MasukDr. Smith’s side of the treatment had already been successfully wrapped up, so it was no surprise that Felix had finally made his move.He had dug a trap for Xena and laid out the whole game in advance. The thirteen percent of York Corporation shares she had gotten from him was the reward for cooperating with the experiment.Dr. Smith’s side of the treatment had already been successfully wrapped up, so it was no surprise that Felix had finally made his move.He had laid a trap for Xena from the very beginning. The thirteen percent of York Corporation shares she had taken from him was the reward for cooperating with the experiment.Xena’s greed had always been enormous. Shares in York Corporation worth six hundred million were more than enough to feed her ambition. Back when Felix helped push York Corporation onto the market, he had already been planning for this day.Now that the experiment was over, the result of the ten years Xena had spent holding Felix in check was this. York
Miranda took off her lab coat. Adrian was staying behind to log the data, so he told her to head out first. Miranda reminded him not to stay too late.She grabbed her bag and stepped out of the office. In the hallway, a familiar figure was walking toward her with a smile.“Ms. Stone, done for the night?”“Gavin? What are you doing here?” Miranda asked in surprise.“I’m here to drive you home. Mr. Gibson figured you’d be exhausted after working late, so he sent me to be your driver,” Gavin said.Miranda really was tired. For the sake of safety, she didn’t turn him down.On the drive home, Gavin drove steadily, and Miranda felt a quiet wave of gratitude.When they reached the parking garage, she thanked him. “Gavin, thank you. You should head home and get some rest too.”“If you’re thanking anyone, thank Mr. Gibson,” Gavin said at once. There was no way he was taking credit for this. He was just following orders.The thoughtfulness had come from Felix.Miranda nodded, then head
The board’s approval of the additional funding was a relief to Miranda too. After talking it over with James, she learned that the consumer side of the project was progressing very smoothly, and Gibson’s stock continued to trend steadily upward.Not long after Miranda got back to the lab, her phone rang. Dr. Zeller’s name appeared on the screen.“Dr. Zeller,” Miranda said as she answered.“Miranda, I’ll be at the lab at three this afternoon. There are some research details I want to go over with you in person.”Something in Miranda’s chest tightened. The fact that Dr. Zeller was personally making a trip to Atlantis City to speak with her only made her suspicions stronger.She hesitated, then asked, “Dr. Zeller, can you tell me whether someone needs the brain-computer project to be activated for treatment?”There was a brief silence on the other end.“We’ll talk when I get there.”At three that afternoon, Dr. Zeller arrived right on time. He looked more serious than usual, and t
Miranda stepped inside and glanced at Felix in the seat at the head of the table. He was wearing his glasses again today, which made him look even more sharp and unreadable. But when his eyes landed on her, there was a hint of softness there too.The meeting had barely begun when one of the board members spoke up first.“One billion? Mr. Gibson, the brain-computer project has already burned through an enormous amount of money, and we still haven’t seen any real commercial return. Now you want to put in another billion? This is just throwing money into a fire.”The room immediately erupted, and more than half the board voiced their agreement.“I propose we keep the consumer side of the brain-computer project and drop the medical research side altogether,” another board member said. “At least that way we can protect what we’ve already invested.”Seated at the head of the table, Felix listened to all the objections without changing expression. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze
After more than an hour of handing things over, Miranda was still distracted by everything on her mind. When she pushed open the door, her steps stopped.The first thing she saw was Felix asleep on the couch, still fully dressed.Miranda frowned slightly, but she still softened her footsteps and went back to her desk. She still had a few documents to finish, so for the moment, she had no choice but to stay in the same room with him.Sunlight from the window happened to fall across him, wrapping his whole body in a soft glow. Stripped of the sharp edge he wore in the business world, he looked unexpectedly quiet, almost childlike.Miranda was typing away when the man on the couch suddenly let out the faintest murmur.“Miranda... don’t go.”Her fingers froze over the keyboard for a few seconds. She looked up toward the couch.Felix hadn’t woken up. His brows were drawn tight, as if he were trapped in some bad dream.The moment threw off her thoughts. Miranda frowned at the sleepin
Felix was very good at hiding every emotion behind a calm exterior, so good that no one could ever truly read him.“Okay. I’ll go back to the brain-computer team tomorrow,” Miranda said at last with a nod.Felix was quiet for a moment, then pressed the issue anyway. “Wrap up the handoff today and go back this afternoon.”Confusion flickered in Miranda’s eyes. Was he really in that much of a hurry? No matter how she looked at it, something about his behavior today felt off.Not only had he suddenly launched a new project, he had also been unusually specific about the direction of the research.That, combined with Mike’s disappearance, made a thought flash through her mind.Could it be...No. That couldn’t be right.Miranda shook her head and forced the thought away. Mike was out on a mission. How could this research project possibly have anything to do with him?Just then, her phone rang. She glanced at the name on the screen, and her breathing caught.It was Justin.Felix’s
Melvin, however, kept his face perfectly calm even as irritation churned beneath it. He was a vice president of Gibson Corporation, yet Miranda had publicly shut him down in front of every shareholder. She had given him no room to save face.Felix was not entirely comfortable either, but his voice
“I’m heading to the boardroom,” Coco said.“That’s where the shareholders are meeting. What are you doing in there?” Fiona grabbed her arm.“Miranda is giving the presentation. I’m going in to help.” Coco paused, then lifted a brow at her. “Hold on. You really didn’t know the shareholders came her
Miranda frowned when she noticed the DE label printed on the box. It had clearly come from one of DE’s engineering teams.Mia clapped excitedly, tugging on Miranda’s sleeve. “Mom, open it. I want to see what it is.”Miranda and Mrs. Young carried the box inside and started unpacking it. Inside was
Fiona convinced herself that Miranda’s win wasn’t as impressive as it looked. In her mind, Samantha and Dr. Lewis, who had both been close friends of Eugene, had obviously played a role in recommending her for the award. With professors like that behind her, the whole thing had to involve some level







