?Chapter 904:
Relying on seniority, Webster didn’t bother to hide his contempt toward Elena. He’d wed his way into thisboratory at thirty-five. That had meant sacrifice, brilliance, and time. And now some twenty-something, looking like she walked out of a catalog, was supposed to sit beside him? No way she got in on merit. No way he’d stoop to working with her.
Elena’s stare sharpened like cold spreading over ss. “Then test me. See if I have something to contribute.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Webster said with a scoff, waving off Elena’s challenge like it was beneath him.
One brow lifted, Elena shot back, “Tell me—what’s the mostplicated project your team’s struggling with right now?”
Webster let out a sarcastic snort. “Are you seriously saying you can do what we’ve failed to? Come on. Stop pulling my leg. We don’t have time to waste on this.”
Never, not for a second, did Webster entertain the idea that Elena might actually seed. He doubted she knew even a tiny bit of the military research.
Elena’s voice dropped, tone clipped and cold. “What’s the matter? Scared I might actually make it and make you look bad?”
She was baiting him on purpose—and doing it with precision. Guys like Webster were easy to crack. All it took was one question that hit their ego dead center.
Predictably, Webster took the bait. “Scared? Hardly,” he sneered. “Three days from now, we’ve got a full team meeting. If you build an automated defense system that gs and blocks tracking attempts before then, I’ll give you a seat at the table.”
He wasn’t ying fair—he didn’t intend to. That assignment was a graveyard. His team had been circling it for half a year without progress. There was no way she’d pull it off in seventy-two hours. No chance. By the time the meeting came around, she’d crash and burn in front of everyone. And he could get to shut her down without lifting a finger.
“Deal,” Elena replied, calm as stone.
Amusement flickered across Webster’s face as he tried to suppress a smugugh. She’d just agreed to her own downfall. How hrious. She must be blinded by her confidence. All looks. No depth.
Step into fiction with g ? ln σ ν?? ?s
Just in case she got cold feet, Webster added quickly, “Oh, and if you fail? You walk away from the institute. Voluntarily.”
Kason’s jaw tightened. The setup was obvious, and he was seconds away from stepping in—until Elena cut him off by agreeing without hesitation.
Word traveled fast. It always did. This time, it wasn’t just gossip—it was news: Major General Garrett had brought a stunning woman onto base. Sure, the base could be dull, and people were always looking for something to talk about. But this? This was different.
Kason wasn’t just any soldier—he was the youngest major general in Houis, the kind who turned heads without trying. Powerful family name. Impable…
Reputation. Movie-star looks. It wasn’t hard to see why most of the women on the base were smitten with him.
In the Base Medical Center, Lucinda Warren practically burst through the door with wide eyes. “N! You will not believe this—Major General Garrett just brought a woman on base!”
As one of the facility’s nurses and one of N Vance’s closest allies, Lucinda always had a fresh scoop. N, a physician known for her elegant presence and quiet poise, was used to attention, but rarely the kind that felt like a direct challenge.
With her silky hair, immacteplexion, and refined taste in everything from heels to handwriting, N had long been considered the base’s untouchable beauty.
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