Chapter 37: Good news...

The doctor walked out and put the digital scan up on the screen.

"Good news," the doctor said. "There are no fractures, and her ankle ligament isn’t torn. But her big toe has a mild dislocation."

I looked closely at the scan. I knew how May ran. She didn’t sprint like a normal athlete; she put an insane amount of force into her toes during her push-off. That was why she broke world records, but it also meant she pushed the shoe’s internal balance straight to its limit. The shoe held up perfectly under normal stress, but May was a different beast.

I turned to Tiana and whispered, "The gear didn’t fail. May’s running style just broke the limits of standard shoe tech. She needed custom balance support for that much force."

Tiana’s eyes lit up as she caught on. "Wait. We can use this."

"Exactly," I said. "We turn Apex’s smear campaign completely against them. We don’t hide the injury. We announce that May’s speed literally overloaded standard sports engineering, and Zenith is modifying the air-pod tech overnight specifically for her hyper-aggressive stride."

It took a bad situation and turned it into the ultimate flex: May wasn’t hurt by a weak shoe; May was so fast she broke standard gear, and Zenith was the only brand capable of building custom tech to handle her speed by tomorrow.

We just needed to pop her toe back in, get her prepped, and let the engineers fix the prototype.

While the specialist prepped the procedure to pop May’s toe back into place and set up an IV for the pain, I pulled Tiana aside near the door.

"Get our top engineers on the line right now," I told her quietly. "Take her foot scans, adjust the air-pod density on the inner arch, and custom-mold those plates overnight. I want those modified Zenith spikes in her locker before warm-ups tomorrow."

"Consider it done," Tiana nodded, her eyes sharp. "What about the media spin?"

"Run the story just like we planned—May’s force output literally broke standard engineering limits, and Zenith is hand-crafting a pair to hold her power. But as for the smear campaign?" I checked my watch, a cold, steady focus washing over me. "I’m going to deal with the source myself."

Leaving Chloe to watch over May, I walked out of the medical wing and headed straight toward the executive suites on the upper level of the stadium.

I knew Peter Pear was still in the building. A guy like him wouldn’t miss a high-profile championship night, especially when he thought his orchestrated bot network was successfully tearing down his newest rival.

I cut through the private VIP corridor and spotted him standing near a glass balcony, sipping champagne with a few high-level sponsors, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.

As I walked up, his eyes caught mine, and a smooth, patronizing smile spread across his face.

"Ah, the rising investor," Peter said, turning around and taking a slow sip. "I saw what happened on the track. Tragic stuff. I did warn you about rushing a launch—untested gear always reveals its flaws when the pressure gets real."

I stopped right in front of him, keeping my stance relaxed, my hands in my pockets, and looked him dead in the eye.

"Save the innocent act, Peter," I said, stepping right into his personal space. "I tracked the bot networks within ten minutes of her fall. You seeded the narrative, blew up the hashtags, and tried to frame the injury on our gear."

Peter didn’t panic. He didn’t even blink. He just casually swirled the champagne in his glass, that smug smile never leaving his face.

"It’s just business," he said, setting the glass down on a nearby table. "You wanted to play in the big leagues. In this game, if a rival leaves an opening, you strike it. I didn’t make her trip, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to let a good crisis go to waste."

The cold, arrogant way he framed it just pissed me off even more.

"Back off the campaign, Peter," I warned, my voice dead low. "Or I drag Apex through a public nightmare you won’t recover from."

Peter let out a soft, mocking laugh. "Even if I kill the bot farms right this second, it doesn’t matter. The crowd sentiment is already locked, my friend. The media is running with it. The public thinks Zenith gear is dangerous, and people’s minds are already made up. You can’t un-ring that bell before tomorrow’s drop."

He stepped closer, tapping my shoulder with two fingers. "I told you to move your launch date. You should have taken the advice."

I slapped his hand off my shoulder, staring him down with pure steel in my eyes.

"You think you’ve got us pinned," I said, leaning in so only he could hear me. "Watch what happens tomorrow. We are going to completely obliterate your market share, drop for drop, dollar for dollar. Zenith is going to dominate this entire space, and I’m going to take Apex down piece by piece."

Peter’s smile finally faltered, his eyes narrowing as he saw the absolute dead seriousness in my face.

"It’s officially on," I said, turning my back on him and walking away.

I helped get May transferred out of the medical bay and straight back home to the penthouse. We brought in a private physio team to keep her treatment going through the night, setting up cold-compression gear and low-frequency muscle stimulation to keep the swelling in her toe down.

By midnight, I walked out onto the private roof terrace and found her trying to do light stride drills in her slides. She was wincing with every step, running far slower than her normal explosive pace, her face tight with pain.

I walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

"May, be real with me," I said quietly, looking straight at her. "Are you actually alright?"

She lowered her head, the tough exterior finally cracking for a second. She took a deep, shaky breath, wiping a sweat-damp strand of hair out of her face.

"Honestly?" she whispered, looking down at her wrapped foot. "I’m scared. I act like nothing gets to me, but... going down at full speed like that? Feeling my toe snap out of joint mid-stride? It freaked me out. What if I step into the blocks tomorrow and my body hesitates?"

"Listen to me," I said, grabbing both of her shoulders and pulling her focus right to my eyes. "Fear is normal after a hit like that. But you aren’t just any athlete, May. You broke a national record on day one. You dragged your body across that line in the semifinals while injured and still won the race."

Her chest rose and fell as she listened, the fire in her eyes slowly reigniting.

"Apex wants you scared. Peter Pear thinks you’re going to back down," I continued, my voice building with heavy energy. "Tomorrow isn’t just about winning a medal. It’s about showing the world that even at eighty percent, nobody on this planet can touch you. Zenith is custom-building spikes specifically for your power tonight. You step out there, you trust the tech, and you bring that grit back out."

A slow, lethal grin started spreading across her face. The doubt completely washed away, replaced by that dangerous, relentless edge.

"Yeah..." she muttered, nodding her head as her posture straightened right back up. "Yeah, you’re right. Let Peter bring whatever he wants. Tomorrow, I’m taking that track."

While I was standing there with May on the roof, my phone rang. It was a FaceTime call from Tiana.

I picked it up and put it on speaker so May could see the screen. Tiana was sitting in the lab, holding up a brand-new pair of Zenith spikes.

"You were 100% right," Tiana said, smiling at the camera. "We ran the simulation using May’s stride metrics. The dislocation happened because her big toe pushes off with way more force than a normal athlete. The standard plate just couldn’t handle that much localized pressure."

She turned the shoe around to show us the new design.

The silver Z emblem on the side was even sharper now, with aggressive metallic-blue accents running down the sole. The bottom plate was completely redesigned with a wider, reinforced air-pod system right under the big toe to absorb maximum shock.

"We widened the base under her main pressure points and added a custom shock-absorbing air-pod right where she plants her foot," Tiana explained. "This won’t just protect her toe—it’s actually going to give her a stronger push-off than before."

May looked at the screen, her eyes lighting up as she saw the upgraded gear. "They look insane. When can I test them?"

"A courier is bringing them to the penthouse right now," Tiana said. "You’ll have them in ten minutes."

I looked over at May and smirked. "Looks like you’ve got your custom armor ready. Time to get some rest."