Chapter 249:

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We walked into the conference room. Mr. Shaw, the project lead from the Titans’ side, was already there with his team.

“Mr. Ferguson, Ms. Sargent, good morning,” he greeted us cheerfully.

He poured us coffee, then leaned in with a conspiratorial air. “By the way, Captain Carlisle might be a little late today.”

Casey frowned. “Why?”

а𝖼𝘵𝗂𝘷e 𝖼𝘰𝘮𝗆𝘶nі𝘁𝘆 𝘰n 𝘨𝗮𝗅𝗇о𝘷𝘦lѕ.𝗰o𝗆

Mr. Shaw lowered his voice, a knowing smile on his face. “Well, after Ms. Nixon’s post-game analysis broadcast last night, I heard the captain picked her up himself. Word is, they were together all night.”

Casey’s jaw tightened, but I reached under the table and gave his sleeve a slight tug. When he looked at me, I gave a barely perceptible shake of my head.

I lifted my coffee cup, my eyes fixed on the data projected on the screen.

The conference room door swung open.

Dayna and Blake walked in side by side. He wore a faint, satisfied smile, the smile of a man who believed he still had a seat at my table. Dayna clung to his arm with a desperate intensity that screamed damage control.

I didn’t look away. I didn’t flinch. I picked up my tablet, the Nexus Analytics logo glowing on its screen, and looked him straight in the eye.

“You’re late, Captain Carlisle,” I said, my voice echoing through the silent room. “And in my meeting, that’s unacceptable.”

Corinne POV

The sudden silence in the room was thick enough to choke on. Mr. Shaw’s gossipy smile shifted into a respectful greeting as he registered my tone.

Blake’s gaze swept the room. It faltered when it reached me, a flicker of something complex crossing his face, guilt perhaps, or tension, before he forced himself to look away. He gave Casey a curt nod of acknowledgment and led Dayna to the head of the table.

As she passed me, Dayna paused. Her amber eyes raked over me, from my tired face down to my simple dress, her look full of undisguised contempt and a victor’s smugness.

I didn’t give her the satisfaction of a reaction. I simply kept my eyes on my laptop screen, my fingers poised over the keyboard.

My complete lack of response clearly annoyed her. She let out a soft huff and took the seat beside Blake.

The meeting began. It was the final technical handover for the Apex project before my full transition to the DOD contract. Blake led the discussion, while Dayna played the part of the perfect, supportive partner.

When it was my turn to present the Nexus module, I stood. Despite the lingering fatigue from the fever, my voice stayed crisp and professional as I walked everyone through our progress.

I never once looked at Blake or Dayna. My attention remained on the screen and on Mr. Shaw.

As I was explaining a complex algorithm, Dayna cut in. “Perhaps we should disable the heuristic caching thresholds to maximize raw throughput for our broadcast feeds,” she suggested, her voice sweet yet authoritative.

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