ire sat at the head of the long, polished table, tapping her pen on the armrest as the meeting dragged on.


    The shareholders were all staring at her, waiting for some sort of exnation, and she was already mentally exhausted from what felt like the hundredth conversation about her so-called "scandal."


    Mr. Montgomery, his gray eyebrows furrowed, finally broke the silence. "ire, we''ve all seen the news. The shareholders... well, we didn''t expect you to be involved in something like this."


    ire sighed, rubbing her temples. "I wasn''t ''involved," she said, her voice tinged with frustration. "I was caught in the middle. The car explosion? That was aplete surprise to everyone, Adrian included. And as for finding a dead body in the trunk of a car..." She paused, shaking her head. "Again, not something I was part of. I''ve already answered every question the police had. It''s not like I''m running around with bodies in cars."


    Linda, another shareholder who had been quietly watching, cleared her throat. "The stock, ire. It''s taken a hit because of all this."


    "I know," ire replied, her tone sharp but not unkind. "I''ve been tracking it myself. The drop isn''t even that significant-it''s the gossip news outlets making it worse with their ridiculous rumors."


    Mr. Montgomery crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "So, what do you n on doing about it?"


    ire sighed again, leaning forward this time. "I''m going to talk to the journalists. I''ll set the record straight, and get the real story out there instead of letting them run wild with gossip. That should calm things down."


    He gave her a stern look. "Just... be careful next time, ire. We can''t afford to have Metacortex''s reputation tainted."


    ire frowned slightly, biting back a sharp response. Funny, she thought. These people were trying to control her as if she didn''t own the majority of thepany. She mentally scoffed but kept her face neutral.


    Without a word, she stood up, straightened her jacket, and nodded to the shareholders. "If you''ll excuse me, I''ve got more pressing work that can''t wait." With a polite nod, she exited the room.


    As she headed back to her office, she couldn''t help but feel the irritation simmering beneath the surface. The audacity of them, acting like they could tell her what to do with her ownpany. She rolled her eyes as she pushed open the door to her office. Matthew was lounging on the couch, mid-bite of his sandwich, when he noticed here in. "Hey! boss. You survive the meeting?" he waved at her, mouth full.


    ire shook her head, amused, and plopped down into the chair across from him. "Barely. Where were you?"


    Matthew swallowed, leaning back on the couch with a casual shrug. "Lunch break." Matthew took a bite of the sandwich, crumbs spilling onto hisp.


    ire gave him a pointed look. "You should''ve been in the meeting earlier."


    Matthew rolled his eyes dramatically. "ire,e on. You know I hate sitting in those stuffy rooms with those people, talking about stocks and business and h h h." He waved his hand dismissively. "I''d rather be hacking." ire chuckled, leaning back in her chair. "They weren''t just talking business. Stocks came up, sure-"


    "Boring!" Matthew interrupted, throwing his hands up.


    ireughed. "Exactly what I thought."


    Matthew raised an eyebrow, curious. "So, what were you doing in there?"


    She let out a sigh, spinning her chair slightly. "Well, they were mostly worried about me damaging thepany''s image. The shareholders were telling me to be careful with my image. They''re worried about me being involved in this ''scandal." Matthew snorted, finishing off his sandwich. "Seriously? They actually said that?"


    ire nodded, leaning back in her chair. "Yep. I told them I was caught in the middle of everything, but they''re more concerned about thepany''s reputation than the fact that I was almost blown up."


    Matthew shrugged, chewing on thest bit of his food. "Well, that''s what selfish people do. They only think about themselves and their own benefits."


    "True," ire agreed as she stood up, grabbing her bag. "I''m starving. All this work is wearing me out."


    Matthew hopped off the couch, brushing the crumbs off his shirt. "Food? Finally! Let''s go."


    They made their way down to the lobby, but as they neared the doors, ire spotted a group of journalists still hovering outside. Matthew grabbed her wrist, pulling her back slightly. "Hey, maybe we should take the back door. Avoid the mob, you Know?"


    ire nced at the crowd, then at Matthew, shaking her head. "Nah, it''s fine. I need to make a statement anyway."


    Before Matthew could argue, ire pushed open the door and strode out confidently. The journalists swarmed, their cameras shing and questions flying. ire raised a hand, motioning for them to calm down. "Everyone, please, let''s all calm down," she said, her voice cutting through the chaos. The crowd settled slightly, all eyes on her.


    She took a deep breath and started exining, "The incident with Adrian and the car explosion was aplete ident. The police are investigating, and I have nothing to do with it. As for Bruno and the body in the trunk-I have no idea, was just following a map and ended up in that car. My advisor, Matthew, and I did nothing to that man."


    The journalists, still hungry for more details, kept pressing her with questions, but ire held up her palms, and they quieted down. "What I''ve told you is the truth. The


    investigation is ongoing, and I''m


    waiting for the official report just like


    alPof you."


    With that, she turned, walking briskly toward her car. Matthew, still shaking his head, slid beside her in the back seat as the car pulled away from the curb. "Well," he said, smirking, "that was a show."


    ire rolled her eyes, letting out a softugh. "Yeah, tell me about it. But what choice do I have? If I don''t speak up, they''ll just keep making things up." Matthew leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head. "Still, you handled that pretty well. They''ll have a hard time twisting your words after that." "Let''s hope so," ire replied, staring out the window as the city blurred past. "I''m already sick of this whole thing."


    Matthew grinned. "Just think of it like a bad movie. At least we''re the main characters."


    ire couldn''t help butugh, shaking her head at his ridiculousness. "Yeah, except I didn''t sign up for this script."


    "Hey," Matthew joked, "at least you''re the victim in all this. That''s got to count for something, right?"


    ire rolled her eyes, though she was smiling. "I''d rather not be involved at all, thanks."


    Matthew shrugged yfully. "Toote for that. But look at the bright side-you''re handling it like a pro."


    ire sighed, leaning back into her seat. "Yeah, well, I''d rather be back in the office hacking instead of doing damage control."


    "Same," Matthew agreed. "Let''s ditch the meetings and focus on the fun stuff next time."


    ire smiled. "Well, we do have work to do back at Cryptonic."