He Signed My Death, So I Left His World Forever Chapter 03

The television in my hospital room was on, its volume turned low.

A breaking news report interrupted the program.

“A critical security vulnerability has been discovered in AegisDrive, the automated driving system developed by Aegis Mobility, a subsidiary of Rosetti Group.”

“Earlier today, several vehicles equipped with the system suddenly lost control on the highway.”

“More than a dozen chain-reaction crashes have been reported. No deaths have been confirmed so far.”

I was starting to see double.

Enzo stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, raging into his phone.

“What are PR and the family’s attorneys doing?!”

“Get the press on the phone and bury this story! I don’t care how much it costs!”

“Find an outside contractor to take the fall! Have Vincent handle it, and nobody so much as mentions Nina!”

Nina sat huddled in a corner of the couch, twisting her fingers together and looking utterly innocent.

“Enzo, I’m sorry.”

“I just thought AegisDrive’s underlying code was so boring, so I added a backdoor on a whim.”

“I thought it’d be a fun surprise. How was I supposed to know it’d cause accidents?”

Enzo took a deep breath, walked over, and ruffled her hair.

“It’s okay. Vincent will take care of it.”

“Just don’t pull another stunt like that.”

“The press always blows things out of proportion. It’s just a few pileups. We’ll pay to make the problem disappear, and it’ll go away.”

My stomach turned at how casually he said it.

Dozens of lives had been at stake.

Yet to him, it was nothing more than a little mischief and a payout.

I pulled the laptop from beneath my headrest.

The feel of the keyboard beneath my fingers helped clear my head a little.

My fingers flew across the keys as I typed out lines of code.

Enzo would undoubtedly erase every trace of Nina’s involvement to protect her.

I had to gather all her original data into an archive before my time ran out.

A progress bar crept slowly across the screen.

My blurry vision forced me to rely on familiarity with the keys.

“What are you doing now?”

Enzo ended his call and spotted the laptop in my hands.

He strode over and snapped it shut.

“With the company in this much trouble, you’re sitting here playing on your laptop?”

“Aubrey, do you have no empathy at all?”

“No empathy?”

I scoffed, struggling to catch my breath.

“Enzo, you’re covering for a criminal who endangered the public, and you’re questioning my empathy?”

“What are you talking about?!”

“Nina just likes to mess around. She doesn’t know any different!”

“Don’t think spending a few years at the Rosetti estate means you know anything about the company or this family’s business!”

“What is it, Aubrey? Hate me so much you’re thinking of reporting me to the FBI?”

“Too bad you don’t have any evidence.”

“Enzo already had the family’s tech team wipe every record of what I did.”

“Even if you went to the FBI, they wouldn’t believe you.”

“Really?”

I pressed Enter.

An encrypted archive had been created.

It contained not only evidence of her tampering with the automated driving system, but also every record of her hacking into competitors’ servers and stealing confidential company information over the past seven years.

“Aubrey, I’m warning you! Don’t do anything stupid!”

“Relax. I haven’t called the police.”

“I’m just writing my will.”

“Your will?”

“You’re writing a will over a few minor injuries?”

“You’re getting more ridiculous by the minute!”

“Come on, Nina.”

“Leave her here to act crazy all by herself!”

Once they left, I collapsed against the cushions.

The scheduled-send program was already running on my laptop.

It was set to send everything out on the third day after my death.

“System.”

My breathing was ragged, and my voice was barely audible.

[I’m here, Host.]

“How much longer?”

[Time remaining: 12 hours. Widespread organ failure has started.]

“Then there’s no point waiting.”