My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 211

Chapter 211

Aileen stood too, but she paused, looking at me, “Gianna, grab the Neural-Network Latency Report?” she said, The one with the local server maps? We need a hard copy.”

Nodding, I reached for the folder on the edge of my desk, the report I had spent two hours perfecting between electric shocks.

I stood up, ready to follow them into the conference room. I needed to be there. I needed to show him I could handle the technical questions too.

I had to show him I actually had a brain.

I’m good enough. I repeated it in my head like a prayer. I’m good enough. I’m good enough.

Deep down, a small, dark voice whispered that I never had been. Not to my father, not to my fiancé, not to my mother, not to Jules and clearly not to the man currently adjusting his cuffs.

I took a shaky breath and reached for my notepad, ready to prove my worth.

But I hadn’t even taken a step when Raphael’s voice echoed through the room.

“Aileen, take the file from her,” he ordered, his voice flat.

Aileen hesitated, her hand hovering in the air. “Sir? Gianna is supposed to present the latency findings. She’s the one who ran the simulations.”

Raphael turned his head just a fraction, his gaze cold and dismissive as it swept over me. It was the look you gave a piece of equipment that had malfunctioned one too many times.

“She’s not coming,” he said. He didn’t raise his voice, but everyone on the floor heard him, “She has enough on her plate trying to learn the basics of her job. She has… difficulty with the data. Take the report and let’s go.”

I felt the eyes of the entire team on me, pity from Aileen, confusion from the others. He was essentially telling them I was too stupid to be there. Aileen reached out and gently took the folder from my numb fingers.

I had played that game once before. I had shrunk myself down, bit my tongue, and tried to be the perfect, empty shell a man wanted me to be. I had diminished everything I was just to see a flicker of pride in someone’s eyes, and I never got it. No matter how much of myself I carved away, it was never enough.

I promised myself I would never be that girl again. But looking at the closed door of the boardroom, a cold realization settled in my chest.

Raphael wasn’t just sotne guy.

He was brilliant, powerful, and accomplished-everything I ever dreamed of being and everything I feared I could never reach. He held the mirror to my greatest failures.

Against a man who actually had the world in his hands, what choice did a girl like me really have?