"That''s about it. Last week was Robbie''s birthday. Ms. Meyer was with him the whole time. She even cut the cake. Honestly, the three of them looked just like a family."


    Reese''s hand paused halfway to her lips. She hadn''t thought about Robbie in forever. With Sofia taking care of him, his allergies had probably cleared up by


    now.


    "What? Are you jealous?"


    A man''s voice came from behind her. Reese turned and saw Elijah leaning against the back of the couch, watching her with that cold, mocking look of his.


    She frowned. "Whatever they''re doing has nothing to do with me."


    "Oh, nothing to do with you?" Elijah let out a short, sharpugh. "You''ve been staring at them all night. Don''t tell me you''re nning to expose your thing with Sebastian in front of everyone, just to make it awkward for them?"


    Reese set her ss down and stood, done with this conversation. She didn''t want to get pulled into Elijah''s drama.


    "Elijah, if you think I''m so horrible, then just stay away from me."


    He wouldn''t let it go. "Aw, so now you''re acting like the victim?"


    He stepped closer, voice low. "If you''re not toxic, then howe you ran to ckOak with Sofia''s research after getting kicked out of Clever Cloud? Just topete with her?"


    "Everyone in the industry knows ckOak''s dispatch system is just a copy of Clever Cloud''s."


    Reese''s head shot up. She red at him. "Who said I copied anything?"


    "Oh, you''re still going to deny it?" Elijah scoffed. "Sofia said so herself. People havepared both systems. The data oveps. It''s obvious."


    "ckOak''s stock has tanked because of this, and don''t tell me you didn''t know."


    She actually didn''t know. She was just filling in at ckOak, not part of the management team. n hadn''t said a word about it.


    Her hands shook with anger. She could take people talking about her, but ckOak was n''s pride, and Dominic had personally rmended her for the job. She couldn''t let them get dragged down with her.


    She took a deep breath and pushed through the crowd, heading straight toward Sofia and Sebastian.


    Sofia was talking to Sebastian but her smile faded when she saw Reeseing. "Ms. Meyer, do you need something?"


    Reese looked right at her, voice cold and clear. "I heard I stole your research?"


    Sofia''s smile froze. She nced over at Sebastian.


    "There''s a misunderstanding, Ms. Meyer. All I said was that the data for both systems oveps."


    "They''re both traffic dispatch systems. Some ovep is normal."


    Anyone in Al knew that when different people build simr systems, the data is never exactly the same. Sofia hadn''t actually said Reese copied her, but her words made it sound that way.


    "Is this about the ckOak and Clever Cloud dispatch systems?"


    Their voices were loud enough that people nearby started whispering and watching.


    "Clever Cloud released theirs first, then ckOak popped up with a simr one, and the data oveps. It''s pretty obvious what happened."


    "Couldn''t Clever Cloud have copied ckOak? ckOak''s done some impressive stuff too-"


    "No way. Clever Cloud has Dominic in charge, and Ms. Meyer led the team after graduating from MIT. Why would she steal anything from ckOak?"


    Reese clenched her fists. "If I''m not mistaken, Clever Cloud''s dispatch system started development seven years ago, but then was put on hold. Sofia, you''ve only been at Clever Cloud for less than a year. How are you so sure all that research is yours?"


    Sofia''s eyes filled with tears as she looked at Sebastian.


    Sebastian finally looked at Reese, his eyes colder than ever. "I was there when Sofia did her research. I trust her. She would never do something like that."


    "She''s been in Al for years. Who are you to question her, anyway?"


    "Yeah, who does she think she is, calling out Mr. Ratcliff''s girlfriend like that?"


    "Maybe she''s just scared. If everyone finds out ckOak copied Clever Cloud, she''ll be cklisted from the industry. She''s just trying to get out ahead of it-how pathetic."


    "She''s just making things worse for herself."


    Every word felt like a p. Reese stood there, frozen, every bit of her going numb. Sebastian was looking at her like she was nothing.


    "Who says Reese copied anything?"


    A deep,manding voice rang out from the doorway. Three people walked in. Leading them was Dominic.