Betrayed by Love, Forged by Fire

sputtered

le

to do with the San Francisco fog outside. This Honda Civic was my home now. My office.

startup, on the verge of marrying David Chen, the golden boy

was n

stranger. The engagement was off. My company was bankrupt. My savings were g

ences." A clean, corporate-sounding phr

y best friend. The maid of honor whose dre

o my forehead. A flash of memory, sharp and unwanted. David, standing in o

rah. We want dif

rm wrapped around Emily. The headline read: "Silicon Valley' s Newest Power Coupl

lgor

ith him, with her, in moments of trust and excitement. They didn'

ld life, the last link to someone who had truly believed in me. A small, tarnished silver box.

world in code and circuits. Before he died, he' d given this to my mom

s was it. R

ve into my old laptop, the one with the cracked scr

eared on the scre

document. I

ouls. They will take and take and call it ambition. Betrayal is just another word for a business transaction. Remember who you are. Not who they want you to

hot and silent. He knew. Some

ttery icon fl

ing faster than I could read. It wasn't just an algorithm. It was a fully-fledged AI, more ad

een wen

I didn't feel the darkness. I f

twenty-four hours of Wi-Fi at a cheap cafe. I needed to

David, handsome and charismatic as ever in his tailored jacket. Emily, glowing, lookin

ay, not even noticing

David said, his voice smooth and confiden

ything," Emily corrected him

connected to the cafe's network. It was already working, s

ade in the warm air of the c

alling. It' s pathet

ing sound that used to make m

?" she asked, a hint o

his espresso. He d

had a good idea, but she lacked t

empty of recognition. It was as

irl who sacrificed everything for him, who believed in frie

w was sitting

ing commands into Prometheus' s interfac

s creating technology. I was wrong

remembered sharing my breakthroughs with Emily over wine, thinking I was celebrating with a

his support system, that I forgot to be myself.

m

ould take back everything they stole from me, and the

. The final boss. But a war isn't won in a single battle. You sta

my old life. The lawyers, the accountants, th

solution of assets." He was the one who had buried me in paperwork, the one wh

rogant. And he was the