n frowned. "Mr. Shaw, I think you''ve got Ms. Meyer all wrong. Her skills aren''t up for debate."


    He kept his tone even. "If you don''t trust ckOak, then there''s really no point in us talking about a partnership."


    Elijah hesitated, then tried to brush it off with augh. "n, you''ve misunderstood. ckOak''s reputation is ster. Why would I ever-"


    n cut him off, waving a hand. “But you clearly don''t respect Ms. Meyer''s abilities. Mr. Shaw, I think it''s best you go."


    He gestured to the door, making it obvious the meeting was over.


    Elijah hadn''t expected Reese to show up and throw a wrench in what should have been a sure thing. But at this point, he knew there was no saving today''s deal. All he could do was re hard at Reese before storming out, already thinking up her next move.


    Reese gave n a grateful smile.


    n patted her shoulder. "No pressure. Just help me get this system running smoothly, and there''ll be plenty of chances for us."


    Later that evening at Moonlight Manor, inside a private room.


    Elijah set her winess down hard on the table, scowling. "How did I not notice before? n from ckOak is out of his mind.


    "He''d really drop Monarch Partners just to defend Reese?


    "And Reese just stood there watching n reject me. After all these years we''ve known each other!


    "She''s just taking the chance to get back at me, thinking I embarrassed her in front of everyone.


    "She should take a look at herself. So disgusting!"


    Sebastian was sprawled on the sofa, holding a ss of whiskey in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Smoke drifted around his face, making his expression hard to read. He didn''t say anything, just shot Elijah a nce.


    Sofia took a sip of her drink, her eyes flicking over to Sebastian. "It''s okay, Elijah. n didn''t get ckOak where it is by being clueless. Maybe there''s been a misunderstanding.


    "Or maybe... he''s doing someone a favor by giving Reese some face in front of you."


    Elijah snorted. "A favor? With ckOak''s status in Al, who does n need to impress?"


    He paused for a second, then looked over at Sebastian. “Unless..... is Reese using Mrs. Ratcliff''s name to throw her weight around town?"


    After all, no one in Bridger Lake had more influence than Sebastian.


    Sebastian flicked some ash from his cigarette, voice t. "She wouldn''t dare."


    "Why not?" Elijah muttered. “She already went as far as drugging you. What wouldn''t she do? She''s just trying to use your name to keep her spot at ckOak.


    "She wants to prove she''s better than Sofia and get your attention.


    "Honestly, that''s just naive. Does she forget that Sofia is an MIT grad? How could Reese possiblypete?"


    Sofia lowered her gaze, longshes casting a faint shadow on her cheeks.


    She''d never had much respect for the way Reese did things. Did Reese really think anyone could just waltz into Al?


    Let''s see what kind of mess she makes this time.


    "What a pity we didn''t get to work with ckOak," Elijah sighed, leaning back. “I was really interested in that traffic management system."


    Sofia smiled. "That system was impressive when it first came out, but there are a lot of simr products now. Actually, my team just finished developing one. We''reunching it at the press conference in a couple of days. If you''re interested, Elijah, we could talk about a coboration."


    Elijah''s eyes brightened. "Really? Sofia, you''re so reliable. Reese can''t even hold a candle to you."


    "Oh, by the way, I heard from Robbie that he invited you to his birthday party next week? And you promised to bake the cake yourself?"


    Elijah pointed back and forth between Sebastian and Sofia. “So... are you two making it official and meeting the family?"


    Sebastian shot him a sideways look but didn''t answer.


    Sofia''s smile turned a bit awkward. "Don''t be silly, Elijah. Of course not. I just felt sorry for Robbie. He asked, so I agreed."


    That''s when Elijah realized how stupid his question sounded.


    Even if Sebastian was tired of Reese, they were still legally married.


    To go public with Sofia in front of the Ratcliff family would just make things harder for her.


    He sighed. "It''s all Reese''s fault. If she had any sense, she''d have divorced Sebastian ages ago and spared us all this drama."


    "Don''t say that," Sofia said softly. "If Reese left Sebastian, things would probably get tough for her. Maybe this is for the best."


    Sebastian still didn''t say a word, just stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, his face unreadable.


    Three dayster, the headline "Mr. Sebastian Ratcliff Attends Clever Cloud''s Launch to Support Sofia Meyer" shot to the top of the trending searches.


    In the photo, Sebastian was standing next to Sofia in a ck suit, tall and striking.


    He didn''t show any emotion, but that was enough to get people talking.


    In the ckOak Tech break room, a few programmers were scrolling through the


    news.


    "Sofia''s new system looks a lot like our traffic tform," one said.


    "So what? n already said her version is full of bugs. Ours is on another level, and with that new big shot joining our team, all the loopholes are fixed."


    "Yeah, but she''s lucky. With Mr. Ratcliff backing her, it doesn''t matter if her system''s not as good-she''ll always find partners."


    Reese walked by with her mug, not even slowing down on her way back to her office. Her fingers flew across the keyboard.


    On her screen, the 3D simtion of the traffic management system was running.


    In the virtual city, every car''s route was mapped out with precision, and the congestion warning line was nearly half as long as in the original version.