Chapter 10

Vivian looked at Elias, and he immediately shook his head."No," he said. "Absolutely not.""You're the most qualified pilot I have.""I'm a janitor who hasn't flown professionally in three years, who just proved he can't even handle a simulator without falling apart.""You're a decorated test pilot who landed my jet perfectly with no preparation and no warning," Vivian countered. "This is what you were trained for, what you were born for.""I'm done being a pilot," Elias said, standing abruptly. "I got in your jet because you were desperate, and I owed you for giving me a job when I had nothing. But I'm not doing this. I can't."He walked out of the simulator, and Vivian didn't follow. She understood: pushing him now would only drive him further away. But as she sat alone in the cockpit, surrounded by silent instruments, she couldn't shake the feeling that both their redemptions were tied to that NASA flight.The confrontation came three days later, but not from Vivian. Her father, Charles Archer, stormed into her office with the fury of a man whose careful corporate image was being threatened. At 68, Charles was everything Vivian had spent her life trying not to become: ruthless, image-obsessed, and convinced that business was war by other means."What the hell is this?" he demanded, throwing a folder on her desk. Inside were surveillance photos from the hangar: her sitting on the floor with Lily, talking with Elias—the kind of documentation hired by a board member worried about the CEO's judgment."That's me doing my job," Vivian said calmly."That's you fraternizing with maintenance staff! There are rumors you're involved with a janitor, for God's sake! Do you have any idea how that looks?""I don't particularly care how it looks."Charles slammed his hand on the desk. "You should! The board is already questioning your leadership! The stock took a hit after you personally intervened in that labor dispute last month. You're running this company like a charity, not a business! And now this! Elias Grant is the most qualified test pilot we have for the NASA demonstration?"

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