"What''s going on?"
A man''s deep voice came through the phone. "Why are you suddenly looking into Reese''s medical records?"
Sofia''s voice wavered, frustration bubbling up as she replied, "Reese had
Sebastian''s baby, but she ended the pregnancy herself and then med it on me. She told everyone I made her lose the baby.
"And now the Ratcliff family''s made it public. The inte''s attacking me, and she even called reporters to camp outside my door..."
Hank''s fingers paused against the desk, his brows drawing together. "Don''t worry about the reporters. I''ll handle it."
He hung up. The office quieted down. Hank''s mind was racing with memories of someone who felt both close and impossibly far away.
If Sofia hadn''t mentioned her, he might have forgotten Reese existed at all.
Years ago, when his parents split up, his mother left Brookfield and took Reese with her. The only time he saw Reese after she came back to Bridger Lake was at their mother''s funeral.
He''d never forgiven her for being reckless, for causing the car ident that killed their mom. He''d pped her, hard, right there at the funeral, not caring who saw.
After that, he tried not to think about her at all.
It was only recently, in a call with Sofia, that he heard her name again. Sofia said Reese had married Sebastian.
Still, why would she end Sebastian''s pregnancy? Was Sebastian that terrible to her?
Hank shook his head. Why did it matter to him?
But if Reese was framing Sofia, he couldn''t just sit back and do nothing.
He hit the inte. "Let the Bridger Lake media know Sofia''s off-limits. If anyone messes with her, they''ll answer to me.
"And book me the next flight to Bridger Lake."
"But sir," his assistant said, hesitating, "you have a project meeting with Northbeam Tech tomorrow..."
"Move it online. If they don''t like it, we''ll drop the partnership. They''re not the only game in town."
As the noise from outside faded, Sofia finally rxed. A satisfied grin tugged at her lips.
So what if Reese had the Ratcliff family backing her? Sofia had her brother. He''d always spoiled her, and no matter what mess shended in, he would make it right.
it righended in
Once Mr. Ratcliff stepped in, the online rumors disappeared almost overnight. Within a few days, hardly anyone even remembered the scandal.
When n called to offer her job back, Reese was at Ramos Corporation, listening to the managers Mr. Ratcliff had sent as they gave their reports.
Seven years after marrying into the Ratcliff family, she was finally seeing the upside of power. What used to feel impossible was now getting sorted out, one problem at a time. Thepany settled down, and ever the people who wanted to buy Ramos Corporation suddenly lost interest.
After all, in Bridger Lake, nobody wanted to challenge the Ratcliff family.
Once she was officially back on the de project, Reese finished up at Ramos Corporation and headed straight to ckOak.
Matthew walked out of the conference room, a stack of reports in his hands. He spotted Reese and gave her a relieved smile.
"Perfect timing. We still can''t get de and The Vault to work together, and I''m out of ideas."
Reese took the papers, scanning through them as she headed to theb with him. "There''s too much fluctuation in this data. The match algorithm''s off."
They stepped into theb, not noticing the re L shot them as they passed.
While Reese was away, Matthew had started giving L more important responsibilities. She''d
pulled several all nighters tryinget
get the two projects to sync. In a field like this, the closer your name was to the top of the project, the more your reputation grew.
If the project was a sess, L expected her name front and center, a real boost in the Al world.
She''d been sure Reese was finished after the rumors of a data leak. No way would she return.
But now Reese was back, and Matthew had just handed her work straight over to her.
Just like that, L was back to being a glorified assistant. And when the project ended, her name would be buried at the bottom of the credits.