The cold war between me and Nico had begun.
Days passed like stretched wires, tight, silent, ready to snap with the slightest touch. We still lived under the same roof. Still moved through the same spaces. But there were no shared mornings anymore. No sleepy greetings in the kitchen. No stolen kisses between coffee and keys. Just quiet.
When we crossed paths, it was all tension. His eyes lingered, heavy with things unsaid, but he never pushed. Maybe he thought I needed space. Maybe he believed he'd already lost me.
I didn't flinch when he came home late from the lab.
I didn't ask if he'd eaten.
And he didn't knock on my door.
But I heard him.
Every night.
Pacing outside my room.
Stopping.
Leaving.
Coming back.
Stopping again.
He was restless. And I hated that I was the reason why.
But this was the role I had to play, this wedge between us, this hollow silence, it was the bait. And someone was biting.
Because the longer Nico and I kept our distance, the bolder Kayla became.
She started showing up around campus more frequently, like a shadow with too much perfume. Once in the café near the west wing. Another time outside the department building, pretending to be lost.
And every time, she made sure I was there to see it. Just long enough for our eyes to meet before she'd flash that smug, pitying smile, like she'd already won.
Nico ignored her, of course. Walked past her like she was air. But I knew she didn't care about rejection. Not now. Not when she thought the damage was already done.
She wanted to be seen. She wanted to keep fanning the flames.
And I knew she wasn't doing it alone.
Because Elias had been watching too.
Subtly. Smart. Like a chess player waiting for the final move. He hadn't approached me, not yet, but I could feel it in the way he paused when we crossed paths in the hallway. The way his gaze lingered a little too long when he passed by the integration labs.
He was waiting.
And I had to let him.
Even if it meant letting the man I loved fall deeper into doubt.
Even if it meant letting Kayla think she'd broken me.
Because the truth was, I wasn't breaking.
I was baiting.
And the game had only just begun.
The day of the inter-school event finally arrived, dressed in banners and buzzing energy. Every department had transformed their halls into showrooms, displays of innovation, pride, and competition lining the walkways like open secrets.
Ours was no different. The Human-AI Integration Department had set up near the west building atrium, panels showcasing AI empathy development, neural-link prototypes, and collaborative student projects. It was polished. Impressive. But even the smooth hum of displays couldn't drown out the unease simmering in my chest.
Because today, every school board member would be here.
Including him.
And he wasn't alone.
I spotted Elias Camden before I even stepped fully into the main area. He stood with his usual stillness, buttoned suit, hands clasped behind his back, surveying the crowd with the detached gaze of someone who knew his name alone could bend entire careers.
Beside him, Kayla clung like perfume on skin.
She was dressed sharply, too sharp for someone claiming to be an academic partner, too smug to be subtle. Her arm casually looped through his, her smile poised but never quite reaching her eyes. People whispered, of course, about how Elias was a married man, about how Kayla might be his lover. But no one dared confront it. Not when a single recommendation from Elias could turn failing programs into funded successes.
Rumors followed them like obedient dogs.
Kayla thrived on it.
I stayed near our department booth, talking with passing guests, nodding along with Sam and Lila as we presented our work, but my eyes trailed them when they walked by. Elias never looked at me. Kayla did. Every single time. Just a flick of her gaze, that knowing smirk twitching at the corner of her lips.
She was practically glowing with victory.
They walked through the Robotics Department next, where Nico stood presenting the prototype's updated functions with his usual quiet command. His voice never wavered. His posture never slipped. But I saw the tension in his jaw the second Kayla appeared beside Elias, close enough for their arms to touch.
She was doing it on purpose.
All of it.
And the crowd? Ate it up like candy.
No one questioned why a woman like her shadowed the most powerful man on the board. No one asked how she got in. Influence, power, whispers in dark places, those were the real badges around here. People turned blind eyes for less.
Still, I held my ground. Smiled where I had to. Responded when prompted.
But inside?
I was steel wrapped in skin.
Let them think what they want. Let Kayla preen in Elias' shadow and flaunt her delusions of control. Let them all believe I was some broken girl, too heart-wrecked to fight back.
Because that was the mistake they were all making.
They were too busy watching me crumble…
to see that I was already rebuilding the blade I'd use to strike.
I stood with a polite smile on my lips, the kind that barely touched my eyes, while the head of a partnering college nodded enthusiastically at Sam's explanation about adaptive AI in social healthcare.
My focus wasn't on them.
Across the atrium, the crowd shifted with the ebb and flow of board members and guests, forming and parting like waves around the crown jewel of the entire floor, the Robotics Department.
And right in the middle of it stood Elias Camden.
I watched him carefully, subtly, like one would watch a viper in the grass. There was nothing outwardly unusual about him, still, straight-backed, flanked by administrators trying to impress him. But his expression betrayed something else. His eyes swept across the prototype displays with a kind of thinly-veiled disdain. Every now and then, his lip would twitch, like he was suppressing a scoff.
Like none of it impressed him.
No, more than that.
Like he was looking for something and hadn't found it.
He stopped before one of the robotics booths, an impressive display of neural feedback and physical augmentation, but instead of curiosity, all he gave it was a cold once-over. His gaze lingered only a second before shifting away with disinterest.
I tilted my head slightly, eyes narrowing.
Elias wasn't here to be impressed.
He was searching.
And not for inspiration.
I watched his hand twitch at his side as one of the school staff continued talking at him, words I'm sure Elias wasn't even listening to. Kayla stood a few steps back, but her eyes kept darting toward Nico's section, trailing him like a magnet she couldn't break free from. The distance between them and Nico made it seem subtle to the crowd.
But I saw it.
I always saw it.
Something shifted in my chest, not quite fear. Not yet.
Just confirmation.
Whatever Elias was looking for in those displays, it wasn't there.
And I had no doubt in my mind…
It led straight to Nico.
I kept my eyes on Elias from across the room, watching him drift through the rows of prototypes with a look that wasn't curiosity, it was more like impatience. He barely glanced at the polished robotics projects; a faint scoff even escaped him when one caught his attention and didn't meet whatever standard he had in mind.
He wasn't here to admire. He was searching.
When he reached our Human-AI Integration table, his gaze sharpened. He moved slower now, fingers hovering over the displayed blueprints. I felt a flicker of unease, like he was weighing something only he could see.
Then his eyes locked on a particular blueprint, one I had quietly placed among the others. It was a milder version of my original design, a concept for an AI with emotion adaptability but without full autonomy. A safer, controlled iteration that I'd made my professor run it over.
His fingers traced the lines with more care, lingering longer than with any other prototype.
I caught the way his jaw tightened, the brief flicker of something unreadable in his eyes.
He didn't speak, but in that moment, I knew: whatever Elias was searching for, it was here, somewhere within those blueprints.
And for now, all I could do was watch.
Elias's eyes never left the blueprint as he finally spoke, his voice low but urgent.
"So this one, an AI with emotion adaptability?" He looked up at me, expectant.
I took a breath and forced a casual tone, trying to sound dismissive. "Honestly? I don't really buy it. I mean, emotions are complex, how could an AI truly handle them? This is just a simplified model, nothing more than a guess, really."
He arched an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. "But what if it's more than that?"
I shrugged lightly, masking the tightness in my chest. "Maybe someday, but right now it's just theory. Too many variables, too much risk. I don't think full emotional autonomy is even possible."
Elias studied me for a long moment, searching for cracks in my confidence.
"But what if the world needs it sooner than we think?"
I forced a smile, trying to sound relaxed, even as panic prickled my skin. "Well, if that's true, then I guess we're not there yet."
Inside, I was screaming to keep it together. To keep the truth buried. Elias's desperation was real, and suddenly I felt like I was standing on a thin wire, one wrong step, and everything would fall.
Elias and Kayla slipped away early from the event, disappearing into the night and heading straight for one of the city's most exclusive hotels. The kind of place where the lobby gleamed with polished marble and velvet-draped chandeliers whispered of secrets and power.
Their suite was a lavish retreat high above the city lights, floor-to-ceiling windows, minimalist décor, and a bed that looked more like a throne.
No sooner had the door clicked shut behind them than Elias seized Kayla, his hands claiming her with an urgency that left no room for doubt. His kisses were fierce, like a man trying to erase the gnawing desperation clawing at his chest.
When he finally pulled away, Elias slumped onto the sleek leather couch, jaw tight, eyes blazing with frustration. "I need to get my hands on that thing… and fast."
Kayla, catching her breath, pressed gentle kisses along his jaw, whispering, "We'll figure it out. You've got me."
But Elias only growled, barely hearing her.
Then, sharp and cold as ice, his voice cut through the tension. "You're useless."
Kayla blinked, stunned. "I did everything you asked."
Elias fixed her with a steely glare. "I gave you chances, more than you deserve, but you've delivered nothing but distractions."
Her confusion deepened. "I'm the one using you. I'm the one playing this game."
He laughed, bitter and harsh. "No. You're the pawn. A decoy sent to distract Nico and collect scraps of information. Your value is measured only by how well you serve that purpose."
Kayla's mouth fell open, the cold truth sinking in. She wasn't the hunter here. She was just another piece on Elias's chessboard.
Elias's voice dropped to a venomous whisper. "Remember your place."
Kayla's face crumpled as the weight of Elias's words crashed over her. Despair spiraled inside her like a dark vortex, swallowing every hope she'd clung to. She had thought she was in control, playing the game, using Elias, but now she saw herself as nothing more than a tool, a means to an end.
Elias watched her unravel with a cold, merciless gaze. "Your body... that's all you really have to offer. Nothing more." His voice was ice against her skin.
Before she could protest, he grabbed her roughly, pulling her close. "You think playing with other men gives you power? No. It only reminds me how easy it is to pick you up, to claim you whenever I want."
Kayla's protests were desperate, a shaky defiance slipping through her lips. But Elias silenced her with a brutal kiss, his hands possessive and commanding.
Her resistance faltered, her protests melting into shaky breaths and gasps. Despite herself, pleasure crept in, unwelcome and undeniable.
Elias's voice was low and dark as he whispered, "Know your place, Kayla. This is where you belong."
And as he consumed her again, Kayla's denial cracked, swallowed by the twisted comfort of surrender. She fell deeper, trapped between fear and desire, between rebellion and submission.
The day was winding down. Everyone buzzed around, packing up and cleaning, eager to close the chapter on the inter-school event. But I couldn't focus on any of it. My eyes kept drifting back to Nico's space across the room.
Then our eyes met.
That familiar spark, so much unsaid, pulled me in.
I couldn't hold back anymore. Not when I had a thread, a tiny lead tying Elias to Kayla's scheme. Whatever he was after, whatever shadow he was chasing, I needed to tell Nico. I needed him to know, before things spiraled even further out of control.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped closer, bracing myself to cut through the cold silence between us.
I pulled out my phone, fingers trembling just a little. The words came easy, short but heavy with meaning.
"I'll wait at home. We need to talk."
Sent.
I swallowed hard, hoping he'd understand that this wasn't just another conversation. This was everything.
By the time I was done helping fold up the tables and store away the display boards, dusk had already begun swallowing the horizon. I took one last glance at the campus before heading off, hoping the silence Nico and I shared these past days would finally break tonight.
The apartment was quiet when I opened the door, but not empty.
There, on the sofa, Nico sat, his elbows resting on his knees, head slightly lowered, phone in hand. The moment the door clicked behind me, his gaze lifted. Straight at me.
He was already here.
Waiting.
Just like I asked.
My breath caught. I hadn't prepared for this part, to see the rawness in his expression, the way relief and restraint warred in his eyes. But I had to do this. We needed this.
It was finally time.
The second our eyes met, I froze.
All the things I told myself I'd say, how I'd stay composed, how I'd lead the conversation with logic and calm, it all crumbled. Right there in the doorway.
I missed him.
God, I missed him.
The ache of it pulsed in my chest, spreading like wildfire until my hands trembled. And before I even realized I was moving, the bag slipped off my shoulder, landing on the floor with a soft thud. My feet followed, closing the distance between us with quick, desperate steps.
Nico didn't stand, he didn't have to. The moment I reached him, his arms opened instinctively, like they'd been waiting, aching just as much as I had. I collapsed into him, wrapping myself around him like I'd fall apart otherwise.
His arms locked around me. Tight. Protective. Home.
My face buried against his neck, breathing in the scent I'd been starving for in silence. My fingers curled into his shirt, gripping him like I was afraid he'd vanish if I let go. His hand came up to cradle the back of my head, and his other arm held me firm against him like he wasn't planning to let go either.
Neither of us said a word.
We didn't need to.
This was the apology. The confession. The comfort. The truth.
I wasn't sure how long we stayed like that, just clinging to each other like we were both remembering what it felt like to belong again. But in that moment, everything else, Elias, Kayla, the game I had to play, faded.
There was just us.