Beyond Betrayal: A Heart's Escape

hree years of nights like this, fueled by caff

re bedroom, was on the verge of its IPO. The finish l

eer, the ghost in her machine. No one here knew I was Mr. Chloe Davis. T

augh. It always made me smile. But it was almost

e. My office, technically. She' d given it to me when the company moved into

, ready to surprise her. I p

world s

her personal assistant, stood in front of her,

. The air in my lun

as she pulled bac

Liam," she whisper

ead washe

Liam asked, a smu

e ran a hand through his hair. "

ieter, deeper. A hollow space opening up insi

eer? I don' t know what you ever saw in him. He just

gh along. My hand tightened on

he di

her voice dropping to a dangerous hiss. "

nfused. "Chlo

ery line of code that' s about to make us millions, he wrote it. You' re just a toy, Liam. You' re fun. Bu

uickly. "I... I' m s

ssion softened again, melting back into that seduct

nt. I stumbled back to my own desk in the open-plan a

ce, confusing defens

e, my fingers clumsy. I needed to get out. N

ars. Dr. Peterson. My old college professor. The man

ring. "Ethan? It' s late

at mission you told me about. The one in the Z

. The last volunteer didn' t make it back. What' s going on? I thought things were going great. Chloe' s IPO is tomorrow. She calls

e word was

e words tasting like ash. "Right now

oe adores you. I was there when she turned down a full ride to Stanford to stay with you after

me. The sacrifices. The promises. It

hrough the crack. I didn' t look. I just snapped a picture of the

poke again, his voice was heavy with sorrow. "M

n?" I asked agai

If you' re sure, the flight leaves in two days. But I n

hung up before he could

hummed with my code. The stock ticker on the wall was already

ould stand on a stage and become a billionaire because of my

g was the only clean cut I could make. It was better for everyone. Especially for her parents,

dness. It was my