Chapter 2

A few days passed in a blur of forced politeness and quiet meals.

I tried to be invisible, to not cause any trouble.

I slept a lot. Nightmares of Ironwood still clawed at me.

One afternoon, I was in my room, trying to read. The house was quiet.

Then I heard voices from downstairs. Marcus and Leo.

Their voices were low, urgent.

I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but the vents carried sound.

"She can't find out, Leo. You understand?" Marcus said, his voice tight.

"I know, Dad. But it' s... it' s hard. Seeing her." Leo sounded strained.

"Vivian said it was just a prank, a way to see the servers glitch. She said no one would get hurt."

My blood ran cold. Vivian. My adopted sister.

"A prank?" Marcus' s voice was sharp. "It brought Aegis to its knees, Leo! It exposed everything!"

"I didn't mean for it to happen! Vivian pushed me. She made it sound like fun, like a game."

Leo' s voice cracked. "I was just a kid."

A kid. He was sixteen then. Easily influenced. Always eager to please Vivian.

My heart hammered against my ribs.

"And I protected you," Marcus said, his voice dropping. "I protected Vivian. I protected Aegis."

A beat of silence.

"Eleanor was the Chief Archivist. It was... convenient. She took the fall. It was the only way to contain it, to stop it from tracing back to us, to Vivian."

I pressed my hand to my mouth to stifle a gasp.

Convenient.

Ten years of my life. Convenient.

"But she looks so... broken," Leo whispered.

"She'll recover. We'll take care of her. She just needs to stay quiet. Vivian has things under control at Aegis now. Her position is secure."

Vivian.

My position.

The whispers continued, but I couldn't process them anymore.

The floor felt like it was tilting.

My husband. My son.

They knew. They let it happen.

No, they made it happen.

Marcus chose to frame me. To protect Leo. To protect Vivian.

Vivian, who he was already involved with. The pieces clicked into place with sickening clarity.

The "sympathy," the "support" – it was all a lie.

A carefully constructed performance.

I felt a cold dread creep up my spine.

The people I trusted most.

The people I loved.

They had destroyed me.