Mom and Dad were eating breakfast outside. Within their virtual bubble, a soft breeze cooled the slightly humid air, and waterfalls gurgled behind them next to the augmented Hollywood sign.

Having stayed awake all night with Adam, wrapping my head around Deena’s betrayal, I was drifting in a haze. I didn’t have any tears left, but the hurt was still raw. It took me a minute to get what he was talking about.

Dad’s eyes were far away, scanning a virtual world visible only to him through his AMPs. “You stole Deena’s boyfriend? Can’t you give him back? Give her what she wants.”

“No,” I said quietly. “She never wanted him—she wanted the drama. She sabotaged me.”

“Then sabotage her back,” Mom said, crunching on seaweed. “You need to find a way to fix this.”

“That’s your answer? Stoop to her level?” Irritation rippled through me.

Mom shrugged. “This is war.”

“But she’s my best friend. You’re best friends with her mom. We have history. I don’t want to throw it all away. I don’t want a public fight.”

“She’s not looking out for your best interests, honey. She’s not a real friend,” Mom said. “You can’t get close to people. They’ll only hurt you.”

“That’s not true. You run a business with Deena’s mom. She knows everything about you.”

“Not everything,” Mom said. “No one knows your origins,” she mouthed the last statement, probably fearing Quinn was judging her. “I’d never tell anyone that.”

I swallowed hard. “Never?” I asked.

“Absolutely not,” Dad said. “We can’t trust anyone with that sort of information. Sure, we trust her enough to let you spend the weekend at her house, to befriend her daughter, but never with our closest secrets. That kind of knowledge claims too much power. You know this, and we’re wasting time. What we should be talking about is how we’re going to get your stockholders back.”

Sickness rose in my throat. You can’t trust anyone. Me included.

“What is it, sweetie?” Mom asked, her voice saccharine. “You’re pale as a ghost.”

I don’t want to play this game anymore. Maybe if I tell the truth they’ll ban me from the Networks and I can spend all day surfing with Adam…

I raised my eyes to hers. “I did a bad thing.”

Chopsticks frozen in the air, she waited. Dad’s eyes bored into the side of my face.

Finally, Mom spoke, starring in the role of concerned parent. “What is it? You can tell us anything. We’ll figure it out.” But she couldn’t act around me. I saw right through her. She was scared.

Breathing deep, I confessed. “Deena knows.”

“I hope you’re not saying what I think you’re saying,” Dad said through clenched teeth.