Lucien didn't reach for the folder immediately. His gaze lingered on the name written in the upper-right corner.
Evelyn Laurent
The office fell silent once more. Morgan didn't tell him to open it. He simply waited. As always.
After fifteen years of knowing Lucien, Morgan had learned one thing. The more important the decision, the longer Lucien remained silent. Not because he was uncertain. But because he had trained himself never to react before he had thought things through.
Several seconds later, Lucien looked up.
"Professor."
"Hm?"
"Does Evelyn know her data is here?"
"Of course." Morgan answered without hesitation. "Every participant knows exactly how their data will be used."
Lucien nodded. "That's the first requirement of the study."
"No."
Morgan smiled faintly. "That's the first requirement of respecting another human being."
The remark drew a small smile from Lucien. That was Morgan. Even after decades as a researcher, he still believed ethics must always come before methodology.
Morgan gently slid the folder toward him.
"Go ahead."
Lucien opened it. The first page wasn't an evaluation report. It was the informed consent form. Below it was Evelyn's signature. Beneath that was Morgan's signature as the principal investigator.
The date...
Three weeks earlier.
Lucien frowned slightly.
"Evelyn joined the study?"
"Not yet." Morgan shook his head. "This is only the initial stage."
"The initial stage?"
"Yes."
Morgan folded his hands.
"After your family contacted the Laurents about the marriage arrangement, Claire called me."
Lucien could already guess what came next.
"Mother asked you to evaluate Evelyn."
Morgan smiled.
"And as always I refused."
Lucien chuckled.
"I could have predicted that."
"Claire spent nearly fifteen minutes trying to persuade me."
"And then?"
Morgan picked up his teacup.
"Then I told her exactly what I've been saying for years."
He recalled his own words.
«"I do not evaluate someone because their family wants to know whether they would make a good spouse."»
«"I evaluate someone only if they themselves wish to understand who they are."»
Lucien nodded. That had always been Morgan's principle. The Behavioral Dominance Profile was never designed to choose a marriage partner. Nor was it intended to measure compatibility. Its purpose was simply to help people better understand their own natural tendencies.
If the results later helped someone build healthier relationships...
That was merely a consequence. Not the objective.
Morgan continued, "A few days later, Evelyn came to see me on her own. Not with her parents. And not because your family asked her to."
Lucien listened attentively.
"She said to me..."
Morgan smiled, as though replaying the conversation in his mind.
«"I'm not here to find out whether I'm compatible with Mr. Ashford."»
«"I'm here because if I'm truly going to get married..."»
«"...I want to understand myself a little better first."»
Lucien fell silent.
The answer was remarkably simple. Yet almost impossible to fake.
Morgan noticed the subtle change in his expression.
"Relax."
"I'm not going to tell you what we discussed during counseling. That's confidential. The only thing you're allowed to see today is the information Evelyn explicitly gave permission to share with you."
Lucien nodded.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me."
Morgan smiled.
"Thank her."
Lucien turned the next page. There wasn't much. Only a handful of documents from the initial assessment.
No complete graphs.
No final conclusions.
Certainly no diagnosis.
At the top of the page, a notice was printed in bold.
«Initial Assessment
Research Status: In Progress
Interpretation is prohibited until data collection is completed.»
Lucien read every line carefully. A habit Morgan had instilled in him since he was a teenager. Never read the conclusion before understanding the data. Nothing appeared unusual.
Emotional regulation fell within a healthy range.
Empathy was high.
Relational stability was also high.
There were no concerning indicators.
Everything seemed...
Normal.
Almost too normal.
Lucien stopped at one page. It contained a brief transcript from Evelyn's initial interview.
Only a few lines.
«Question: What do you hope for most in a marriage?»
Evelyn's answer consisted of a single sentence.
«"I hope we remain two complete people, even as we walk in the same direction."»
Lucien read it once. Then again. And a third time.
For some reason, his thoughts drifted back to their conversation in the garden. Even then, Evelyn had never sounded like someone who wanted to change another person.
Morgan noticed the slight shift in his expression.
"Did something catch your attention?"
Lucien slowly closed the page.
"Her answer."
"Why?"
"People rarely answer like that."
Morgan nodded.
"That's true."
"Most participants talk about happiness. Trust, Loyalty, Security. But Evelyn spoke about..."
«'Two complete people.'»
A faint smile appeared on Morgan's face.
"That's why I marked that section."
Lucien nodded quietly. But he didn't voice what was truly on his mind.
There was something. Something very small.
Very faint.
A feeling he had experienced several times while reading other participants' files years ago.
Not a conclusion.
Not even a suspicion.
Just...intuition.
His hand almost reached back to reopen the previous page. But he stopped himself. He closed his eyes for a brief moment. Then shut the folder.
Morgan watched the entire sequence.
"Why did you stop?"
Lucien opened his eyes.
"I was about to make a mistake."
Morgan said nothing.
"I was beginning to search for patterns...even though the data isn't complete."
Morgan smiled quietly.
"That was the right decision."
Lucien placed the folder back on the desk.
"You once taught me, that intuition is enough to justify asking a question. But never enough to become the answer."
Morgan nodded with quiet satisfaction.
"And?"
Lucien took a slow breath.
"If one day Evelyn truly wants to know the results of her evaluation...then she should hear them directly from her researcher. Not from me."
Silence filled the office.
For a moment, Morgan simply looked at his former participant without saying a word. Then he picked up Evelyn's folder and returned it to the drawer.
He wrote no additional notes. Offered no scientific commentary. Nor did he confirm whether Lucien's intuition was right or wrong.
Because as a researcher...
He knew there were times when the most responsible answer was to give no answer at all.
At last, Morgan smiled.
"Your father was right."
Lucien raised an eyebrow.
"About what?"
Morgan stood and walked toward the window. Beyond it, students hurried across the campus grounds. Some were running to make it to class. Others sat beneath the trees, deep in discussion.
Only after a long pause did he answer.
"As a researcher...I can never be certain of anyone's future."
"And as Alistair Morgan?"
Morgan turned to face him. This time, his smile was warmer than before.
"As Alistair...I think that, for the first time...you are no longer looking for someone you can protect."
He paused, "But someone you wish to respect."
Lucien stood in silence.
Those words continued to echo in his mind long after he left Morgan's office a few minutes later. He carried neither his evaluation report. Nor a copy of Evelyn's file. What he carried instead was a new conviction.
That perhaps readiness for marriage is not measured by how well someone can lead, but by their willingness to leave room for the person they love to choose their own path.
Outside the institute, the spring breeze drifted gently across the campus once again.
Without Lucien realizing it...
The decision he made that day would become the beginning of a long journey, one that would, someday, test everything he believed about love, responsibility, and freedom.