Chapter 10
After Damien’s sentencing came through, he tried to request a meeting with me.
Hard pass.
Didn’t need that kind of nausea in my life.
I asked Ethan if there was any way to recover the money Damien and Sophie had embezzled.
He shook his head. “Most of it’s gone. They burned through it.”
Pause.
“They’re flat broke now.”
I felt this wave of guilt crash over me. “This is my fault. I brought that snake into the company.”
Ethan jumped on that immediately.
“Didn’t you major in computer science? And weren’t you, like, top of your class?”
I blinked. “…Yeah?”
*
THO
“We’re developing AI-assisted rescue robots. If you feel that guilty, come work on the project.”
I knew what he was doing-trying to pull me out of my own head.
So I said yes,
I’d been so caught up in not wanting to “impose” on them that I’d probably hurt their feelings more than anything.
Not anymore.
I threw myself into the research.
Turns out, when you’re drowning in code and prototype testing, you don’t have time to obsess over your trash ex-husband.
Emilia would swing by occasionally, updating me on the new security protocols at the center. No more identity theft incidents. Ever.
That’s when it hit me-I never even asked if my drama had tanked her business.
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Chapter 10
Her clientele was ultra high-end. Those people didn’t tolerate scandals.
She clicked her tongue. “There you go again. Stop taking the blame for shit that isn’t your fault.”
“Damien and Sophie are the ones who screwed up. Not you.”
“If you apologize one more time, I’m gonna be pissed.”
I shut up.
Ethan started showing up every day around lunch, claiming he was “making sure I didn’t starve to death in the lab.”
It was embarrassing. And kind of sweet.
A year later, my team and I finally cracked it.
The first fully functional AI rescue robot.
Advanced learning algorithms. Insane mobility. Built for disaster zones, collapsed buildings, hazardous environments.
The second we unveiled it, the industry exploded.
I went from “Ethan’s sister” to “that genius engineer” overnight.
At the launch party, Ethan walked up to me in a sharp suit, hand extended.
“May I have this dance?”
I hesitated for half a second, then placed my hand in his.
He led me onto the floor..
His voice was soft. Careful.
“You know… the first time I met you, I was already gone.”
I looked up at him, confused.
“You were like this little wildflower growing through concrete. Nothing could break you.”
He paused.
“When you moved out and changed your legal status, I was happy for you. But then I found out you were already planning a future with someone else.”
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Oh.
Oh.
My brain went completely blank.
He smiled-gentle, no pressure.
“If you’re willing to give me a shot, I’d be the luckiest guy alive. But if not? That’s okay too.”
“Don’t feel like you owe me anything.”
I spent the rest of the night in a daze.
Because here’s the thing:
I did like Ethan.
He was kind. Steady. The kind of person who made you feel safe just by existing.
So I decided to take the risk.
For both of us.
When I told him, his whole face lit up.
And once we stopped dancing around it? Everything just… clicked.
On our wedding day, Emilia pulled me aside, half-laughing, half-exasperated.
“Ethan’s an idiot. If he’d just said something years ago, you wouldn’t have wasted time on that human dumpster fire.”
I laughed through tears. “Not his fault. I was so desperate for a family back then, I ignored every red flag.”
Mom and Dad were over the moon.
Turns out, my happiness had been right there the whole time,
I just had to stop running from it.
Good thing I didn’t miss it in the end.
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