SOPHIE SHOULD have realized something was wrong the moment she walked into the MBA networking forum and saw people looking at her differently.
Not openly. Not rudely. But there was a shift.
Conversations paused when she approached. Small groups lowered their voices. Several classmates glanced at her phone, then at her, before quickly looking away.
The reaction was subtle enough that most people might have missed it.
Sophie didn't.
She had spent years studying patterns. Human behavior was simply another system.
Unfortunately, this system was becoming painfully familiar. She took her seat near the front of the lecture hall and opened her laptop.
The event was supposed to be straightforward. Several startup founders had been invited to speak about venture funding, growth strategies, an
