
I withdrew.
Then he accepted the money.
But their relationship seemed purely transactional at first.
Victoria wanted access to Nathan’s research professor.
Nathan wanted financial support.
The affair came later.
And then I found the email that changed everything again.
Three years ago.
Nathan wrote:
Emily still sends almost everything she earns. I’m putting it into the account like we discussed.
Victoria replied:
Good. Father wants proof you can build capital before he puts you in the clinic project.
My money.
My night shifts.
My weekends.
My holidays.
Nathan had been using my money as evidence that he was financially responsible.
The investment account wasn’t romantic.
It was an audition.
He was trying to earn a place inside the Harlan family empire.
Rachel pointed toward another folder.
“Open PROJECT NORTHSTAR.”
Inside were plans for a chain of private medical clinics.
Nathan’s name appeared under:
Future Medical Director.
Estimated ownership stake:
12%.
I almost laughed.
While I was sleeping four hours a night, Nathan was preparing to become wealthy.
Then Professor Carter leaned toward the screen.
“Wait.”
She pointed at the list of proposed investors.
One company name had been highlighted.
COLE FAMILY HOLDINGS.
I frowned.
“Nathan’s family doesn’t have money.”
Rachel looked at me.
“They do now.”
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The file listed Cole Family Holdings as contributing $750,000.
And according to the document, the source of that money had been verified by Nathan himself.
