Chapter 144:


    “I just did,” Isolde said, capping the stylus. “I derived the failure point in front of you. Now, Dr. Escobar — would you like toe up here and show us the patch?”


    She held the pen out to Belle.


    Belle stared at it. She stared at the board. The equations were foreign to her. A faint sheen of perspiration appeared at her temples.


    “I don’t have to perform for you,” Belle stammered. “This is a boardroom, not a ssroom.”


    “Exactly,” Isolde said. “In a boardroom, we deal in facts. And the fact is — you’re a fraud.”


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    Grayson looked at the board. He looked at Belle, shrinking in her seat. The realization struck him like a physical blow. She doesn’t know. She didn’t design it. She never understood it.


    He looked back at Isolde,manding the room withplete authority, her mind a weapon he had thrown away.


    “Isolde is right,” the Chief Engineer said quietly. “The math checks out. The InnoTech system is wed.”


    Grayson closed his eyes. “The InnoTech contract is suspended. We sign with Orbital.”


    Belle gasped. “Gray!”


    “Quiet,” Grayson snapped.


    At that moment, the door burst open. Liam rushed in, his face ashen.


    “Mr. Lancaster — emergency.”


    Grayson rose. “What?”


    “It’s Kaiden, sir. The school just called. He copsed. Anaphctic shock. He’s in the ambnce.”


    Grayson’s face went white. “What? He doesn’t have allergies.”


    “They said it was crab cakes, sir.”


    Grayson froze. Seafood.


    He looked at Isolde. She was gathering her things, her faceposed and unreadable.


    “Isolde,” Grayson said, his voice cracking. “You have toe. He asks for you when he’s sick. Please.”


    Isolde paused. She looked at the man who had tormented her daughter. She looked at the woman who had tried to destroy her mother. Then she nced at Belle.


    “He has a mother,” Isolde said. “Let her go.”


    “He needs you!” Grayson said.


    Isolde looked at And. And gave a small nod. Go. End it.


    “Fine,” Isolde said. “I’ll drive.”


    The hospital waiting room was a wash of sterile white and the sharp smell of antiseptic.


    Grayson paced the floor. Belle sat in a stic chair, scrolling through her phone with an expression closer to annoyance than worry.


    “He’s going to be fine, Gray,” Belle said. “Kids have allergies. It’s not a big deal.”


    “He stopped breathing, Belle!” Grayson snapped. “How did you not know he was allergic to shellfish?”


    “I’ve never fed him shellfish!”


    The doctor came through the door. “Mr. Lancaster?”


    “Yes?”


    “He’s stable. It was a severe reaction. We’ll need to update his medical history. Does anyone in the family have a shellfish allergy? It’s often gic.”


    Grayson stopped pacing. “I do. Mild. My father does as well.”


    The doctor nodded. “That would exin it. It’s a strong gic marker.”


    Isolde stood by the door, listening. Her eyes narrowed.


    Gic.


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