CHAPTER 7Levi
Levi
Tyler had been terrorizing Levi for months.
Part of it stemmed from his lack of understanding of Neuronix’s technology.
The rest was because Tyler was a miserable asshole who believed he knew better than everyone else.
Levi stared across the table, waiting for the beady-eyed miniature demon possessing Tyler's body to speak. Tyler had been pushing for a premature release of Project DL from the beginning, ignoring repeated warnings that it wasn’t ready.
The Board knew that Levi had been diagnosed with dyslexia as a child. It was why Neuronix existed: to level the playing field for people like him. And now, someone like Tyler was trying to weaponize that against him.
Levi was simply pissed off.
Pissed off at this disrespectful little troll across from him, who continued to undermine him in the very company he built.
Pissed off by how his struggles were being used against him at the place where his life’s work was devoted to creating a space and environment for others to thrive. The one place he was supposed to feel safe.
And he was even more pissed off that no one on the Board had called Tyler out.
Finally, Tyler spoke.
“I've spent months offering valuable feedback and suggestions that would elevate the project and take it in a more lucrative direction, only to be ignored, you prick !
I've asked multiple times when it will be ready to be released, and you have yet to dignify me with a response. I will not apologize for trying to make Project DL better because you are too pigheaded to listen to me,” Tyler said hotly.
And there it was.
Levi stared, unmoved. Tyler believed repeating the same question over and over would wear him down.
He was about to learn how wrong he was.
“Pretty sure my answer is going to be the same as the dozen times you asked in the last two months alone. We are not rolling anything out when it is still in the early phases of development, especially if it hasn't even been evaluated yet. I don’t even understand how you’ve made it this far in life without grasping this concept.
Neuronix is not in the business of putting out crappy products when so many individuals rely on them to navigate everyday life.
It’s been an absolute waste of my time to continuously repeat myself, and I have better things to do than take part in your twisted games,” Levi retorted.
Tyler leaned in, voice venomous. “Perhaps I’m starting to lose confidence in your ability to lead this company, particularly after the last media scandal we had to deal with.
The level of judgment you’ve exercised in your personal life has been a joke and only shows that security concerns were a problem long before today.
You can’t even maintain a steady relationship, let alone lead this company. ”
Levi winced. His last girlfriend had stolen his badge and tried to break into the building. That was a PR nightmare…Owen was still pissed about it.
Before he could stop himself, he fired back, “While my love life is no one’s business but my own, my fiancée and I are more than happy with our private relationship.
But that has nothing to do with the fact that you exploited what we now know is a gaping hole in oursecurity to satisfy some personal agenda of yours. ”
Isaac reacted visibly, catching the lie.
Tyler didn’t miss it either.
A sinister smile spread across his face. “I, for one, look forward to meeting the secret woman who has stolen your heart. Let us hope this one doesn’t try to break into the building like the last one—unless she doesn’t exist.”
Shit shit shit.
Levi regretted it the second the words left his mouth. He knew Tyler was waiting for a misstep, and Levi had now handed him ammunition.
With forced calm, Levi said, “I’m sorry, but is there a point you’re trying to make?”
Pointing a stubby finger at Levi, he spat, “The point is that you aren’t capable of exercising good judgment in your personal life, let alone in business.”
Levi held his ground. “Yet it’s been my ability to lead this company that I built from scratch , that’s fattened your bank accounts, not my personal life. But no one’s complaining about that. You’re determined to sit in my seat without the qualifications.”
Isaac cut in, irritated. “By all means, if you’re so desperate to be involved in the development of this solution, then please send your resume to us both, and we’d be more than happy to review your credentials in consideration for a position on our development team.”
Tyler smirked and said, “I’d be happy to send you my resume, but…” he paused dramatically to stare directly at Levi as he finished with, “…I wonder if you’d be able to read it efficiently without someone to help you. We all know how difficult it is for you to do something so simple.”
Levi froze.
Air caught in his lungs.
The blood in his veins turned to ice.
He blinked slowly, rage building.
Turning to the meeting clerk, he said with measured calm, “I want a verbatim account of Chairman Faulkner's comments about my inability to read without assistance and my response captured in the meeting minutes.” Tyler began to protest, but the clerk’s glare shut him down.
Facing Tyler, Levi spoke, voice cold and cutting. “You seem to forget what Neuronix stands for—who we serve. Your comment proves how unfit you are to chair this Board. You’re a liability and an embarrassment.”
Levi shifted his attention to the other Board members.
“Let me be clear. If anyone here mocks me or any Neuronix employee for their disability again, you’ll be facing a very public discrimination suit.
Imagine the headlines: Board member at company supporting disabled users sued for mocking a disabled employee. ”
Levi stood and swiftly gathered his things, then scrutinized everyone in the room. “ Your silence enabled this monster. You’ve let his leash go slack, and now he’s an uncontrollable menace.”
As he angrily strode across the room with Isaac in tow, he continued, “Please consider this my formal notification: badge access for Board members has been restricted. You may now only access this floor’s meeting area. Further entry will require an escort.”
Stopping at the end of the conference table, Levi locked his eyes on Tyler and added, “I have a company to run. If you have any questions, email them to me and Ivy. You know…in case I need help reading the bullshit you keep spewing.”
Without looking back at anyone’s reactions, Levi walked out head held high, Isaac hot on his heels.
Levi stalked back to his office, radiating pure ire and still reeling from that debacle. No one had made him feel that inadequate since he was a teenager. To have it happen at Neuronix was enraging.
What Tyler said about his relationships wasn’t appropriate…although it wasn’t untrue either.The truth was that when he was in a relationship, he became blind to their flaws. He hated being alone and had anticipated being married with a family by now.
Instead, Lana was in jail after her foolish larceny attempt, while he was still very single. He was ashamed to admit he missed the extremely obvious red flags that were there. And that he didn’t listen when his closest friends repeatedly told him that she was out of her mind.
Owen had yet to let him forget it.
He stopped mid-stride, realizing how awful his judgment of character had been when it came to his own love life. His spiraling thoughts were cut off as Isaac’s massive body plowed into him from behind, sending them tumbling to the ground.
Isaac stood, picked up everything he dropped on the floor, pointed at Levi, and barked, “Your office. Now .” He spun around and continued marching towards it, not looking back to see if Levi followed.Isaac was as dangerous as a live wire when he was angry.
Levi knew he was in deep shit.
Getting up as quickly as possible, he jogged down the hallway to catch up with Isaac, reaching him as they made it to his executive suite. Isaac greeted Ivy and curtly asked her to join them in Levi’s office as he let himself in.
She looked at Levi with two raised and perfectly manicured eyebrows and said, “Well, this ought to be good.” Levi rolled his eyes at her as he passed by.
Isaac’s back was to him, hands in his pockets, as he stared out the glass panes of the high-rise.
One of the biggest benefits of being CEO was having an office with uninterrupted panoramic views of Joia City.
This advantage offered a view so breathtaking it seemed otherworldly, a city suspended between land, sea, and sky.
Beyond the windows, the city unfolded like a living mosaic, its rooftops and natural vegetation a dazzling array of colors that shimmered in the sunlight like scattered jewels.
The city clung to the cliffs that rose sharply from the turquoise lagoons below, their calm waters cradling reflections of the colorful facades like a painter’s palette.
Narrow streets wound through the hillside like rivers of volcanic rock cobblestones, flanked by cascading terraces of vivid flowers.
The lagoons came in all shapes and sizes, tucked within the verdant embrace of volcanic craters, and glowed in an impossible array of colors—aquamarine, various shades of emerald, and one so deep a blue it looked as though the ocean itself had pooled within.
From above, the mountains rose, cloaked in greenery so vibrant it almost felt unreal.
They both temporarily lost themselves in the view, not noticing when Ivy joined them. She soundlessly snuck up from behind and loudly said, “Which one of you stirred the pot time?”
They jumped, startled out of their thoughts.
Ivy chuckled and walked towards Levi’s desk, her long sun-kissed almond hair swishing across her back from the slicked ponytail high on her head.
In her mid-thirties, like Levi and Isaac, she met both in college through Isaac’s wife, Grace. She knew them as well as they knew themselves, if not better.