He Traded My Trauma for Her Redemption - Chapter 37: Chapter 37

I ended the call. And I never looked back.
I hung up the call without hesitation. Then, with the same resolve, I ejected the SIM card and tossed it into the trash.
As the plane took off, soaring through the clouds, the morning sun bathed the sky in brilliant shades of orange and gold.
I let out a long breath. From now on, my life would be different.
A fresh start.
***
Professor Zachary Zane had arranged for someone from the research institute to pick me up. He made a point of telling me that it was the top man of the institute now. On the way, he would tell me about the latest research progress.
I had assumed this was a special privilege, a sign of the professor’s faith in me. But I hadn’t expected to see a familiar face.
Standing before me was someone I hadn’t seen in ten years. Gone was the shy, eager student who used to follow me around with endless questions. Now, he stood tall and confident, his eyes shining with joy.
Gabriel Pierce handed me a bouquet of flowers, “Senior, long time no see.”
Yes. A long time indeed.
For a decade, I had been trapped in that Gunn Family villa, a gilded cage disguised as a home.
I had never fully realized how much time could change everything.
The boy who once looked up to me had now become a pillar of the research institute.
My eyes stung as I smiled, “Yes, Gabriel, it’s been too long. But now, I suppose I should call you Professor Pierce.”
He chuckled. “Senior, don’t tease me. If you hadn’t left back then, it wouldn’t be my turn at all.”
Back then, when my parents had forced me to break off my engagement with David, I had been at a critical stage in a major research project. Without a second thought, I ran back to him—only to be met with betrayal. By the time I returned to the institute, the project had already wrapped up.
Fortunately, fate had given me a second chance.
Professor Zane had assigned me to lead another groundbreaking research project. If I could achieve a breakthrough, my academic career would be set for life.
But then Yvonne reappeared. My parents threatened to disown me if I didn’t leave. David spiraled into self-destruction.
In the end, my heart wavered. And that single moment of hesitation turned into ten lost years.
***
As we drove, Gabriel explained the latest research progress, his voice full of enthusiasm. But the more he spoke, the more distant everything felt.
Ten years had passed and I had fallen far behind. The world I once belonged to had moved on without me.
The junior student who used to admire me had now surpassed me. And yet, Professor Zane had never given up on me. He still believed I had a place here.
I looked at Gabriel and forced out the words, “Professor Pierce… I don’t understand most of what you’re saying.”
He paused, surprised, before laughing lightly, “Senior, don’t call me that. You’re making me feel ancient. If you don’t want to call me ‘junior’ anymore, just call me Gabriel.”
His warm, easygoing smile only made me feel more out of place.
I hesitated, “With my current level… I don’t think I can go back.”
Gabriel didn’t rush to comfort me. He simply sighed and said, “Well, senior, then I’m in trouble. There’s a project at a critical stage and we’ve been stuck for a year without a breakthrough. I was counting on you. This used to be your field of expertise—if you came back, we could finally crack it.”
I knew he was half-joking, trying to lighten the mood. Still, the weight in my heart eased just a little. But I had to say the hard truth.
Ten years had passed. I had spent the Gunn Family cooking, cleaning and raising a child. I had learned nothing else. The one thing that had been drilled into me over and over was that no one needed me.
Not David Gunn.
Not Tyler Gunn.
Not even my own parents.
Rather than wait for Professor Zane and Gabriel to realize how useless I had become, I might as well make it clear now.
“The field has advanced far beyond where it was before,” I said, my voice firm but bitter.
“And I… am not the same person I used to be. Gabriel, you’d better find someone else…”