Page 245 of Triplet Babies for my Ex's Best Friend

He called me cautious. Megan called him reckless.

Megan was right.

I grip the edge of the table.

“He argued with Megan about the dampening layer,” I say.

Jeffrey looks at me. “When?”

“Two weeks before the crash.”

“Why didn’t you mention that?”

“Because at the time, it was one of a hundred technical arguments.”

“What did he say?”

I close my eyes briefly, reconstructing.

The conference room. Megan standing with a marker in her hand. Bryce pacing because he always thought movement made him more persuasive.

“He thought the response dampening was too conservative,” I say. “That it reduced system authority under sensor conflict and made the aircraft feel less responsive.”

“And Megan?”

“Said the entire point was to prevent overcorrection if the system misread input.”

Jeffrey’s face hardens. “Which is exactly what happened.”

“Yes.”

“Did he take it badly?”

“He always took disagreement badly.”

The memory sharpens further.

Bryce laughing. Telling Megan she was too married to caution. Megan smiling that dangerous, calm smile of hers, telling him caution was the reason pilots came home.

I sit down.

“Why would he target Megan’s aircraft?” Jeffrey asks.

I know the answer I don’t want. “Because she was flying the system he disagreed with.”

“Or because hurting her hurt you.”

I look at him sharply.

Jeffrey doesn’t back down. “It’s possible.”

I don’t want it to be. Not because it would absolve Bryce. Because it would mean Megan died as collateral in someone else’s grievance with me.

That thought's intolerable.

So I set it aside until evidence requires it.

“We don’t know enough,” I say.