LOGIN[Lily's POV]The conference room had emptied out, but I could still hear the echo of David's voice in my head."No. I vote against the motion. Dr. McCutchen stays."Nine words. Nine words that had undone weeks of careful planning. I sat in the rear passenger seat of the car, my hands clenched in my lap so tightly that my nails left crescent-shaped indentations in my palms. Up front, my driver hadn't said a word — he knew better than to speak to me right now.I stared out the window without seeing anything. The city blurred past in a smear of gray and concrete.He chose her. Again. In front of everyone there, in front of me, sitting right beside him with his child in my belly, he chose her. He looked at her with those eyes. Those same damn eyes I'd seen him directing at my sister for years.That conflicted, pained, "I know I shouldn't but I can't help it," look.I had been sitting right there at his side. And he still looked at her.My phone buzzed. I pulled it out. A notification from
[Alice's POV]"No, seriously. You look like you haven't slept in three days and your face is doing that thing where you're pretending to be fine but you're actually not at all. Sit down."She grabbed my arm and guided me to a chair. "I have snacks. Do you want snacks? I have those spicy seaweed chips you like. And maybe a chocolate bar, somewhere in my drawer. Hold on —""Noelle."She paused and looked at me."I didn't come here for snacks. I came here because I need your help. Professionally."Noelle's expression shifted. The bouncy, caffeinated energy drained away, replaced by something calmer and more focused. She pulled her chair over, and sat down beside me."Tell me.”I told her everything. Starting from the initial anonymous tabloid article, to the overnight escalation on the forensic forum, to the specific legal clauses being weaponized, to the board meeting and David's veto. I didn't leave anything out. I told her about the proxy server IP, about Adam's suspicion regarding th
[Alice's POV]I drove straight to the university campus, near the center of downtown Zurich.It was a Tuesday morning, so the parking lot near the Computer Science building was nearly full. I had to circle twice before finding a spot near the far end, next to a row of dormant cherry trees. I killed the engine, sat for a moment, and stared at the brick facade of the building through the windshield.Noelle Chen.We'd met during my second year of medical school, in circumstances that were anything but ordinary. She had been a first-year graduate student in Computer Science at the time — brilliant, eccentric, and socially awkward in that way that made most people uncomfortable but made me feel right at home.We crossed paths because of a campus emergency: a routine appendectomy had gone sideways, and Noelle had been the patient. I wasn't even supposed to be in that operating room — I was just a second-year student observing from the gallery — but the lead surgeon stepped out for a moment,
[Alice’s POV]The moment I saw Lily standing next to David in the driveway, a stab of bitter disappointment lanced through me.It wasn't heartbreak. That ship had long since sailed, shattered against the rocks of our divorce agreement. It was more of a weary resignation — the kind of feeling you get when you guess the ending of a movie before the opening credits finish rolling. So, why was she here with him?I stood there by my car, the morning air biting at my cheeks. Beside me, Adam's posture instantly shifted when he saw them. His relaxed demeanor vanished, replaced by a rigid, hostile tension."David," Adam's voice cut through the quiet morning. It was low, but it carried a sharp, unyielding edge. "Your girlfriend is pregnant. Regardless of how things ended between you and Alice, you need to take responsibility for your own actions. Step up and be a man. You and Alice are already divorced."David’s expression didn't waver, but a flash of cold defensiveness flickered in his eyes. H
[Lily’s POV]I stood by the tall window in David's study, looking down at the city lights. The news had broken less than twenty-four hours ago, and the internet was already a bonfire. Forensic forums, financial news, social media — all screaming Alice McCutchen's name in connection with biosafety violations and public endangerment.A slow, satisfied smile crept onto my face.This time, it was real. Not just some baseless academic gossip, but a lethal, structured strike. The legal penalties mentioned in those articles weren't exaggerated; I had made sure of that. With this kind of pressure, the Zurich Institute wouldn't just fire her — they would throw her out to save themselves.She would be ruined, disgraced, up on charges and possibly facing prison time. David would finally sever all ties with her. And then, there would only be me. The sound of the study door opening made me turn around. David walked in. He looked exhausted, but his expression was as guarded as ever. He went strai
[Alice’s POV]The emergency board meeting was being held in the large conference room on the top floor of the Zurich Institute. The long mahogany table, usually a place for orderly quarterly reviews, felt more like a tribunal today. The air conditioning was set too high, and yet, a suffocating tension made the room feel stiflingly hot. I sat close to the head of the table but couldn’t dispel a sense of being divorced from the urgency of the gathering. I kept my gaze down, unfocused, isolated in my own sphere. The past few days had been a living nightmare. The internet was in an uproar, the forensic forum's post had been picked up by mainstream financial and legal media, and the institute’s stock had taken a sharp hit in early trading. David sat at the head of the table, next to the chairman. His face was impeccably composed, a cold, unreadable mask that showed absolutely no trace of the man who had weathered the biggest storm in his life, just days ago. Beside him, in the seat typic
[Alice’s POV]Success was a drug, potent and immediate.For the next forty-eight hours, the bunker became a blur of adrenaline, espresso, and sheer, desperate willpower. We fell into a rhythm, a dangerous dance of chemistry and survival. Endall and I stopped being two individuals; we became a singl
[Adam’s POV]The view from the penthouse suite was enough to take anyone’s breath away. Zurich sprawled out below, a glittering tapestry of gold and diamond lights reflecting off the dark, glassy surface of the lake. It was the kind of view that promised the world — the kind of view that belonged o
[Adam’s POV]The ballroom was a sensory assault. Crystal chandeliers dripped light onto a sea of tuxedos and evening gowns, the air thick with the scent of expensive perfume, champagne, and the faint, metallic tang of greed. It was the charity gala of the year, a playground for the wealthy to pat t
[Alice’s POV]The Swiss winter wasn't just cold; it had a way of biting through you, a cruel precision that seemed to target the bones. I pulled my wool scarf tighter around my neck, trying to preserve the little heat I had managed to generate. It was a losing battle. My metabolism was burning thro







