ember

erer!" "Traitor!" They believed the lies Mark had fed them, that I was the one holding back the cure, that I was the monster letting their families die. The irony was a bitter ta

Jensen. I saw his handsome, smiling face on a giant screen behind the mob, accepting some humanitarian award.

, no

il

t desperation. I blinked, the harsh fluorescent lights making my eyes water. The memory of t

rence for OmniWell, Mark' s pharmaceutical company. The day he would announce the

r. Evelyn Reed, has made incredible

e of corporate responsibility. He gestured to me, a warm, proprietary smile on his face. In my past li

this

s ly

shard of glass. Every head turned towards me. The repor

fraction of a second. He ga

aid, his eyes sending a clear warnin

had brought her onto the project as a consultant. In my past life, I saw her as a colleague. Now, I saw her for what s

rafted expression of concern, a look

asked, her voice dripping with false sw

d before. The same condescendin

d. "Evelyn, we can

d the night I got the call I' d won the Gairdner Global Health Award, one of the biggest honors in my field. I was ecstatic. But Mark' s own project was failing, and he was

n recognition to protect his fragile ego, and he didn' t even thank me for it. He just seemed relieved, and a week

for. I saw the handsome face, the charming smile, and for the first time, I saw the rot

t. But this, this rebirth, was a chance. A chance to save them, to save everyone. But it meant I had to stop

hurt was still there, but it was

now, loud enough for every microphone to catch

where I was supposed to stand like a good,

m d