Chapter 6 - IF E SURVIVES
Avery read every revision comment aloud.
I recorded the call locally.
Cassandra:
Need biometric token after incident.
Julian:
If E survives, use incapacity route.
Cassandra:
Board will resist.
Julian:
Not if medical record supports temporary delegation.
Cassandra:
What if vision returns quickly?
Julian:
Then transfer must complete first.
My hand shook.
They knew I might lose my sight.
Before the explosion.
That meant they knew what kind of injury they expected.
Or at minimum, what scenario they planned around.
Avery continued.
Another comment.
Cassandra:
Batch 7 problem remains.
Julian:
Not after launch.
Cassandra:
It will kill the valuation if she talks.
Julian:
Then she does not talk.
Silence filled my room.
That last sentence was dangerous but still ambiguous.
Corporate silence.
Legal restraint.
Or something worse.
I would not choose the worst interpretation simply because I hated him.
“What’s the document’s author history?”
I asked.
Avery checked.
“Initial draft by Cassandra.”
“Template source?”
“Old licensing assignment.”
“Who inserted my signature block?”
“Julian.”
“Biometric section?”
Pause.
“Another user.”
“Who?”
“Legal administrator ID L-17.”
Not Cassandra.
Not Julian.
The third person again.
“Can you map L-17?”
“I need HartVale directory access.”
“Do you still have it?”
“Probably until morning.”
“Check.”
Keys clicked.
Then:
“L-17 belongs to Miriam Cross.”
I knew the name.
HartVale general counsel.
Fifty-two.
Careful.
Professional.
She had been with us four years.
She was no random outsider.
“What did Miriam contribute?”
“Biometric language, incapacity clauses, spousal delegation.”
My stomach tightened.
Maybe she believed she was preparing emergency documents.
Maybe she knew more.
“Any comments?”
“One.”
“Read it.”
Avery hesitated.
“Elena…”
“Read it.”
Miriam Cross:
Do not proceed unless EH is medically unable to object.
That could be caution.
Or participation.
Then Cassandra replied:
Understood.
Julian:
Timing confirmed.
Timing.
Before the explosion.
I stood and walked slowly toward the window I couldn’t see.
The hotel room felt too quiet.
“Avery, export the working copy.”
“Already did.”
“Make three copies.”
“Done.”
“Keep one offline.”
“Yes.”
“Send me one encrypted.”
She did.
The moment my phone received it, another alert appeared.
HartVale remote wipe request.
Target device:
Avery Lane workstation.
She swore.
“They know.”
“Disconnect everything.”
“I am.”
“Now.”
“Done.”
Then her voice changed.
“My employee credentials just died.”
Expected.
She had crossed a line Cassandra and Julian could see.
“You’re locked out?”
“Yes.”
“Can you still access your apartment building?”
“That’s not HartVale.”
I almost smiled.
“Good.”
My hotel door knocked.
Julian.
“Elena.”
I ended Avery’s call.
“Stay reachable.”
Then I moved toward the door but did not open it.
“What?”
“Let me in.”
“No.”
“We need to talk.”
“We’re talking.”
He exhaled.
“I know about Avery.”
My stomach tightened.
“How?”
“She accessed restricted legal files.”
“Did you go to her apartment?”
Silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
I had not expected admission.
“Why?”
“To ask whether she had company hardware.”
“Did you enter?”
“No.”
“Did you put a USB drive inside L3-ENV-04?”
Another silence.
“What terminal?”
He was lying again.
“You know exactly what terminal.”
“Elena, open the door.”
“No.”
His voice lowered.
“Miriam is preparing an emergency board action.”
“Against me?”
“Against both of us.”
That surprised me.
“What?”
“Cassandra changed the patent filing.”
“When?”
“After your explosion.”
“So?”
“She removed my co-licensing rights too.”
I stood still.
The alliance was cracking.
“You thought you were stealing my company together.”
“Elena.”
“But Cassandra was stealing it from you too.”
He hit the door once with his palm.
Not hard.
Angry.
“She has been moving Aurum assets into another company.”
“What company?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why tell me?”
“Because we need each other.”
I laughed.
“No.”
“You don’t understand.”
“You planned my incapacity paperwork before I was injured.”
Silence.
The hallway went completely quiet.
Then Julian whispered:
“Where did you see that?”
That reaction confirmed enough.
I stepped closer to the door.
“Was the explosion supposed to blind me?”
No answer.
“Was it?”
“Elena, there are things Cassandra did that I did not authorize.”
My stomach turned.
“That isn’t a denial.”
“I did not intend for you to be hurt.”
“Did you know I would be in Lab Three?”
Silence.
“Julian.”
“Yes.”
The word landed harder than the slap.
“Did you send the Batch 7 message?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To get you into the lab.”
My hand tightened around the cane.
“For what?”
“So you would find the altered batch.”
That made no sense.
“Why?”
“Because Cassandra needed you to reject it.”
“What?”
“She needed your rejection timestamp.”
I went cold.
The founder integrity system.
If I officially rejected Batch 7, they could later argue that a replacement sequence was a separate invention.
A new patent chain.
A way around my inventor rights.
“You lured me there to create a rejection record.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“I was told the reactor would shut down.”
“By Cassandra?”
“Yes.”
“Did you suppress the alarm?”
Julian stopped speaking.
“Your credential did.”
“I authorized maintenance suppression earlier.”
“Did you know she would use it that night?”
“No.”
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Then Julian said:
“Elena, Cassandra did not expect you to walk out of Lab Three.”
My blood ran cold.
Before I could answer, something crashed in the hallway.
Julian cursed.
A second voice.
Cassandra.
“You stupid son of a bitch.”
Then the connection through the door became physical silence.
Cassandra had heard him.
May you like
And whatever remained of their partnership was about to break apart outside my room.
📖 Discover what Cassandra accused Julian of hiding from her—and why she claimed the explosion was never supposed to happen the way it did in CHAPTER 7. 👇
