ing windows of the Vega family's sprawling estat

silk blouse. The fabric was buttoned all the way up to her throat, securely hiding the dark purple bruises

ive noise-canceling headphones. He was slouched so low in his leather gaming chair that

to rip those headphones off his head and lecture

gers flying across the trackpad to con

creen on the wall. Jacqueline stood up, grabbed a black dry-erase marker, and wa

equation flashing on the massive projector screen caught his eye. His bored expression faltered for a sec

said, a smug, challenging smirk spreading across his face. "Y

l in her hand. A slow, confident smile touched the corners of

o?" she as

tion, explicitly incorporating his "correction" into the formula. Her hand m

he final result. It was a mathema

mug smile completely wiped away

ur 'correction' assumes a vacuum environment for a projectile moving through a fluid medium. You d

ntled his arrogance piece by piece, leaving no room for argument. The atmosphere in

pletely off his head and tossed them onto the desk

ed, his eyes finally bu

er talked down to him. When he hit a wall, she didn't give him the answer;

mmed his pencil down on the desk and let out a mass

Book with a soft click. "

nned. The lack of excessive pra

alked in. Right behind her was a man in a tailored, casual linen suit

illed whiteboard and the pencil in hi

abbing Jacqueline's hands. "This is a miracle. I am calling A

y but firmly pulling her hands out of Beatric

d. He pulled a thick, matte-black busine

es dancing with amusement. "I'm a c

s. The horrific, violent images of last night in the VIP club c

terror in her eyes. His smi

th your performance last night," El

until her knuckles turned white. "There was a misundersta

ng a private dinner at the DK suite tonight. He expects

mach twisted into a painful knot. "I have lesso

boy act. His voice dropped to a low, da

city." Elder tilted his head. "You saw what happened to Wayne Boggs. If you don't show up tonight, Apex Educator

odds. He wasn't bluffing. The crushing weight of billionaire capital was pressing down on her chest, suffoc

, took a deep breat

e snapping back into place. He snapped his

iteboard. She stared at the complex physics equations, feeling entirely helple