The countdown on the studio screen hit 00:10 as bright stage lights blazed over Daniel Ward, forty-two, billionaire founder of WardTech Education, the man the press called “The Voice of the Future.”
Today was the biggest broadcast of his career — a global livestream to announce a $50-million initiative for disadvantaged schools.
Producers rushed around him.
Microphones were clipped.
Camera operators adjusted lenses.
Daniel inhaled deeply, letting the façade settle over him: calm, polished, untouchable.
Five seconds.
The host smiled. “Ready, Mr. Ward?”
He nodded.
Four seconds.
He stepped toward the podium.
Three.
A shout rose somewhere behind the cameras.
“EXCUSE ME—WAIT—PLEASE!”
Daniel turned instinctively.
A security guard was trying to stop a young woman pushing through the crowd, clutching the hand of a little boy with messy dark hair.
Daniel froze.
It couldn’t be.
It was.
Emma Reyes.
The woman he loved eight years ago.
The woman he left for fame, believing love would slow him down.
The woman he had not seen since the night he told her he “wasn’t ready for a family.”
Two seconds.
The boy jerked free of her hand—
darted between security—
slipped past a camera operator—
and ran straight toward Daniel.