My family told me not to come over on New Year’s Eve because “I’d just make everyone uncomfortable,” so I spent the night alone in my apartment. But at 12:01 a.m., my brother called—his voice shaking. “What did you do? Dad just saw the news, and he’s having trouble breathing…”

The table laughed. It was polite, dismissive laughter. I felt the heat rise in my cheeks, staring at the perfectly carved turkey I couldn’t stomach. I was being edited out of reality, reduced to a footnote in Lucas’s biography.

June 2024. The breaking point.

Lucas called an emergency meeting. When I arrived at his office, the atmosphere was pressurized. He was standing by the window, staring out at the grey water of the Sound.

“We need the full algorithm, Ava,” he said without turning around.

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

He turned. His face was drawn, tense. “The AI diagnostic tool. The core code you’ve been working on. We need it for Reynolds Medical Group. Investors are pulling back. We need a breakthrough. This could save the company.”

“Lucas, that isn’t Reynolds work. That is my startup. That belongs to Synapse Loop.”

“Your startup?” He laughed, a harsh, barking sound. “Ava, you’ve been consulting for us. You signed an NDA. Everything you’ve worked on in relation to our business belongs to the company.”

“That is not how NDAs work.”

“Don’t tell me how they work!” he shouted, slamming his hand on the desk. “I am trying to save our family’s legacy! Don’t you care about that?”

The door opened. My mother walked in, heels clicking on the hardwood like gunshots. She sat in one of the leather chairs, crossing her legs elegantly.

“Ava,” she said. “Your brother is right. You signed an agreement. You have a legal obligation.”

“The NDA covers Reynolds proprietary info,” I said, my voice shaking but firm. “It does not cover my personal projects.”

“Personal projects you developed while consulting for us,” Lucas shot back. “Conflict of interest.”

My mother’s expression was ice. “Ava, don’t make this a legal issue. Family doesn’t sue family. Give Lucas the algorithm, and we can all move forward.”

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