When Love Becomes a Weapon

The sterile air of the pre-flight briefing room chilled me to the bone. It was the taste of betrayal, bitter and metallic, that filled my mouth once more. Liam, my fiancé, and Chloe, his protégé, had crushed my career, my reputation, my entire life. They had effectively killed me. Then, I opened my eyes. I was back in the exact room, at the precise moment it all went wrong. My heart hammered, a frantic drumbeat of terror and a cold, rising fury. "Ava, are you listening?" Mark, my second-in-command, looked at me, concerned. He told me Chloe Vance had brought an undeclared briefcase, a "gift." I recognized it instantly: Project Chimera, a dangerous AI prototype. In my past life, I'd tried to protect Liam, only to have him orchestrate my complete downfall. He' d publicly accused me of corporate espionage, painting me as unstable and emotional. I had broken protocol for him, and he used it as a weapon. That version of me, naive and trusting, was dead. "You' re right, Liam," I heard myself say, my voice softening. "A gift is just a gift. We' ll let it go this one time." My team stared at me in disbelief. But I wasn' t saving him. I was giving him enough rope to hang himself. This time, he would be the one to fall.