Chapter 96

Theo's POV The elevator climbed toward the research floors with its usual quiet efficiency, but tonight the familiar journey felt charged with anticipation. It was nearly ten o'clock—well past the time when most employees had gone home—yet here I was again, drawn back to Claire like gravity itself, carrying dinner from her favorite restaurant and the specific coffee blend that made her eyes light up. These late-night visits had become the cherry on top. The research floor was dimly lit, most workstations dark. Only the soft glow from Claire's corner laboratory cut through the shadows, where I knew I'd find the woman who had completely upended my carefully controlled world. Through the glass partition, I could see her hunched over her microscope, blonde hair escaping from its messy bun in ways that made me want to run my fingers through those loose strands. I paused outside her lab, drinking in the sight of her. Even exhausted, even buried in work, she was breathtaking. The memory of he