of ozone and expensive cologne, a sharp con

an's

frozen, the pen hovering a millimeter above

function in my throat. "The security protoc

faces of the board. "It turns out your 'absolute' security has a very human weakness:

tly why you're being ousted, Julian. Your 'perfect' world is

r wet heels clicking like a countdown on the marble floor. She pulled a crumpl

d tone she used when she was about to destroy a narrative. "But I know who did. And

is eyes narrowing. "Expl

red, replaced by the woman who had taught me how to butter toast. "The leak didn't come from a photo or a physi

ad shift. I looked at Mar

ent trying to figure out why I couldn't write an article about how much of a robot he is. But the SoulS

nt. Every head tur

face draining of color. "She's a writ

ou didn't just leak the contract to destroy the IPO. You leaked it so you could trigger the morality clause in Julian's contract

's

soaking into my skin. It was the ultimate "Face-Slap." He looked li

ot anymore. He looked like a storm. He picked up

oing. "Run a forensic audit on the R&D ledger

e filled the room. "Audit complete. Discrepancy found: $4.2 mill

ning. "Sterling, get out. Secur

g out of the room, the remaining board members look

r 'Algorithm of Us' project was more successful than w

t is over,"

ng in my chest. R

ooked at the board. "I'm taking a leave of absence. Effective immediately. Sou

id-and led me out of the room. We didn't stop at the elevator. We di

at quiet, leather-scented world

and his eyes were full of a terrifying, beautiful clarity. "The data said you we

ed, my heart doi

il our foreheads touched, "that if the data s

te monitor. He just kissed me-a messy, unoptimized, 100%

a shaky laugh escaping me. "So... does this

ing across his face. "It means you've been promote

reaching up to fix his tie. "F