Chapter 3 Episode 3

The next morning, Raven arrived at the office earlier than usual, her heels clicking against the marble floors of GenexaTech's sleek headquarters. She had barely set her bag down when Harper appeared in the doorway, clutching a coffee cup in one hand and a tablet in the other.

"Good morning, Ms. Dark," Harper greeted, trying to keep her voice chipper.

Raven raised a brow, already sensing something was amiss. "What is it, Harper?"

"There's, um... been a slight change in today's schedule."

Raven crossed her arms, fixing Harper with a sharp look. "I don't like surprises. Spit it out."

Harper hesitated, her gaze darting nervously to the tablet. "Mr. Hank requested a meeting with you. Alone. He said it's urgent."

Raven's lips pressed into a thin line. Of course, Matt Hank couldn't even let her have one morning of peace. "Did he happen to mention what this so-called 'urgent' meeting is about?"

Harper shook her head quickly. "No, but he sounded... serious."

Raven scoffed, grabbing the coffee from Harper's hand and taking a long sip. "Serious? Matt Hank? That'll be the day."

Harper stood awkwardly in the doorway, unsure if she should leave.

"Fine," Raven snapped, setting the cup down with a sharp clink. "Schedule it for now. Let's get this over with."

Harper nodded and scurried off, leaving Raven alone with her thoughts. She stared at the skyline outside her window, wondering what game Matt was playing this time. Whatever it was, she'd be ready for him.

The meeting room was smaller than the one they'd used the day before, its glass walls offering a view of the bustling office floor. Raven arrived five minutes early, refusing to give Matt the satisfaction of thinking she was avoiding him. She took a seat at the head of the table, her posture straight and her expression icy.

He arrived a minute later, looking infuriatingly relaxed in a navy suit that hugged his broad frame perfectly. He carried a black folder in one hand, his trademark smirk firmly in place.

"Punctual," Matt remarked as he entered, his voice smooth as silk. "I like that about you."

Raven didn't rise from her seat. She merely crossed one leg over the other and fixed him with a glare. "Cut the small talk, Matt. What's this about?"

He set the folder down on the table and slid into the chair across from her, his blue eyes gleaming with amusement. "Always so direct, Raven. You really know how to keep a man on his toes."

Her jaw clenched. "If you called me here to flirt, I'm leaving."

"Relax," he said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "This isn't about that."

He opened the folder, revealing a stack of papers covered in charts, graphs, and text. "It's about the AI project. I've been reviewing the specs your team sent over, and I noticed some... issues."

Raven leaned forward, her eyes narrowing. "Issues? What kind of issues?"

Matt tapped a finger on one of the pages, his expression suddenly serious. "The scalability of the neural network. Your team's approach is innovative, sure, but it's risky. If we don't address this now, it could tank the entire project six months down the line."

She studied the page he pointed to, her mind racing as she processed the information. He wasn't wrong-the approach her team had proposed was ambitious, but it was also untested. Still, the idea of admitting he had a point made her stomach churn.

"Let me guess," she said, her tone laced with sarcasm. "You've got a better solution?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," Matt replied smoothly. He flipped to another page, revealing a detailed alternative proposal. "It's not as flashy as your team's idea, but it's stable. Reliable. And it has a much lower margin of error."

Raven studied the page, her mind working through the numbers. Damn it. He had a point.

"Impressive," she admitted grudgingly. "For once, you're actually contributing something useful."

Matt leaned back in his chair, a triumphant grin spreading across his face. "Careful, Raven. If you keep giving me compliments, I might start to think you like me."

Her eyes snapped to his, cold and unyielding. "Don't push your luck, Hank."

He chuckled, clearly enjoying himself. "You know, this could actually be fun if you'd stop fighting me at every turn."

"Fun?" she repeated, her voice dripping with disbelief. "This isn't fun, Matt. This is business. Serious business. The kind that can make or break entire careers."

His expression sobered slightly, though the playful glint in his eyes remained. "I know that, Raven. Believe it or not, I care about this project as much as you do. Maybe more."

She studied him for a long moment, trying to gauge his sincerity. Was it possible that beneath all the arrogance and charm, there was a man who actually cared about more than his bottom line?

Unlikely.

"Well," she said finally, closing the folder and sliding it back to him. "If you're serious about making this work, you'd better keep bringing ideas like this to the table. Otherwise, you're just dead weight."

Matt's grin returned, brighter than ever. "Trust me, Raven. I'm anything but dead weight."

She stood, smoothing down her skirt. "We'll see."

As she walked out of the room, she felt his gaze following her, the weight of his smirk lingering in the air like a challenge.

Raven didn't trust Matt Hank. Not one bit. But for the first time, she wondered if working with him might not be the unmitigated disaster she'd imagined.

It might just be worse.