Morgan didn't open the folder immediately. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and studied Lucien for a moment. "Before we begin, there's something I'd like to ask." Lucien nodded. "Go ahead." "When was the last time you genuinely doubted one of your own decisions?" Lucien didn't answer right away. He was used to questions like this. Over fifteen years of participating in the research, Morgan had almost never begun an evaluation with questionnaires. He preferred conversation. Because, in his view, a person's answers weren't found only in the words they spoke, but also in the way they thought before speaking. "This afternoon." Morgan raised an eyebrow slightly. "Because of Evelyn?" "Yes." He didn't seem surprised. "Explain." Lucien set down his teacup. "When our conversation ended and the Laurent family lef, i realized there was something I'd never experienced during any previous arranged-marriage meeting." "What was it?" "I felt at ease." Morgan waited. "I wasn't constantly analyzing everything she said. I wasn't trying to guess whether there was a hidden motive behind every sentence. I was simply..." Lucien paused, "...enjoying the conversation." Morgan gave a slow nod. "And where did the doubt come in?" A faint smile appeared on Lucien's face. "I found myself asking, am I truly at ease or have I simply let my guard down?'» Silence settled over the office. Morgan watched him for a long moment. Then he opened the evaluation folder resting on his desk. Instead of picking up his pen, he said, "Your answer hasn't changed." Lucien frowned slightly. "What do you mean?" "Fifteen years ago." Morgan turned to the very first pages. "When you first came into this office, I asked you..." «'What are you most afraid of?'» Lucien still remembered. "And you answered..." Morgan read from the faded notes. «'I'm afraid that one day I'll hurt someone without realizing it.'» He looked up. "Today your answer has evolved. You're no longer afraid of hurting someone. You're afraid of misunderstanding yourself." Lucien looked at the old page. The paper had yellowed with age. Yet Morgan's handwriting remained perfectly clear. He had never imagined the professor had kept the notes from their very first interview. Morgan closed the page. "Many people think longitudinal research simply means collecting data over many years. That's not entirely true." Lucien listened quietly. "What we're observing isn't whether someone becomes a different person. It's... how the way they think develops as they move through life." Morgan tapped Lucien's folder. "For fifteen years your Dominance Orientation has remained remarkably consistent. So has your emotional regulation." "Fourteen years." Lucien looked up. "Fourteen?" Morgan smiled. "The last significant change happened when you were sixteen." Lucien laughed softly. "You still remember." "I don't remember." Morgan lifted the folder slightly. "I wrote it down." Both of them smiled. Morgan turned several more pages. Graph after graph filled the folder. Some tracked emotional regulation. Others illustrated changes in communication patterns, trust-building, and responses to interpersonal conflict. Lucien looked over them calmly. To him, these pages were more than research data. They were fragments of his own life. "I'd like to show you something." Morgan turned one graph toward him. "Year one." The line rose sharply. "Year two." It began to level off. "Year five." Almost flat. "And now." Barely any change at all. Lucien examined the axis. "What index is this?" Self-Regulation Consistency. Morgan explained, "Most people develop in fairly uneven ways. Life experiences, environment, career, relationships. They all influence how people manage themselves. But..." He pointed to Lucien's graph. "...yours is different." Lucien waited. "You didn't develop more quickly. You developed more consistently." The distinction was subtle. But important. Morgan continued, "Consistent doesn't mean perfect. It means your way of thinking remains stable even when your circumstances change." Lucien nodded thoughtfully. "Is that a good thing?" Morgan smiled. "As a researcher? Yes.As a human being?" Morgan shrugged. "That depends." A faint smile appeared on Lucien's face. "That's a very Professor Morgan answer." Morgan laughed. "Science isn't particularly fond of the word always." Morgan closed the folder of graphs. He no longer looked at the numbers. Instead, he looked directly at Lucien. "I'd like to ask you something as Alistair not as your professor." Lucien looked slightly surprised. It had been a long time since Morgan had phrased it that way. "All right." "Do you love Evelyn?" The room fell silent once again. Lucien didn't appear nervous. But he took longer to answer than he had with any previous question. "No." His voice remained calm. Morgan showed no reaction. "We've only just met." "That's an honest answer." Lucien nodded. "But..." He continued quietly "...I want to get to know her." Morgan smiled. "Why?" "Because for the first time...I find myself curious about someone. Not because I don't understand her. But because I want to understand her." Morgan sat in silence for several seconds. Then he picked up his pen. On the final page of Lucien's folder, he wrote a single short sentence. Lucien couldn't see what it said. "Professor?" Morgan closed the folder. "You can read it another time." "Is it part of the evaluation?" "No." "Then what is it?" Morgan smiled. "A personal note." Lucien didn't ask any further questions. He knew Morgan had long made it a habit to write one personal note at the end of every evaluation session. It wasn't part of the research. Nor was it included in any scientific report. It was simply a reminder to himself as a psychologist. After putting Lucien's folder away, Morgan stood. He walked toward the archive cabinet behind his desk. Rows of folders filled nearly every shelf. Each one was identified by a code rather than a name. A safeguard to protect participants' identities. But Morgan stopped at one particular drawer. Unlike the others, it wasn't labeled with numbers. It bore a name. Lucien watched silently. Morgan took out a thin cream-colored folder. It was still new. Very few notes had been added to it. He returned to the desk. Then looked at the folder for a few moments before placing it in front of Lucien. "This?" Morgan said quietly, "This the second reason I asked you to come today." Lucien lowered his eyes to the cover. In the upper-right corner was a single name. Evelyn Laurent

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