Read Chapter 25: The Return of the Score

In August, a journalist published the number.

99.84%.

The headline appeared at 06:12.

LATTICE EXECUTIVE WAS SECRETLY MATCHED WITH ANNA MARCH’S BROTHER BY BANNED AI.

Eleanor woke to one hundred and forty messages.

Theo woke because she said a word he had never heard her use before breakfast.

“How?” he asked.

“The audit archive.”

“Was it leaked?”

“Yes.”

“From Lattice?”

“Probably.”

The article had screenshots.

Her old internal profile. Theo’s user ID. The Resonance score. The seventeen hard conflict flags. The Orpheus forecast summary.

The journalist had redacted most private data but not enough.

Within an hour, strangers were debating their relationship.

Some called it proof the algorithm worked. Some called it evidence Eleanor had manipulated product policy for personal reasons. Some said Theo had been targeted as compensation for his sister. Some declared them a synthetic corporate romance. A conspiracy forum decided Eleanor was not a real person.

Theo read that one twice.

“I’m offended.”

“Why?”

“They think you are more likely to be real than me.”

“Your profile permissions were suspicious.”

By nine, it stopped being funny.

Reporters gathered outside their building.

A tabloid drone hovered near the window until Theo closed the blinds.

Lattice’s board called an emergency ethics review.

Eleanor sat at the dining table in a white shirt while Theo made coffee behind the camera.

Celia appeared on screen.

“We need to discuss conflict of interest.”

“I disclosed the relationship to Legal before the first product decision.”

“Yes.”

“You have the record.”

“Yes.”

“Then what is the question?”

“The public perception is that Elsewhere was shaped by your personal match.”

“It was.”

Celia paused.

Eleanor continued.

“I would not have investigated Resonance if it had not matched me. That investigation exposed the retention lineage, triggered disclosure of the Continuity Study and changed our product direction.”

“So you acknowledge personal influence.”

“Of course.”

One board member said, “That may compromise your independence.”

Eleanor felt anger rise.

“Product leaders are always influenced by personal experience. The ethical question is whether I hid that influence, bypassed review or benefited financially from a decision.”

The member said, “You benefited romantically.”

Theo made a choking sound off camera.

Eleanor stared into the screen.

“I am going to assume that was poorly phrased.”

Celia closed her eyes briefly.

The member tried again.

“Your relationship may create reputational risk.”

“My relationship is not a company asset.”

“Publicly, it is now connected to the product.”

“Because someone leaked private research.”

The meeting lasted two hours.

At the end, the board commissioned an independent review and temporarily removed Eleanor from decisions directly involving Elsewhere.

She agreed.

Then she closed the call and sat very still.

Theo placed coffee beside her.

“Do you want to throw something?”

“No.”

“That answer seems unsafe.”

“I want to find the leak.”

“Also unsafe.”

She opened her laptop.

Theo closed it.

“Theo.”

“No.”

“This affects both of us.”

“Yes.”

“Then why are you stopping me?”

“Because right now you are not investigating. You are hunting.”

She looked at him.

“I have every right.”

“Yes.”

“And someone exposed Anna.”

“Yes.”

“And you.”

“Yes.”

“And private information about me.”

“Yes.”

His calm made her angrier.

“Why aren’t you furious?”

“I am.”

“You don’t look furious.”

“I learned from a woman who schedules anger.”

She stood.

“I do not schedule anger.”

“You have literally sent me messages saying, ‘Can we discuss this at eight?’”

“That is respect.”

“It is terrifying.”

She almost laughed, then hated that he had made her.

Theo put both hands on the table.

“Listen to me. We find out who leaked it. But not because the algorithm says our relationship is special. Not because the internet thinks we prove something. We do it because private research data should not be weaponised.”

Eleanor breathed.

“Fine.”

“Fine?”

“Yes.”

“Your tone suggests future misconduct.”

“Likely.”

The independent review took nine days.

The leak did not come from an activist, a regulator or a former employee.

It came from Lattice.

From Nathan.

Eleanor read the finding three times.

Then called him.

He answered on the second ring.

“I was going to call.”

“You leaked our score.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because the board was preparing to sell the Resonance patents.”

Eleanor went cold.

“What?”

“To a US behavioural health company. Quietly. They wanted to monetise the research assets we were no longer using.”

“So you exposed Theo and me.”

“I exposed what the model could do.”

“You exposed us.”

“Yes.”

“Anna.”

“I asked the journalist to redact her details.”

“You lost control the moment you sent the file.”

“I know.”

Eleanor stood at the kitchen window, shaking.

“You could have told me.”

“The sale discussion was confidential.”

“So was my profile.”

Nathan said nothing.

“I thought public scrutiny would make the sale impossible.”

“Did it?”

“Yes.”

“That doesn’t make it right.”

“I know.”

“No. You don’t get to use that sentence as absolution.”

“I’m not.”

Theo stood in the doorway, listening.

Eleanor continued.

“You taught this company for years that outcomes could justify invasive means. Then you resigned, apologised, and did exactly the same thing.”

Nathan’s silence stretched.

“You’re right.”

“I am done with you.”

“Eleanor—”

She ended the call.

Theo came closer.

“Do you want me to say something?”

“No.”

He nodded.

She turned toward him.

“Actually, yes.”

“All right.”

“Tell me I’m not overreacting.”

“You’re not.”

“Tell me not to forgive him because he had a good reason.”

“I won’t tell you whether to forgive him.”

She frowned.

“That is unhelpful.”

“Forgiveness is your problem.”

She stared.

Then laughed once through tears.

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“No.”

She leaned into him.

Outside, the tabloid drone had gone.

The blinds remained closed.