Pustaka
Cari
Beranda / Romance / The Spy Who Left / The Price of Truth

Share

The Price of Truth

Penulis: Orion Vale
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-09-07 04:46:38

Present Day - Wednesday Morning

Elena Kozlov stares at the termination letter on her desk, the words blurring through her tears.

Effective immediately... breach of professional conduct... moral turpitude clause...

Twenty-three years of building her consulting practice, gone in a single paragraph.

"I'm sorry, Elena."

Richard Pemberton stands in the doorway of what used to be her office, his face a mask of corporate regret.

"The board voted unanimously. After yesterday's revelations about your involvement with Leon Hart, we can't maintain our relationship."

Elena looks around the space she's called home for over a decade. Awards on the walls. Photos from successful campaigns. The life she built after her divorce from the Russian oligarch who gave her his name and nothing else.

All of it is meaningless now.

"I testified against him, Richard. I'm helping put him in prison."

"After three years of helping him maintain his reputation while destroying his ex-wife's."

The words hit like physic
Lanjutkan membaca buku ini secara gratis
Pindai kode untuk mengunduh Aplikasi
Bab Terkunci
Bab sebelumnya Bab selanjutnya

Bab terbaru

  • The Spy Who Left   The Training Ground

    Day Three at Ashford AcademySophie woke to the sound of a bell at precisely six a.m.Around her, eleven other children rose from their beds with synchronized efficiency that spoke of extensive conditioning."Morning exercises in ten minutes," Sarah announced, already dressed in the Academy's standard training uniform. "Don't be late. Dr. Morrison doesn't like late."Dr. Morrison. The name carried weight that made Sophie's enhanced pattern recognition engage immediately.Not a teacher. A handler.Sophie dressed quickly, observing the other children. Ages nine to thirteen. All moving with controlled precision that suggested both enhancement and extensive training.The exercise room was underground. No windows. Biometric scanners at the entrance. The kind of security that had nothing to do with education.Dr. Morrison was a woman in her fifties with sharp eyes that assessed Sophie the moment she entered."Miss Chen. Welcome to advanced physical conditioning. Today, we'll be evaluating y

  • The Spy Who Left   Broken Sanctuary

    Twenty-Four Hours After the DisappearancesAria sat in the empty Zurich center, surrounded by silence where children's voices should have been.Eighteen families. Fifty-seven people. Gone.And it was her fault."We need to evacuate the remaining families," Marcus said, checking their secure communications for the third time in an hour. "Get them somewhere safe before.""Before what? Before whoever is taking them finds them through other channels? Marcus, we're the ones who made them visible. Our foundation identified the most enhanced children and put them in one place.""We were trying to help.""We were naive. Thinking we could create a sanctuary in a world where surveillance is ubiquitous and protection is just another word for control."Sophie sat at a child-sized table, her eleven-year-old frame looking small in furniture designed for younger children who were no longer there."I've been analyzing the disappearances," she said quietly. "Looking for patterns in which families were

  • The Spy Who Left   The Illusion of Reform

    Three Months After Sophie's UN MeetingThe press conference announcing the Global Technology Transparency Initiative was held in a gleaming conference center that smelled of new construction and optimism.Aria sat in the audience watching tech executives pledge to revolutionary reforms in data privacy and surveillance practices."We recognize that the events of the past year have eroded public trust," the CEO of a major social media platform announced. "Today, we commit to transparency, oversight, and protecting vulnerable populations, especially enhanced children from exploitation."Applause filled the room. Journalists scribbled notes about historic reforms.Aria felt sick.Marcus leaned over, whispering, "This sounds exactly like what we fought for.""That's what worries me."On stage, executives from seventeen tech companies signed agreements to limit data collection, submit to independent audits, and create protections specifically for enhanced individuals.The reforms looked com

  • The Spy Who Left   The Weight of Winning - 2

    One Month Later – UN Registry HeadquartersSophie sat in a conference room with officials who smiled like they were offering opportunities instead of chains."Miss Vale, your testimony helped create protections that benefit millions of enhanced individuals worldwide.""I'm aware.""We'd like you to join our oversight committee. Use your unique perspective to ensure the registry serves enhanced individuals rather than surveilling them."Sophie met their eyes with enhanced empathic awareness that told her exactly how insincere the offer was."What would my role include?""Consulting on policy. Representing enhanced individual interests. Helping us understand the community's needs.""While giving you access to that community's trust and communication channels."The officials' smiles faltered slightly."We're not asking you to spy on your community, Miss Vale.""No. You're asking me to legitimize surveillance by participating in it. Make enhanced individuals believe the registry is safe b

  • The Spy Who Left   The Weight of Winning - 1

    Six Weeks After the Congressional HearingsSophie stood at the window of their new apartment in Geneva, watching snow fall over a city that didn't know her face.Not yet, anyway."The legislation was passed in seventeen countries," Aria said, reviewing news coverage on her tablet. "Enhanced children have legal protections now. Medical oversight. Educational support. Everything we fought for.""I know.""The Morrison Institute has been shut down. Project Evolution's assets seized. Administrators facing criminal charges.""I know that too."Aria set down the tablet, hearing what Sophie wasn't saying."Talk to me, sweetheart."Sophie pressed her forehead against the cold glass."Do you remember when I was eight? Before everything started falling apart?""I remember.""I wanted to be a veterinarian. I loved animals. Thought I'd spend my life helping them.""You still could""No, I couldn't. Because I'm not Sophie Vale anymore. I'm the symbol. The engineered child who proved humanity could

  • The Spy Who Left   Truth and Consequences

    Twenty-Four Hours Before Congressional TestimonyThe senator's private office was smaller than Sophie expected.No grand mahogany desk. No walls of prestigious degrees. Just a modest workspace that felt more like a teacher's office than a seat of power.Senator Elizabeth Morrison stood when they entered Aria, Marcus, Sophie, and Victoria as security."Thank you for coming," she said, gesturing to chairs. "I know the name Morrison probably makes you uncomfortable.""Are you related to the Morrison Institute?" Aria asked bluntly."My grandfather founded it. My father expanded it. And I spent thirty years trying to stop it."The admission hung in the air like a grenade with the pin pulled."You're saying you've been working against your own family's organization?" Marcus asked skeptically."I'm saying I learned what they were really doing and couldn't live with it. I became a senator specifically to gain access to classified programs so I could expose them from the inside."Senator Morri

Bab Lainnya

Anda juga akan menyukai

Jelajahi dan baca novel bagus secara gratis
Akses gratis ke berbagai novel bagus di aplikasi GoodNovel. Unduh buku yang kamu suka dan baca di mana saja & kapan saja.
Baca buku gratis di Aplikasi
Pindai kode untuk membaca di Aplikasi
DMCA.com Protection Status