Chapter 2 #2
I knew it would someday, but I hoped it would be far in the future when we could laugh about it.
Taking a deep breath, I start to explain, “We… a few weeks ago, we asked the Smart Home Development Department to beta test our AI. We thought Amelia’s boss would handle it, but he assigned the job to her.
Somehow… something went wrong. Jamie got into her system, accessing her cameras and everything she had set up for her own project.
Unknowingly giving us access to basically her entire life. ”
“What exactly are you saying?” Grandpa’s voice is tight with controlled anger.
“We had access to her cameras, her systems, her data. Everything.”
Misha jumps in, his face strained. “She didn’t know… we didn’t tell her we’d be watching the AI beta live for data collection. It was a stupid mistake at first.”
“At first?” Morgan’s voice is incredulous, her eyes blazing as she storms across the room, her hands flying up in frustration. “At first?”
My shoulders sag in defeat. This is so much worse. Maybe if we’d had a chance to explain. Maybe if we’d been upfront with her from the start…
“And when we started watching her,” Grey continues, his eyes finally leaving his laptop screen to meet Morgan’s. “We couldn’t stop. It was like an addiction. But if I’m honest, I am only upset with how she found—”
Morgan’s eyes widen, shock transforming into outrage as she cuts him off.
“You’re serious right now? You’ve been fucking stalking her?
All of you?” She flails her arms in an erratic, uncontrolled gesture at the three of us, almost hitting Misha.
Then she shakes her head and huffs, her face flushed as she continues pacing.
I nod, shame washing over me in waves. “We all… we all fell in love with her. But we just couldn’t stop watching. It was wrong. We know that now, but at the time…”
“We think she found out,” Misha adds, all confidence evaporated.
“Of course she found out,” Grey snaps, slamming his fist on the counter.
Silence follows before Morgan explodes, her face flushing as red as her hair.
“Are you fucking kidding me? That’s not just wrong.
It’s illegal! You’re stalkers! And terrible ones at that!
You watch her apartment all day long, and still, you let her get robbed, let the guy who hurt her get away, and then not even tell her what you did but let her find out by herself? How could you do this to her?”
Grandpa’s voice cuts through Morgan’s tirade. “Boys, I’m deeply disappointed. This is a gross violation of trust and privacy. I thought I raised you better than this, Grey. And Oliver, Misha, I expected more from you.”
“We didn’t mean to…” I start, but the words taste like ash in my mouth as I realize just how far we’ve gone.
“I know, okay? I know.” Grey slams his hand on the kitchen counter again, this time the force makes the dishes rattle. “We fucked up. Badly.”
I can’t meet Morgan’s eyes, can’t look at Misha or Grey either.
What more is there to say?
Morgan stops pacing, her face set in a hard glare as if she could physically break us down with her gaze.
“Fucked up? That’s putting it mildly.” Then she focuses her hard stare on me, the one that always makes me want to sink into the floor.
“It’s her, Oliver. Amelia! The woman you said was your soulmate. How could you?”
She’s right, and that truth guts me more than she could possibly fathom.
I run a hand through my hair, frustrated and desperate, pulling at the strands as if trying to tear away the guilt.
“I know, I know. We got caught up in it all. The AI, the project, Amelia… it spiraled out of control so fast. Before we knew it, we were in too deep.”
“Out of control? That’s your excuse?” Grandpa’s voice is like a cold slap. “You’re grown men, not teenagers. You should know better.”
Grey’s face is a mask of stoic determination, but the pain in his eyes says more of the turmoil within. “We do know better. That’s why we’re trying to fix this. We have to make it right.”
Misha nods, and I’ve never seen him look so serious. “We want to make it right. We have to find her, explain everything. She deserves that much, at least.”
Morgan’s scoff is sharp, her anger still simmering. “Explain? What’s there to explain? You watched her without her consent. End of story.”
The words tumble out before I can stop them. “It’s not just that. We care about her. We… we love her. And we want to be with her. In a relationship. All three of us do.”
Morgan’s eyes widen, darting between the three of us. Even Grandpa seems at a loss for words, the silence from the speaker deafening.
“You… all of you?” Morgan finally asks, her voice softer now, tinged with disbelief and something else I can’t quite identify.
I nod, feeling a strange mix of relief and anxiety at finally admitting it out loud. My heart is pounding so hard I’m sure everyone can hear it. “Yeah. All of us. It’s complicated, I know, but it’s the truth.”
Misha chimes in, “We know it’s unconventional. And what we did was wrong, so wrong. But our feelings for her are real. That’s not an excuse, but it’s the truth.”
Grey grunts in agreement, his eyes back on his laptop screen, fingers flying over the keys. “That’s why we need to find her. To apologize, to explain. To make it right if we can. If she’ll let us.”
Morgan sighs, rubbing her temples. I see the conflict on her face, anger warring with concern. “This is… a lot. I don’t even know where to begin. You’ve made such a mess of things.”
Grandpa’s calm and measured voice comes through. “Let’s focus on finding Amelia first. We can deal with the rest later. One step at a time, boys.”
I nod, grateful for the direction, for something concrete to focus on. “You’re right. Finding her is the priority. We need to make sure she’s safe. Everything else can wait.” My chest feels tight, like I can’t quite catch my breath.
Morgan’s expression softens as she notices my struggle.
Without a word, she crosses the room and wraps her arms around me.
I stiffen for a moment, surprised by the sudden comfort, before melting into her embrace.
Her familiar scent, a mix of lemon and antiseptic, reminds me of childhood hugs and scraped knees. “We’re going to fix this.”
I nod against her shoulder, unable to speak.
Grey’s voice is thick with emotion as he says softly, “We never meant for this to happen. We just… we got so caught up in her. And now she’s out there, alone and scared.”
“And confused,” Misha adds, running a hand through his curls. “We never got to explain. She probably thinks the worst of us. But we kept watching her because it became obvious how much she needed to be seen.”
Grey’s phone suddenly pings, and he almost lets it fall to the floor when he leans over to get it from the countertop. “Gotcha.” Then, a second later, he follows up with, “Fuck.”
“What is it?” I ask, my heart racing.
Grey looks up, exhaling sharply as his shoulders relax, though his eyes remain tense. “It located her tracker.”
Morgan’s eyes narrow. “Tracker? You put a fucking tracker on her phone without her knowledge? And despite all this, the fact she’s left because of this mess, you’re still fucking stalking her?”
Before Grey can reply, Grandpa’s voice cuts through the room.
“Boys, this is getting out of hand. It’s no wonder she left.
” He takes a deep breath as if trying to keep his composure while talking to toddlers.
“You’ve violated not just her trust but the very essence of her privacy.
Do you understand what that means? This isn’t just about fixing a mistake.
This is about a profound breach of ethics and respect.
You’re so caught up in trying to make excuses that you’re losing sight of the gravity of your actions.
This isn’t a game, and it’s not something you can simply fix with an apology. ”
I feel a surge of frustration.
We don’t have time for this.
“You can lecture us later.” When Morgan looks at me with eyebrows raised, I add, “Please. What does the tracker say, Grey?”
Grey shoots me a grateful look before continuing. “I thought she’d found it and uninstalled it. But her phone was just off, or in airplane mode, to be precise. Because the location just pinged, and…” He pauses, taking a deep breath. “She’s in London.”
London.
She’s gone back to the place she was so desperate to escape.
My mind races, trying to understand why she would return to a place that caused her so much pain.
Because we caused her more.
And her sanctuary was violated.
“London?” Morgan repeats. “But you said her family was awful. Why would she go back there?”
I shake my head, trying to make sense of it. “I don’t know. Maybe she felt like she had nowhere else to go. Or maybe…” I trail off, unable to finish the thought.
“Maybe she thinks we won’t follow her there,” Misha finishes, his face pale.
Grey nods, his jaw set in determination. “Well, she’s wrong about that. We’re going after her.”
“Hold on,” Grandpa’s voice interrupts. “You can’t just chase her across the world. She clearly wants space.”
“We can’t just leave her there,” I exclaim, my voice rising. “You don’t understand what her family is like. She needs us!”
Morgan holds up a hand. “Okay, let’s all take a breath. We need to think this through rationally.”
But I can’t be rational, not when Amelia is so far away, potentially back to being abused by her parents because we fucked up. “There’s nothing to think through,” I insist. “We’re going to London.”
I look at my friends, seeing the same determination reflected in their eyes.
No matter what it takes, we’ll find her and bring her home.