Vanished After the Crash, Kneel of the CEO Chapter 05

Vanished After the Crash, Kneel of the CEO Chapter 05

It’s been three months since I “died” that stormy night. 

The whole world reported the death of the Harris Group president’s wife, while I’m holed up in a 

rundown shack on some remote island outside Imperial City. 

I rented this dump and keep the curtains closed all day, cutting off all contact with the outside world. Most of the time, I just sit on the worn–out sofa for hours, trying to scrub that man from my memory. 

But Samuel had become muscle memory. 

My friend Emily came to see me and dragged me out for ramen at the island’s only noodle shop. When our bowls arrived, I automatically turned to the empty seat beside me and said, “Samuel, the broth is pork–based, you’d love…” 

The words died in my throat when I saw the empty chair. Emily’s face crumpled with pity. I lowered my head, staring at the noodles in my bowl, unable to take a single bite. 

Nights are the worst. I wake up reaching for him, finding only cold sheets. In the mornings, I still catch myself breathing in for his cologne, but there’s nothing in the air. 

We’d been so tangled together I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began. Now all that’s left is this broken shell of who I used to be. 

I forced myself to learn how to exist without Samuel. 

I learned to cook for one, walk alone, even sit by the ocean without flashing back to that night I drove off the cliff. Slowly, I went from complete breakdown to something like numbness. 

Once I could think straight again, I picked up my weapon–my dual degrees in Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence from Stanford. 

Code doesn’t lie. Code doesn’t cheat. From this 

cramped rental, I started over, coding a small tech project I called “Ghost,” and got a local shop to build the prototype. 

The response was insane. Orders poured in. Investors started circling. 

To stay hidden, I made Emily the face of everything. “Emily, you handle all business dealings and public appearances,” I told her. “You’re the CEO. I’m just the ghost in the machine.” 

Emily called, practically bouncing with excitement, “Victoria, we just landed our biggest deal yet. Their CEO is in town for some inspection. I’m signing the contract this afternoon. You don’t need to be there.” 

I clutched the phone, “Be careful, and don’t mention me.” 

Emily agreed and hung up. 

That afternoon at the hotel conference room. 

Emily strode into the conference room. Then the man at the table turned around, and she froze. 

It was Joshua–Samuel’s chief assistant. 

Joshua went rigid when he saw her. 

He knew that face–Victoria Harris’s best friend. 

The pieces clicked into place. 

His investigation had turned up too many inconsistencies, the car hadn’t skidded off–it had been remotely piloted over the edge. That kind of hack took serious skill. Emily had that kind of skill. 

Then he remembered the phone records, in the 48 hours before the crash, Victoria had called only one person–Emily. Two quick calls, right before the car went dark. 

It was obvious now. 

No one had been in that car when it hit the water. Just an empty shell, programmed to drive itself over the edge. 

Victoria had planned it all. She wasn’t dead–she’d escaped. 

Joshua stared at Emily in front of him and reached his final conclusion, if Emily was here, Victoria couldn’t be far.