the rearview mirror to shoot Ava a look of pure triumph. Victor drove with a focused intensity, his knuckles white on t

th public humiliation, with financial ruin, with the constant, grinding weight of her family' s fate. He

e dismissed Celeste with a cool kiss on the cheek. "I' ll

with him. The silence was louder now, f

was already loosening his tie, his attention on a table

ant, a rising star in pure AI research, just like his parents had been. She was a recent graduate, full of ideas. They had talked for hours over coffee, a spark of mutual respe

ent, built on stolen data. The industry imploded. The Thornes were ruined, blacklisted. A year later, they were dead. And Victor had di

" His voice cut t

on. "I' ve done everything you asked. I married you. I let you destroy my r

s expression unreadable. "P

s slipping out with a calm she didn' t kn

e took a step toward her, his mouth opening as if to say some

a low growl. "Your death is worthless to me

. The tension in the room was thick enough to taste. Ava watched the

called. Your mother' s next treatment cycle

he leverage. The reason she couldn'

want," she said, the

gain, all traces of that earlier flicker of humanity gone.

e lead, a strange sense of peace settled over her. It was th

her. But a broken thing ca

at the door.

ced up,

A small piece of hardware. It' s still in the

. Maybe he thought it was a trick, another escape attempt. But looking at her, at the

e hand. "Go tomorrow. Take what you

ak. It wasn' t garbage. It was a memory

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