‘Matches are better off financially than the un-Matched. Matched couples get bigger tax breaks, better life insurance deals, they’re more productive at work because they’re happier at home so they’re offered better jobs. For the un-Matched, suicide rates are higher, as are divorces and depression—’
‘Both of which actually fell last year as more and more people are finding happiness with those for whom they were designed. Domestic violence against both men and women has also dropped.’
‘Only because people are too scared to report those kind of crimes against their physically and mentally abusive Match. They don’t want to risk abetterrelationship with a non-Match.’
‘Immigration and emigration are no longer such contentious issues,’ Ellie continued, getting into the swing of her arguments. She was going to take this Matthew down. ‘People are fast-tracked through red tape and are allowed to travel worldwide and settle with their Matches in other countries.’
‘And that’s damaged almost a fifth of businesses across globe who have lost key members of staff because they’ve relocated to another city or country.’
‘You can throw as many figures at me as you want, Matthew, but you cannot deny one thing. Match Your DNA exists, whether you like it or not.’
He gave her a knowing look. ‘I don’t deny it, but I predict it’s not going to be around for very much longer.’
‘That’s not your decision to make.’
‘That judgment belongs to the people,’ he continued. ‘And the people always prevail.’
‘What are you talking about?’
He stood up and stretched his arms behind him. ‘Another drink?’
Ellie shook her head. She watched as he helped himself to a third whisky, unable to recognise the man before her as the one she had loved. Everything about Matthew was different from Tim, from his arrogance to his mannerisms and even the way he sat. She wondered how hard it must have been to maintain the facade in her presence for so long.
‘Even now that you know what kind of person I am, you’re still in love with me, aren’t you?’ Matthew said, the ice cubes cracking as whisky oozed over them.
Ellie didn’t respond.
‘I thought so. It’s not much fun having someone play God with your life, is it?’
‘Don’t kid yourself, you’re not playing God. You’re being just as manipulative as the man who conned your gullible mother. Only I’m not pathetic like her and I’m not going to let this little blip shape the rest of my life. I’m always going to love you because it’s in my DNA to, but I’m never going to like you and, after today, we will never see each other again.’
‘With all the contempt you have for me, you still have faith we’re a Match, don’t you?’ he said scornfully.
‘Yes, of course we are, and Christ knows I wish we weren’t.’
‘You see, that’s the funny thing, Ells. Because we aren’t Matched and we never have been.’
Ellie narrowed her eyes. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re a woman of science, yet you were so desperate to be coupled that not for a single moment did you doubt your results.’
‘I was not “desperate to be coupled”. I had a perfectly happy life before you.’
‘You were, and still are, an ice-cold corporate whore who dated a series of wealthy idiots. You made up excusesnot to see your family and all you had to keep you company was your work. With me you had everything, which is ironic because, in reality, I am nothing to you.’
‘Of the 1.7 billion people who’ve been tested, there hasn’t been one reported mis-Match—’
‘Until now. You and I are a mis-Match, Ellie, because I hacked into your servers to manipulate our results.’
‘Rubbish,’ Ellie said, secretly baulking at the notion. She folded her arms indignantly. ‘Our servers are more secure than almost every major international company across the world. We receive so many hacking attempts yet no one gets in. We have the best software and team money can buy to protect us against people like you.’
‘You’re right about some of that. But what your system didn’t take into account was your own vanity. Do you remember receiving an email some time ago with the subject “Businesswoman of the Year Award”? You couldn’t help but open it.’
Ellie vaguely remembered reading the email as it had been sent to her private account, which only a few people had knowledge of.
‘Attached to it was a link you clicked on and that opened to nothing, didn’t it?’ Matthew continued. ‘Well, it wasn’t nothing to me, because your click released a tiny, undetectable piece of tailor-made malware that allowed me to remotely access your network and work my way around your files. Everything you had access to, I had access to. Then I simply replicated my strand of DNA to mirror image yours, sat back and waited for you to get in touch. That’s why I came for a job interview, to learn a little more about the programming and systems you use. Please thank your head of personnel for leaving me alone in the room for a few moments with her laptop while she searched for a working camera to take my headshot. That was a huge help in accessing your network. Oh, and tell her to frisk interviewees for lensdeflectors next time – they’re pocket-sized gadgets that render digital cameras useless.’
Ellie wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole. She felt her cheeks glow red, a combination of regret for allowing him into her life without question and fury for trusting him.
