Chapter 112 One More Thing

Serena felt like she’d just heard the punchline to the world’s meanest joke.

She stayed planted, chin up, looking Eira over like something stuck to her shoe. "Cute outfit. But playing dress-up doesn’t make you somebody, Eira. You share a name with Dr. Crawford, that’s it. Don’t start believing your own fairy tale."

Eira glanced at the two men by the door.

That was all it took. Both bodyguards lifted Serena clean out of the chair in front of the whole room. She twisted against their grip and got nowhere.

"What the hell!"

Claire was already rolling a fresh chair into the gap, bright as sunshine. "Morning, Dr. Crawford."

Serena’s head whipped around.

The rest of the team looked up from their laptops and echoed it, easy and automatic, the way people greet someone they’ve greeted a thousand mornings running. "Morning, Dr. Crawford."

Eira sat. "Breakfast’s on the way up. Grab what you can, we’ll do a real break at lunch." Then she lifted her eyes to Serena’s blank stare, cool as you like. "Miss Winthrop. Maybe you’re the one who should quit fooling herself."

On the wall monitor, the live feed from the main conference room was already running, the first bidder setting up at the podium. Eira nodded at an empty chair. "Sit."

Serena couldn’t move. She’d heard the name Eira Crawford before and wondered, sure. Same city, same name, what were the odds?

But the Eira she knew did Alpha Sebastian’s laundry, and the Hales had always sold her as some forty-grand-a-year admin who’d been Alpha Killian Sterling’s secretary for a hot minute. That woman running the Sovereign Processor Initiative?

Either this whole room was in on a prank, or Serena had been catastrophically wrong.

Breakfast arrived, a box for everyone. Even her.

She stared at the steaming coffee, chest heaving. "What proof do you have that you’re Dr. Crawford?"

"I’m sitting in this seat. That’s your proof."

A researcher jumped in. "We’ve worked with her for years, Miss Winthrop. You joined at the tail end, makes sense you never crossed paths."

Claire piled on, sweet as pie. "She can always ask Dr. Victor Winthrop. He’s called Dr. Crawford into his office plenty of times."

Everyone knew what those meetings had been about. Her.

Serena’s jaw locked. She spun for the door. She needed to hear it from her grandfather.

"Miss Winthrop. Where do you think you’re going?"

One look from Eira and the guards were at the exit.

"Session’s live. Nobody leaves, standard leak protocol." A slight tilt of the head. "Sit down on your own, or should I have someone help you?"

The guards rolled their shoulders.

No play left.

Serena stalked back and slammed the bag on the table. Loud. Petty. All she had.

Eira didn’t look up. "Keep it down."

Serena’s knuckles went white around the strap.

--

The room was locked in on the presentations, company after company taking the floor for the Sovereign Processor.

Serena sat drowning in her own head.

[If Sebastian finds out how brilliant she is, does he ever let her go? What if the Hales flip overnight? ]

And the contract signing this afternoon.

She was supposed to be by Alpha Sebastian’s side.

She glanced at the guards by the door and felt her stomach drop. She wasn’t getting anywhere near that room today.

On screen, Alpha Sebastian pitched to the committee, smooth as ever.

She felt zero pride. Her grandfather praised Hale’s proposal and all it did was scare her.

Claire leaned over. "Dr. Crawford, so far Hale’s design lines up best with our specs."

"Let’s hear the rest." Eira glanced at the screen. The main room had gone to recess. "Take five, everybody. Hydrate."

Serena shot up and went for the door.

The guards didn’t blink.

"What is your problem?" She spun on Eira.

Eira looked honestly puzzled. "Did Dr. Victor Winthrop not walk you through protocol? Nobody leaves, nobody contacts the outside. Breaks included."

"It was all in the briefing packet," Claire chimed in, helpful as ever. "Did you not read it?"

Serena went red to the ears. "Why didn’t you tell Sebastian who you are?"

Eira leaned against the table, steam curling off her coffee, tone almost entertained. "Everyone on this program signed the same NDA. Nothing leaves these walls without written clearance."

Her gaze sharpened. "And clearance comes from one person. Me. Every disclosure gets logged with my signature on it."

A beat. "You came in at the tail end, Miss Winthrop, but you know what a classified federal program is. And you know exactly what it means to feed pieces of one to a company that’s bidding on it."

The implication landed.

Serena’d been performing for the Hales the whole time, dropping hints to make herself seem indispensable. Right in front of Eira.

The thought hit like glass sliding down her throat.

Eira let the silence stretch.

[She’d had the authority from day one. One signature on a clearance form, and Sebastian could have walked into that room ahead of every Alpha in the country.

She’d almost filed it once. Black folder tucked against her chest. Twenty feet from the conference room before she’d turned around.

Best decision she’d ever made.]

"Leave Sebastian out of this," she managed. "Whatever happens, remember what you two had. Don’t do anything reckless."

Eira almost laughed.

[Her whole world cracking, and Serena was worried about him.

True love. Adorable.]

She didn’t dignify it with an answer. Just picked up her pen and went back to her notes, like Serena had already left the room.

Break was almost up.

Serena took one last shot. "Think it through, Eira. If Sebastian loses this bid, what do you actually get?"

"Whoever wins, I get paid." Eira didn’t look up. "The core architecture is patented in my name. The government licenses it, the winning bidder licenses it from the government, and the majority share of that pool routes back to me. Anybody ships a single unit, somebody’s writing me a check."

Serena’s breath caught. Hale wins, Hale writes those checks. Sterling wins, Sterling does. Either way it lands in Eira’s account.

And the marriage math was worse: Alpha Sebastian was the one who’d cheated. If Eira filed, she’d take him apart in court and enjoy it. If Eira just never files, Serena stays the other woman forever. Her family would disown her first.

The walls were closing in.

"So you’ve known all along. About us."

Eira raised an eyebrow. "About what, exactly?"

No answer. Some words you can’t say out loud.