Chapter 39

“That’s about it. Last week was Robbie’s birthday. Ms. Meyer was with him the whole time. She even cut the cake. Honestly, the three of them looked just like a family.”
Reese’s hand paused halfway to her lips. She hadn’t thought about Robbie in forever. With Sofia taking care of him, his allergies had probably cleared up by
now.
“What? Are you jealous?”
A man’s voice came from behind her. Reese turned and saw Elijah leaning against the back of the couch, watching her with that cold, mocking look of his.
She frowned. “Whatever they’re doing has nothing to do with me.”
“Oh, nothing to do with you?” Elijah let out a short, sharp laugh. “You’ve been staring at them all night. Don’t tell me you’re planning to expose your thing with Sebastian in front of everyone, just to make it awkward for them?”
Reese set her glass down and stood, done with this conversation. She didn’t want to get pulled into Elijah’s drama.
“Elijah, if you think I’m so horrible, then just stay away from me.”
He wouldn’t let it go. “Aw, so now you’re acting like the victim?”
He stepped closer, voice low. “If you’re not toxic, then how come you ran to BlackOak with Sofia’s research after getting kicked out of Clever Cloud? Just to compete with her?”
“Everyone in the industry knows BlackOak’s dispatch system is just a copy of Clever Cloud’s.”
Reese’s head shot up. She glared at him. “Who said I copied anything?”
“Oh, you’re still going to deny it?” Elijah scoffed. “Sofia said so herself. People have compared both systems. The data overlaps. It’s obvious.”
“BlackOak’s stock has tanked because of this, and don’t tell me you didn’t know.”
She actually didn’t know. She was just filling in at BlackOak, not part of the management team. Alan hadn’t said a word about it.
Her hands shook with anger. She could take people talking about her, but BlackOak was Alan’s pride, and Dominic had personally recommended her for the job. She couldn’t let them get dragged down with her.
She took a deep breath and pushed through the crowd, heading straight toward Sofia and Sebastian.
Sofia was talking to Sebastian but her smile faded when she saw Reese coming. “Ms. Meyer, do you need something?”
Reese looked right at her, voice cold and clear. “I heard I stole your research?”
Sofia’s smile froze. She glanced over at Sebastian.
“There’s a misunderstanding, Ms. Meyer. All I said was that the data for both systems overlaps.”
“They’re both traffic dispatch systems. Some overlap is normal.”
Anyone in Al knew that when different people build similar systems, the data is never exactly the same. Sofia hadn’t actually said Reese copied her, but her words made it sound that way.
“Is this about the BlackOak and Clever Cloud dispatch systems?”
Their voices were loud enough that people nearby started whispering and watching.
“Clever Cloud released theirs first, then BlackOak popped up with a similar one, and the data overlaps. It’s pretty obvious what happened.”
“Couldn’t Clever Cloud have copied BlackOak? BlackOak’s done some impressive stuff too-”
“No way. Clever Cloud has Dominic in charge, and Ms. Meyer led the team after graduating from MIT. Why would she steal anything from BlackOak?”
Reese clenched her fists. “If I’m not mistaken, Clever Cloud’s dispatch system started development seven years ago, but then was put on hold. Sofia, you’ve only been at Clever Cloud for less than a year. How are you so sure all that research is yours?”
Sofia’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at Sebastian.
Sebastian finally looked at Reese, his eyes colder than ever. “I was there when Sofia did her research. I trust her. She would never do something like that.”
“She’s been in Al for years. Who are you to question her, anyway?”
“Yeah, who does she think she is, calling out Mr. Ratcliff’s girlfriend like that?”
“Maybe she’s just scared. If everyone finds out BlackOak copied Clever Cloud, she’ll be blacklisted from the industry. She’s just trying to get out ahead of it-how pathetic.”
“She’s just making things worse for herself.”
Every word felt like a slap. Reese stood there, frozen, every bit of her going numb. Sebastian was looking at her like she was nothing.
“Who says Reese copied anything?”
A deep, commanding voice rang out from the doorway. Three people walked in. Leading them was Dominic. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on.net