The Prototype

Chapter 2

Maia, hidden just outside the CEO's office, felt her heart sink with each word she overheard. She had suspected Lawrence's fixation on image before, but hearing her fears confirmed left a hollow ache. Taking a deep breath, she turned away and walked back to the lab, her face expressionless as she set about packing her things—and Ethan's—without hesitation. By the time Ethan returned, she looked up with a warm, untroubled smile, her earlier composure firmly in place.

"Ready to go?" she asked, her voice light as she slung her bag over her shoulder.

Ethan nodded, trying to shake off the tension as they walked to his car together. The drive home was quiet, and though he stole a few glances at her, Maia only hummed along softly to the radio, her expression unreadable.

Once home, Maia busied herself in the kitchen, filling the air with the comforting aroma of pasta and herbs. Ethan lingered in the doorway, rehearsing the words he wanted to say, hoping to soften the truth. When they finally sat down to dinner, he took a breath, picking his moment.

"Maia... there's something I need to talk to you about," he began, his voice careful.

She looked up, her gaze steady but her face innocent. "What's on your mind?"

He hesitated, then pressed on. "It's about the project. Lawrence... he wants me to take the lead on it. He thinks it would look better, you know, for investors if... if it was just me."

She set her fork down slowly, her eyes never leaving his. "So he wants me off the project."

Ethan nodded, his jaw clenched, feeling the weight of her gaze. "Yeah. He said it's about image. That investors—"

"That investors don't want a woman in the spotlight?" she interrupted, her tone calm but laced with anger. "That they'd rather pretend I'm just... what, your assistant? Some footnote?"

He blinked, surprised by her directness. "Maia, it's not about us. It's business. I told him you're the reason this project exists, but they don't see it that way. It's out of my control."

She gave a bitter laugh. "Out of your control? So you're just going to go along with it? Take the credit and let them erase me?"

His frustration flared. "Maia, I'm trying to protect our work! If we push back, they could scrap the entire project or assign it to someone else. Do you think they care about you or me? They care about money!"

She shook her head, her voice tight. "So what, Ethan? We let them have my work? You stand by and let them take everything we built together, just because it's convenient?"

"Maybe it is convenient!" he snapped, his anger finally boiling over. "Maybe this is what's best for the project, Maia. You've always been so stubborn about getting everything your way. It's exhausting!"

The words hung in the air, cold and unyielding. The moment they left his mouth, regret washed over him, but it was too late.

Maia's face went pale, and she rose from the table, her gaze piercing. "Stubborn?" she said quietly. "You think I'm exhausting?"

"Maia, I didn't mean—" he began, but she cut him off.

"No, I get it. You're willing to throw me under the bus to make things easier on yourself. I thought you respected me, but I guess I was wrong."

She stood up from the table, leaving him sitting in stunned silence, her footsteps frustratingly moving towards him. She yanks off the silver diamond ring from her finger and throws it at him.

"I promise you. You'll regret this." She says right before her footsteps turn towards the hallway as she grabs her coat and shuts the front door behind her leaving Ethan behind. Ethan sat there, his mind racing with everything he wished he'd said instead, as he realized just how deep the divide between them had suddenly grown.