Chapter 4 Risky Contact

The café Sophia had picked was precisely exact thing Olivia would have expected - selective, overrated, and trickling with assumption. As they were directed to a separated table on the patio, Olivia really wanted to feel like she was strolling into a snare.

"So," Sophia said, whenever they were situated and the server had taken their orders. " Head of Worldwide Drives. That is all in all a title for somebody who's been out of the tech world for 10 years."

Olivia fixed her gaze on her. I haven't acknowledged the position yet."

"Oh?" Sophia raised an impeccably etched eyebrow. " That is not the very thing that Ethan generally tends to assume. He hasn't quit discussing you since the previous evening, truth be told."

The words were intended to sting, and in spite of herself, Olivia felt a twinge of fulfillment. She immediately shoved the inclination to the side. " Sophia, I didn't return to Westbrook to create problems. Everything that transpired between Ethan and me is history."

"Sharp and brittle was Sophia's chuckle. Is it? So, Olivia, why are you here? Why now?"

Briefly, Olivia thought about coming clean with her. about the enigmatic email she received a month ago with information about her father's previous business that suggested cover-ups and corruption. About how that email had driven her on a path that in some way, mysteriously, drove back to Westbrook and Blackwood Advancements.

Yet, something held her back. Trust was an extravagance she was unable to manage the cost of this moment.

"I returned in light of the fact that the time had come," she said all things being equal. " Westbrook is my home, paying little mind to what occurred before."

Evidently unable to accept it, Sophia's eyes narrowed. Let me bring something to your attention because we're going to be taking a brief trip back in time. Ethan picked me. He remained with me. Anything student dream you're gripping to, now is the right time to let it go."

The words hit harder than Olivia anticipated. When her phone buzzed, she opened her mouth to respond. A text from an obscure number:

"Meet me at the old treehouse. 1 hour. Be on your own. J"

Olivia's heart hustled. The treehouse had been her and Ethan's mystery spot in secondary school. How did Jackson be aware of it?

"Problem?" Sophia asked, her tone wiped out sweet.

Olivia constrained a grin. " Not the least bit. Simply an update about a cutoff time."

As they completed their lunch in tense quietness, Olivia's brain was somewhere else. What was Jackson trying so desperately to convey to her? Also, why at the treehouse out of every other place on earth?

After an hour, Olivia wound up walking through the forest behind Westbrook High, her heels sinking into the delicate earth. The old oak tree lingered ahead, its branches actually bearing the endured boards of their teen hideaway.

"Jack?" she called out delicately as she drew nearer.

A stir from above made her gaze upward. However, it wasn't Jackson's face that looked down at her from the treehouse.

It was Ethan's.

"Hi, Liv," he said, his appearance confused. " We really want to talk."

Olivia's breath trapped in her throat. " How did you - "

"Realize you'd be here?" Ethan completed the process of, moving down from the treehouse effortlessly. " I had your telephone followed after the information break. could not risk anything."

Olivia's chest tightened with rage. You had no right - "

"I had each right," Ethan cut her off, his voice hard. " Billions of dollars and the eventual fate of worldwide training are in question. I had to be aware if I would trust you."

"Believe me?" Olivia made incredulous repetitions. You're the person who's been lying since the second I returned to town! The bid for employment, the task, every last bit of it - you're not letting me know every bit of relevant information, Ethan. Furthermore, presently I figure out you've been keeping an eye on me?"

Even though Olivia was enraged, Ethan made a gesture through his hair that was so familiar to her that it broke her heart. You're correct," he said delicately. " I haven't been completely honest. However, I had my reasons.

"I'm tuning in," Olivia said, folding her arms.

Ethan took a full breath. " Project Prometheus isn't simply an instruction drive. It's... more. The man-made intelligence we've created - it can possibly change learning, however thinking itself. In the right hands, it could settle starvation around the world, fix sicknesses, switch environmental change. In some unacceptable hands..."

"It very well may be a weapon," Olivia got done, the ramifications soaking in.

Ethan gestured bleakly. " The most remarkable one at any point made. Also, presently it's been taken."

"Why let me know this?" Olivia asked, her brain faltering. " Why include me by any stretch of the imagination?"

Ethan ventured nearer, close enough that she could see the specks of gold in his hazel eyes. " Since I trust you, Liv. surpassing all others. I generally have."

"And Sophia?" Embarrassed by the low volume of her voice, Olivia whispered.

Ethan's face was covered in a shadow. Sophia is... difficult. Our commitment, it's not your thought process. It's - "

A twig snapped somewhere out there, removing him. Ethan's head whipped around, his body straining. " We're in good company," he mumbled.

Before Olivia could respond, Ethan snatched her hand, pulling her nearby. " Do you believe me?" he asked earnestly.

1,000 recollections streaked through Olivia's psyche - of commitments made and broken, of despair and disloyalty. Yet, underneath everything, a reality she was unable to deny.

"Indeed," she relaxed.

In one smooth movement, Ethan maneuvered her into the haven of a close by oak, squeezing her against the unpleasant bark. His body safeguarded her from view, his face simple creeps from hers.

"Whatever occurs," he murmured, his breath warm on her cheek, "recall that all that I've done, I've done to safeguard you."

And afterward, before Olivia could deal with his words, Ethan's lips crashed onto hers. The kiss was frantic, earnest, loaded up with 10 years of implicit yearning. Briefly, the world fell away, and Olivia was seventeen once more, lost in the arms of her most memorable love.

A shot fragmented the bark creeps from their heads, breaking the occasion.

With wild eyes, Ethan retreated. Run!" he yelled, pushing her in front of him.

As they ran through the forest, the sound of pursuit not far behind, Olivia's brain hustled quicker than her feet. Who was pursuing them? What had she found herself mixed up with?

Also, above all, might she at some point believe the man running close to her, the one who had recently flipped around her reality once more?