“Junior engineer.”
“Sounds like a solution a child in nursery would come up with.”
“Hmm... that’s an interesting angle.” Theo turns back to the board, completely oblivious to the way his team is eyeing me. He’s in the zone, his mind already churning through the math. “Leon, what about?—”
The door bangs open. Mr. Harris enters. “I heard from my secretary that we’ve encounteredyet anothersetback?”
The room falls dead silent. The collective inhale is audible as everyone looks at Theo, who slowly caps his marker. “Yes, sir.”
His father stalks toward the front of the room. “You assured me this project was ahead of schedule, Theodore.”
“It was, sir. Until this morning.”
Mr. Harris holds up a hand, silencing him. “I’m not interested in excuses. If you were competent, the problem would already be solved. Clearly, you aren’t up to the task.”
Theo’s jaw clenches so tight, I swear I can hear his teeth grinding together.
His father snaps his fingers at the senior London engineer seated closest to him. “You. What’s your name?”
“Jackson Ball,” he stammers.
“Congratulations, Mr. Ball. You’ve just been promoted to project lead.” Jackson’s face drains of color, looking more terrified than honored. “Theodore, you have ten minutes to brief him before you pack your things. If you want to screw around, you can do it where you belong—back in that backwater American city.”
The words hit like a physical slap, but the silence that follows is even worse. I look around the room, and my stomach turns. No one moves or dares to breathe. Even Leon, who is usually the first to fire off a quip, is staring at his lap, his knuckles white where he’s gripping the edge of the table.
Mr. Harris hasn’t just come here because of the project’s latest snag. He’s here to stage a public execution. He’s standing right at the center of the whiteboard, looming over Theo, deliberately making an example out of his own son to remind everyone else that if he can break the project lead, he can destroy them without a second thought. It’s a textbook intimidation tactic, and it’s working. The room is paralyzed.
I’ve admired Excelsior Parks since I was a teenager. I thought they were the gold standard of design. But all I see now is a playground for a bully. I won’t stand for it any longer.
“Mr. Harris, Theo isn’t responsible for the error,” I say.
Theo turns sharply. “Kaori,” he warns, his voice low and dangerous. I ignore him.
“He’s been covering for my mistake,” I lie, stepping forward into the line of fire. “I adjusted the launch logic to resolve the drift, and it destabilized the safety parameters. The issue is in the software’s tolerance limits. If we widen the variance range, the sensors will stop triggering false shutdowns. It’s a twenty-minute fix.”
Mr. Harris blinks, his eyes wavering for a split second. “Your mistake?”
“Yes, sir. Entirely mine.”
“I see,” he says, smoothing his tie. “In that case, I suppose Theodore may have the rest of the day to finish up here before he leaves.” He grimaces, as if the mere act of being reasonable causes him physical pain.
I know I should stop. Every survival instinct I have is screaming at me to shut up, but I’m past caring. “With respect,” I add, “you also owe him an apology.”
“It’s fine,” Theo says quickly, reaching out to catch my arm.
“No, Theo, it isn’t,” I say firmly.
Mr. Harris’ face darkens, a mottled purple creeping up his neck. “How dare you. Nobody speaks to me like that.”
“You’re supposed to be a leader, Mr. Harris,” I tell him. “Instead, you humiliate your staff to feel powerful. You’re nothing but a bully. Theo is the only reason this project has gotten as far as it has. He fixes what others can’t. He takes the hit when things go wrong and ensures his team gets the credit when they go right. That is the definition of a leader.”
“Theodore may tolerate this level of disrespect, but Icertainly won’t.” Mr. Harris glares at me with pure vitriol. “You’re fired. Hand your badge to security. Now.”
He turns his gaze to his son, his voice dropping to a lethal hiss. “If your junior engineer feels comfortable enough to address the COO of this company with such insolence, it is a direct reflection of your failure to lead. Test me again and I’ll pull your funding and reassign all your staff so they’re under a person who actually understands chain of command.”
He strides out, slamming the door so hard, the glass partition rattles in its frame.
Theo immediately ushers me out of the room and down the hall, away from the prying eyes of the team. His eyes are a stormy, turbulent sea. “Why on earth did you do that?”
