Chapter 75

No.1

The heavy velvet curtains in the study of the Chambers Manor were drawn tight, blocking out the afternoon sun. The room smelled of expensive scotch and old leather.

August stood behind his massive mahogany desk.He was staring down at Allena, who was sitting on the edge of the leather sofa. Her eyes were still slightly red, and she was aggressively twisting a tissue between her manicured fingers. She had just finished recounting her humiliating rejection at Alastair Cromwell's office, carefully editing the story to make herself sound like a victim of corporate bullying.

A dark, protective rage boiled in August's chest. He hated seeing her upset. More than that, he hated the idea that Elisa and Alastair were sitting in their glass towers, looking down on him and his choices.

He walked around the desk and crouched down in front of Allena. He reached out and took her trembling hands in his.

"Allena," August said, his voice a low, absolute promise. "Stop crying. Cromwell is a fool, just like Blevins. If they won't open the door for you, I will simply buy the entire building and tear the door off its hinges."

Allena sniffled, looking up at him through her thick eyelashes. "What do you mean, August?"

August stood up. He walked back to his desk and tapped the screen of his secure laptop. He opened a highly classified corporate file.

No.2

"Aethel Intelligence and the Johns Hopkins University Medical School are officially launching their joint Al diagnostic project this week," August stated, his eyes scanning the data. "It is the most heavily funded,high-profile medical tech initiative of the decade.It makes Aethel's in-house R&D look like a high school science fair."

Allena's eyes instantly widened. The greed in her chest flared hot and bright. "The Project Chiron initiative?"

"Exactly," August said, a cold, arrogant smile touching his lips. "I am going to secure you a position

on the JHU side of the collaboration team. You will be directly involved in the core research. You will have the prestige, the access, and the public platform."

Allena stood up, ignoring the pain in her booted foot.She threw her arms around August's neck, pressing her body against his.

"August,you are amazing!" she breathed into his ear.But then she pulled back slightly, a frown creasing her forehead. "But... Cromwell is running the Aethel side. He hates me. He will never allow it."

August let out a harsh, dismissive scoff.

No.3

"Cromwell is a capitalist," August sneered, his massive ego blinding him to reality. "He worships money. And JHU is an academic institution; they worship funding. There is no moral high ground that a large enough check cannot level."

He reached for the heavy brass telephone on his desk and hit the button for his executive secretary.

"Get the Dean of the JHU Medical School on the line immediately," August commanded. "And contact the legal department. Tell them to draft a targeted,

restricted-use donation agreement. Fifty million dollars. Earmarked exclusively for the Aethel joint Al project."

Meanwhile, fifty miles away in Manhattan.

The main conference room at Aethel Intelligence was bathed in bright, cold LED light. Elisa sat at the head of the long glass table. She wore a sharp, black tailored blazer. Her posture was perfect, radiating absolute,terrifying competence.①

Alastair sat next to her, sliding a thick, freshly printed legal dossier across the glass.

No.4

"The JHU board just finalized the collaboration roster," Alastair said, his voice tight with annoyance."They officially signed off on you acting as the Chief Technical Advisor for Aethel. You have full operational control over the Chiron algorithm integration."

Elisa picked up the dossier. She flipped past the executive summaries, her black eyes scanning the dense columns of names and titles with machine-like speed.

Suddenly, her eyes stopped. Her finger traced a

single line of text on the third page.

JHU Clinical Data Consultant: Dr. Allena Mills.

Elisa's jaw tightened. A cold, sharp breath hissed through her teeth.

"Why is her name on this list?" Elisa asked, her voice dropping to a freezing, dangerous whisper.

No.5

Alastair leaned back in his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He looked exhausted.

"Because capital is a virus, Faye," Alastair explained grimly. "August Chambers just wired a fifty-million-dollar 'special research grant' directly to the JHU Dean's office. The donation came with a very strong,legally ambiguous 'recommendation' that Ms. Mills be included on the team to provide clinical oversight."

Elisa let out a dark, humorless laugh.

"Fifty million dollars," Elisa murmured, staring at the name on the paper. "He is literally burning his family's legacy to buy a participation trophy for his mistress."①

Alastair looked at her, his eyes filled with genuine

concern.

"I can fight this, Faye," Alastair offered, his voice firm."I can threaten to pull Aethel out of the joint venture entirely unless JHU removes her. I will not let August force his garbage into your workspace."

No.6

Elisa slowvly closed the dossier. She placed her hands flat on the glass table. The anger in her chest evaporated, replaced by a cold, absolute, predatory calm.

"No," Elisa said. Her voice was crystal clear. "Do not pull the plug.Let her stay."

Alastair frowned in confusion. "Are you sure? August is going to use this to pave a golden road for her right over your head."

Elisa turned her head and looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the sprawling Manhattan skyline.

"The wider the road he paves, the harder the concrete will be when she face-plants into it," Elisa said softly. "She wants to play in the major leagues?Fine.Let her step onto the field. This isn't a charity gala, Alastair. This is a battlefield built on raw code and clinical data. This is my domain."

She stood up, her black blazer snapping sharply.

"Notify Professor Finch at JHU," Elisa commanded,her eyes burning with a lethal light. "Tell him the official project kickoff meeting is in exactly three days. I want every single member of the core team in that room. I want them to see exactly who holds the keys to the kingdom."

No.7

Alastair smiled. It was a dark, predatory smile that matched hers perfectly. "Consider it done. I'll have the legal and PR teams on standby."

"One more thing," Elisa said, walking toward the door."I need a complete, unredacted data dump of every single piece of medical research Allena Mills has ever published. I want to know exactly how empty her brain is before I start dismantling it in public."

Alastair tapped his tablet. "Already done. I sent it to your secure server ten minutes ago. Spoiler alert,Faye: it's ninety percent ghostwritten fluff and zero original data."

Elisa paused at the door. A terrifying, freezing smirk touched her lips.

"Perfect," Elisa whispered. "Class is about to be in session."