Chapter 24:


    Grayson stepped up to the mic. “That is proprietary technology,” he said smoothly. “We can’t reveal our trade secrets. But let’s just say Belle’s genius found a way.”


    He smiled reassuringly at the crowd, but inside, a cold knot formed in his stomach. He knew Belle was more of a conceptual artist than an engineer, but he had assumed her team had handled the details. Her nk stare at such a fundamental question was a ring red g. He pushed the doubt away; the stock price was already climbing based on the hype. He couldn’t afford to question the narrative now.


    The reporter nodded, satisfied.


    Isolde leaned over to And Roth, who had quietly taken the seat next to her.


    “She doesn’t know,” Isolde whispered. “She doesn’t know about the titanium ribbing I added to the sub-frame. The final structural integrity simtions were on a separate, encrypted server. They only stole the aerodynamics.”


    And smirked. “If she pushes that prototype past Mach 1.2 without the ribbing…”


    “It will disintegrate,” Isolde finished.


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    “Do we tell them?” And asked.


    Isolde looked at Belle, basking in the apuse for work she didn’t do. She looked at Grayson, looking at Belle with adoration.


    “No,” Isolde said. “Let them fly it. Let them fail.”


    She stopped the recording. She had Belle on tape iming sole authorship. That was Step One of thewsuit.


    The presentation ended. The crowd erupted in apuse.


    Isolde stood up. She didn’t p. She just stared at the stage.


    Grayson looked down. He saw her. He saw theck of apuse. He saw the cold, knowing look in her eyes. For a moment, his triumph faltered. He felt a chill that had nothing to do with the air conditioning.


    The after-party was in full swing. Waiters passed around champagne and caviar.


    Isolde and Effie stood near the exit. They were leaving. They had seen enough.


    Grayson and Kaiden walked by, heading toward the dessert table. Kaiden was holding a limited-edition model of the Phoenix-X7, made of die-cast metal.


    Effie stopped. She stared at the toy.


    “Daddy?” she called out softly.


    Grayson stopped. He looked down.


    “Can I have a ne too?” Effie asked. Her voice was small, hopeful. Even after everything, she still wanted a piece of him.


    Grayson sighed. He looked annoyed.


    “These are for VIPs, Effie. They’re numbered.”


    “But Kaiden has one,” Effie pointed out.


    “Kaiden is… Kaiden appreciates it,” Grayson said. “You’d just break it. Or lose it.” He turned to Kaiden. “Come on, son. Let’s get you a cookie.”


    He started to walk away.


    Isolde stepped into his path.


    “Grayson,” she said.


    He stopped. “What now?”


    “Give her the ne,” Isolde said.


    “No. I don’t have another one.”


    “Then give her that one.” She pointed to the one in Kaiden’s hand.


    “No!” Kaiden yelled, clutching it to his chest. “It’s mine!”


    Grayson shrugged. “You heard him.”


    Isolde looked at him. Really looked at him. She saw the weakness. The cruelty masked as indifference.


    “You just made a choice,” Isolde said quietly. “Remember this moment. Because it’s thest time she will ever ask you for anything.”


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