Chapter 101 Unbelievable.
The private dining room was silent except for the hum of the ventilation system.
Xavier Lala sat across from Veyra, his hand still resting on his phone. The security guards had left after a quiet word from him. The red mark on his cheek was fading. His eyes were still fixed on her face.
Veyra leaned back in her chair. She folded her hands on the table.
"Are you going to say something?" she asked.
Xavier blinked.
He had heard the words. He had processed them. But they did not fit together.
I’m the Grace.
The woman who had just slapped him. The woman who had sat down across from him uninvited. The woman who had watched him call security.
Grace. The mysterious developer of SN1818. The genius who had created a cardiac treatment that could save thousands of lives.
This woman.
His mind was a mess. He pressed his palm flat against the table. The wood was cool beneath his fingers.
"You’re Grace," he said slowly.
"Yes."
"You created SN1818."
"With my own hands."
Xavier stared at her.
"Dr. Harrison knows about this?"
"He knows everything. He helped me get the formula tested. He helped me find a partner."
Xavier’s jaw tightened. His mind was still racing. He had come to Bordeaux expecting rejection. He had come prepared to accept that he had lost.
Instead, the woman sitting across from him—the woman who had slapped him—was his future partner.
He shook his head. "You’re not making sense."
Veyra smiled. "I make perfect sense. You just don’t want to believe it."
He looked at her again.
Her clothes were simple. Her gloves were black and worn. Her face was young.
She did not look like a scientist. She did not look like a genius. She looked like someone who had walked in off the street.
"How do I know you’re telling the truth?" he asked.
Veyra reached into her bag. She pulled out her phone. She scrolled through her contacts.
"Dr. Harrison," she said. "I’ll let him explain by himself."
She pressed call. She set the phone on the table. She pressed the speaker button.
Dr. Harrison’s voice came through. "Mrs. Thorne?"
"Dr. Harrison," Veyra said. "I’m with Xavier Lala. He doesn’t believe I’m Grace."
There was a pause.
Then Dr. Harrison laughed. "She’s telling the truth, Xavier. Veyra Thorne is the developer of SN1818. I’ve been working with her for weeks."
Xavier’s mouth opened, closed and opened once again.
"She’s the one," Dr. Harrison continued. "The formula. The tests. The data. All of it. She created everything."
Xavier stared at the phone. Then at Veyra, the woman who had slapped him, the woman who had told him he passed and the woman who was now his partner.
He stood up so fast his chair scraped against the floor.
"I need a moment," he said. "I’m going to wash my face."
He walked toward the door. His steps were quick. Unsteady. He nearly tripped over the threshold.
Veyra watched him go.
The door swung shut.
The room was quiet again.
She sighed. She leaned back in her chair. She stared at the ceiling.
That had not gone the way she expected.
She had thought he would be excited. Relieved. Grateful.
Instead, he had run away.
She heard footsteps in the hallway. They were not Xavier’s. They were heavier and more slower.
The door opened and Veyra turned her head. A man’s voice spoke from behind her.