Chapter 33

In their group, Josie had always looked up to Aiden. She once said he was a big reason why she joined in the first place.

Josie never said she liked Aiden out loud, but Aiden had picked up on it. He’d even mentioned it to a few others in private, saying he saw her like family and warning them not to cross any lines.

With Aiden stepping in, Vincent felt sure Josie wouldn’t turn them down.

That afternoon, Josie got a call from Sean. “Go to a meeting for me. Share the notes in the group chat later.”

He hung up before she could even ask what kind of meeting.

Josie stared at the dark screen, confused. She was just about to check the school forum when a message from Sean popped up:

[The 25th Aloville Medical School Medical Innovation Competition kickoff meeting will be held on September 27th in the south auditorium. We kindly ask all student representatives to be there on time.]

Josie understood – Claire had listed Sean’s number when signing up, so he was the only one who got the text.

For some reason, that simple message made Josie smile. Sean had asked her to go. That meant she was representing the team.

Back when she was with David’s group, she never got to do stuff like this. She was always the one working behind the scenes, never the one who got credit.

But things were different now. She was representing Delilah’s research team. This was the first time she’d ever gone to a meeting as a team representative. She didn’t want to mess it up.

Josie turned to look through her clothes. She didn’t have much – just a few plain, dark pieces.

She didn’t have the money or time to go shopping. Besides, Aiden used to say researchers should stay low-key and not waste time on appearances. He told her that if one wasn’t good-looking, dressing up wouldn’t help anyway.

Those words used to crush her. They made her want to disappear under layers of dark, baggy clothes so no one would look at her twice.

But now, things were changing. She didn’t want to hide anymore. She wanted to look good. She wanted Aiden to see she wasn’t some plain nobody. Compared to him, she looked ten times better.

She checked her phone to see how much money she had left. Between her part-time job, scholarships, and competition prizes, her savings totaled less than ten thousand dollars.

Back when she was still in David’s team, she worked part-time as a medical assistant and made about five hundred dollars a month – just enough to scrape by.

But that money was gone now. Delilah’s team had let her join, but they hadn’t said anything about pay. And Josie didn’t dare bring it up yet.

She knew she had to stretch her money until her official internship started next semester.

She grabbed her bag, ready to head out for some clothes, when Adeline walked in. “I thought you didn’t have class. Where are you going?”

“Going shopping,” Josie said with a smile. “Wanna come with me?”

Adeline perked up. “You barely ever shop. We have to bring Zoey. She’s way better at picking out clothes than you.”

Soon, Zoey joined them, and then Allison came back. The four of them headed off together.

Zoey was a city girl. Her family had money, and she had a great sense of style. She knew exactly where to go and led them straight to a trendy boutique.

“This place doesn’t sell anything ugly,” Zoey said confidently. “Just pick what you like – I’ll help you match stuff up. You’ll look amazing.”

She pushed open the door and waved them in.

The place was packed. Not far from the entrance, a man had his arm around a woman’s waist. He was smiling, helping her pick out clothes.

“Don’t worry about the price,” said the man. It was Gavin’s voice. “If you like it, just buy it. I’ve got money.”

Josie’s smile vanished. Her eyes turned cold as she walked straight toward Gavin.