Chapter 4

I walked into Marcus Vance's office. He didn't ask me to sit. He was standing by his window, looking out over the Aether campus. He threw a printed copy of my blog post onto his desk. It landed with a loud slap.

"What the hell is this, Ethan?" he spat, his face red with anger. "You think you can just air the company's dirty laundry in public?"

"It's the truth, Marcus. I have proof."

"I've reviewed the situation," he said, walking towards me, his posture aggressive. "I spoke with Chloe. She has confirmed that you provided minimal support and that she and Leo did all the heavy lifting on Prometheus. She said you were resentful of Leo's talent from day one."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "That's a lie. My commit history..."

"Your commit history shows you worked on the codebase. It doesn't show leadership," he cut me off. He leaned in close, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "She also mentioned she's very close with the families of David and Sarah. You know who they are, right?"

My blood ran cold. David and Sarah. My parents.

"We can't afford to alienate people with those connections, Ethan," Vance continued, mistaking my stunned silence for understanding. "Aether is built on relationships. You should know that."

He thought Chloe was connected to them. He thought my fiancée, the daughter of mid-level manufacturing execs, was a part of Silicon Valley royalty. And Chloe had let him believe it. No, she had actively encouraged it. She must have shown him something. The old photo.

"So that's it?" I asked, my voice hollow. "You're just going to take her word for it?"

"It's not just her word," Vance said, walking back to his desk and picking up a folder. "It's about what's best for the company. And right now, what's best is to put this mess behind us."

He slid a document across the desk towards me.

"This is a Performance Improvement Plan. A PIP. Your recent behavior has been deemed disruptive and unprofessional. You have 30 days to demonstrate that you can be a team player. Or we'll have to terminate your employment."

It was a death sentence. No one survives a PIP at Aether. It's just a legal formality before they fire you.

"Furthermore," he added, not even looking at me, "your presentation to Jessica Thorne's executive team is, of course, cancelled. We can't have someone with your attitude representing this department."

I felt the floor drop out from under me. My career, my reputation, my project. All of it, gone. Destroyed by a lie.

I walked out of his office in a daze. I passed Chloe's desk. She was on the phone, laughing. She glanced up, saw me, and gave me a small, triumphant smile.

I went to the empty stairwell, the concrete walls feeling like a tomb. I was cornered. I had tried to do it my way, on my own merit. I had played by the rules. But the game was rigged.

My integrity was worthless against her lies. My talent was nothing against her manipulation.

I pulled out my phone. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely dial the number. I had never called this number for help before. Not once in my entire life.

The phone rang twice before a calm, familiar voice answered.

"Ethan? Is everything alright?"

I leaned my head against the cold concrete wall.

"Mom, Dad," I said, my voice cracking. "I tried to handle this myself, but I can't anymore. I need your help."