Chapter 4

I threw myself into my robotics work. Professor Albright, my mentor, ran an advanced lab, and I was his star student.

We were working on a new prosthetic limb interface, something groundbreaking.

It was my escape, my focus.

Then, Chloe and Ethan returned to campus.

Ethan was on crutches, his face a permanent scowl. Chloe fussed over him, a martyr to their "tragic romance." They were campus celebrities of a sort.

One afternoon, Chloe approached me outside the lab.

"Liam, can we talk?"

She looked tired, shadows under her eyes.

"What about, Chloe?"

"It' s Ethan," she said, her voice low. "He' s... he' s struggling. The pain, his leg. He' s not himself."

I stayed silent.

"He needs something, a purpose. Professor Albright' s lab... he' s smart, Liam. He' s a business major, but he' s always been interested in tech. If you could just talk to Albright, put in a good word..."

I almost laughed. "You want me to help Ethan get into an exclusive robotics lab? After everything?"

"He needs this, Liam. For his recovery. For us."

"My answer is no, Chloe." I turned to leave.

"You' re just jealous!" she called after me.

I ignored her.

A week later, Professor Albright called me into his office.

"Liam, we have a new addition to the lab. Ethan Hayes."

I stared at him. "Ethan? But he' s a business major. He has no background in robotics."

Albright looked uncomfortable. "There was a... substantial donation made to the university. By a Mr. Marcus Thorne. It was stipulated that Mr. Hayes be given an opportunity in a tech field of his choosing."

Marcus Thorne. The name hit me like a punch to the gut.

The ruthless tech CEO.

My estranged father.

And then Albright dropped the other bomb.

"Mr. Thorne has also been revealed as Ethan Hayes' s biological father."

My head spun. Ethan? My half-brother?

"And," Albright continued, looking even more pained, "Mr. Hayes has requested an assistant. Chloe Davis will be joining the lab as well."

Chloe, in my sanctuary. With Ethan. All orchestrated by my father.

The university, always hungry for donations, had bent over backward.

I felt a cold fury rise.

This was not just about Chloe and Ethan anymore.

This was about Marcus Thorne.

And his games.