Adrian Vale noticed Nyra because she didn't notice him.
That alone irritated him.
She sat at the far end of the conference table, hoodie half-zipped, locs pulled back, posture relaxed in a room where everyone else sat stiff like approval was oxygen. She didn't straighten when he entered. Didn't smile. Didn't even glance up.
Unacceptable.
Adrian adjusted his cufflinks as he took his seat at the head of the table. Custom suit. No wrinkles. No tattoos. Discipline stitched into every seam. He believed appearances were proof of competence.
And Nyra looked like a problem.
"So," he said, folding his hands neatly, eyes sweeping the interns. "Yesterday's breach simulation."
A ripple of tension ran through the room.
"I've reviewed the logs," Adrian continued. "Interesting response times. Mixed execution."
His gaze landed on Nyra at last.
She looked up slowly. Blank expression. Unimpressed.
"You," he said, tone neutral but dismissive. "Nyra, right?"
She nodded once.
"I'm told you… improvised."
Improvised. Like she'd guessed. Like she'd gotten lucky.
"Yes," she said calmly. "I corrected the architecture."
A few interns shifted. Elias went still.
Adrian smiled thin, polite, patronizing. "That's ambitious language for an intern."
Nyra said nothing.
"In this company," he continued, "we value process. Structure. Not… instinct."
Instinct. Another word for chaos, in his world.
Nyra leaned back in her chair slightly, eyes steady. "Structure without adaptability fails under pressure."
The room went quiet.
Adrian blinked. Once.
"That's a theory," he said. "Not a practice."
"It's practice," she replied. "If you've ever been tested."
A sharp inhale rippled across the table. Someone coughed. Someone else stared at their notes like they might save them.
Adrian's smile tightened.
"Confidence is admirable," he said. "But dangerous when unsupported. You're here to learn. Not to rewrite systems built by people with… experience."
Nyra tilted her head. Studied him.
Typical rich boy, she thought. Born into control. Afraid of anything he didn't design himself.
"With respect," she said evenly, "the system failed in under three minutes."
Adrian's jaw flexed.
"Because it was meant to," he snapped. Then caught himself. Smoothed it out. "Simulations are controlled environments."
Nyra met his gaze. "So are excuses."
Elias felt his soul leave his body.
Adrian stood. Slowly. Deliberately. Dominance on display.
"If you believe you're so capable," he said, "then perhaps you'd like to demonstrate properly."
Nyra's lips curved, just barely.
"Gladly."
Adrian gestured to the screen. "You'll replicate yesterday's solution. Step by step. No shortcuts."
Nyra rose, calm as ever, and walked to the console. The room held its breath.
She didn't rush.
She explained.
Every decision. Every reroute. Every flaw in the original design including the parts Adrian himself had approved months ago.
She rebuilt the firewall cleaner. Faster. Stronger.
Then she did something extra.
She stress-tested it.
The system held.
Green across the board.
Silence swallowed the room.
Nyra stepped back. Folded her arms.
"That enough structure?" she asked.
Adrian stared at the screen.
Then at her.
Something uncomfortable shifted behind his eyes not anger.
Threat.
"I'll… review this further," he said stiffly.
Nyra nodded once. Victory didn't need decoration.
As she returned to her seat, Elias leaned toward her, whispering, "You just ended him."
She didn't smile.
She didn't need to.
Adrian watched her from the head of the table, realizing... too late.... that he hadn't been testing her.
She'd been testing him.
And he had failed.