With ARIA's help, she was already compiling a list of replacements—a bloodless coup ushering in a brilliant new era.
The public's response was a vindicating roar. Tommy, the "genius" I'd strategically placed, was being hailed as a savant. Charlotte's name was not just cleared; it was gilded. The employees who had once whispered behind her back now looked upon her with a mixture of reverence and awe.
A company meeting in the coming days would formally mark the death of the old Quantum Tech and the birth of my empire.
The fallout hit like a social media explosion. The Riveras—freshly vindicated, glowing in every headline—were suddenly the darlings of Wall Street and the Internet alike.
Thompsons sprayed across every outlet from CNBC to gossip blogs pretending to be journalism. Stocks spiked, headlines purred, and somewhere, a thousand investors whispered our names like a new religion.
