CHAPTER THREE

LIANA'S POV

The sunlight filtered through the curtains, warm and golden, reaching the wooden wardrobe and the faded floral bedspread. It smelled of polish and stale fabric in here, I had missed my bedroom but until this morning, I hadn't realised that. .

I stood still for a moment and let myself be wrapped in the silence. I did not wish to stir. My body was heavier than usual but not with sleep. With memory.

I lay there, combing through what I still had left of Dominic and me. The good parts. The first apartment, furnished  with dreams and too many mugs. His hand brushing against mine as we coded together in sync. Stolen kisses, whispered concepts, the way he would look at me as if I were a miracle.

Before everything went wrong.

Before the silence. Before promiscuity.

I still remember the meetings when he wouldn't even glance at me. The lunches when he would "forget" I was right beside him. The public praises he got alone for a project we developed together, AIra.

Our AI prototype. They'd once said it was revolutionary. Then, softly, they started saying it was his.

My chest tightened. I sat up and placed my feet on the chilled tile floor, grounding myself. This was no dream but I didn't feel like I was awake. I was in-between. 

I was gone, but I wasn't gone. Not yet. Not really.

Later that morning, I headed to the back building of my mother's compound. Years earlier, it had been used as a storage shed, holding old furniture and appliances that had been left behind. But slowly and determindly, I cleaned it out, rewired it, and piece by piece, slowly, I made it my own.

My lab. It was not high-tech. Far from it. 

But it held something valuable, my blueprints, my designs, my concepts.

My hope.

I went to stand by the hydraulic lift lamp I'd been working on, a prototype for the Z-Column Bed Line. I adjusted the wiring, and checked the movement. It moved just as I'd planned- smooth, responsive, and powerful.

This one was for comfort. For care. For people like Cam. For the people I didn't want to leave behind.

……….

A few days later, at lunchtime, I decided to tell my mom.

We were eating jollof rice and fried plantains— slightly charred, just the way she liked them. She'd always said it added flavor.

"Mama," I said, my voice softer than I intended.

She didn't lift her head, but I felt a hesitation. Fork suspended in the air.

"I've been speaking to someone, a contact. He's helping me get my relocation papers sorted."

Her fork clattered to her plate.

"I'm thinking of leaving. Maybe in a week or two."

Her eyes finally met mine, sharp and searching. "Is this safe? Real?"

"It is," I told her quickly. "His name is Keon. He's been working on getting a lab team established overseas. He added me on as a co-lead so the paperwork could get rushed through."

A long silence.

"And Camilla?"

"I haven't told her yet." I rubbed my palms down my thighs. "I will. Tonight.

Her tone was softer then. "You know she's grown up in this house. With me. This is home."

"I know. But I have to do this. I need this, Mama. I want more for her. And for me."

She nodded slightly. "Then tell her. She deserves that.

That evening, I walked into the living room to find Camilla sitting in the middle of a sea of blocks, dolls, and snack crumbs. Teddy was stuck in a paper cup with a plastic spoon taped to the side of it.

"Mama! Teddy's on a rocket ship!" she said proudly.

I laughed. "He's ready for liftoff, all right."

She smiled. My messy, curious, beautiful girl.

"Kam," I said, sitting down next to her. "Can I tell you something big?"

She nodded, still munching on a cracker.

"We're going on a big trip. On an airplane."

Her eyes widened. "A sky plane?"

"Yes, baby. A real one. We're going to live in a new place. Just the two of us."

She blinked, looking around the room. "Grandma too?"

I hesitated. "Not right away. But she'll visit. All the time. And we'll video call, and you can send her pictures."

Cam tilted her head to one side. "She will bring me pink cupcakes?"

“Pink cupcakes, blue cookies, all of it."

She grinned. "Okay! I go! But grandma pwomise to come!"

I held out my pinky. "Pinky promise."

She wrapped hers around mine and kissed it. "An' I bring Teddy."

"Of course. No space adventure is complete without him."

……….

Two days later, I was in the lab, sweating and soldering wires onto a circuit board. I was in the middle of it when my phone buzzed.

Keon: Flight confirmed. Next Friday. You're booked.

I stared at the screen.

It was real.

My body relaxed beneath the weight of itlrelief, excitement, fear, all crashing over me like a wave. I almost called out for my mom, but before I could, the screen on my work desk hummed to life.

Secure server online.

My heart missed a beat.

I moved toward it slowly, like in a dream.

Red Corp Private Server

Encrypted Simulation Log // Status: SUCCESSFUL SIMULATION EXECUTED

No. Way.

I blinked again, heart now pounding in my chest.

They used my code.

The AIra code. The part I implanted, my fingerprint had been triggered. They thought it was washed clean. They thought I was erased.

But the system recognized me.

And it passed. The simulation passed.

It worked. They had executed it.

Dominic must've thought I was out of the game. He must've thought I was somewhere crying, attempting to rebuild my life from scratch.

He had no idea I was waiting for when to strike.

I stepped back, the room tilting slightly around me, vision buzzing. My code has survived. And not just survived, it thrived.

I turned in the dimly lit room, the wires of my makeshift lab trailing along the floor, half-covered blueprints and half-soldered prototypes dotting every surface. 

I had done it, I was getting out. We were getting out

This wasn't a victory. It was a reminder.

Dominic's empire now had one crack in it. 

Me. But it wasn't enough.

Now that I knew my code was working, this was only the beginning. 

The beginning of his downfall.