The Wellness Protocol

Marcus adjusted his lapel, checking his reflection in the lobby's marble facade. Three months undercover at Vitality Corp, and he still couldn't believe how thoroughly they'd sold him on their own propaganda. The daily vitamin packs weren't just supplements anymore—they were sacraments in the church of optimization.

The elevator doors opened. Sarah stepped out, her running gear clinging to curves that Marcus had mapped too many times in his head. She was the Senior VP of Product Development, and his original target.

"Morning, Sarah," he said, falling into step beside her. "Big presentation today?"

She laughed, that throaty sound that had undone his professionalism somewhere around week six. "The merger. BioSyn is nervous about our retention rates. Can't imagine why."

Her sarcasm was wasted on him. Marcus knew the truth: Vitality's subscription model depended on carefully engineered deficiencies. The vitamins were designed to keep customers needing more, never quite satisfied. It was brilliant, really, in a predatory sort of way.

He was supposed to be gathering evidence for his actual employers—BioSyn's competitors. Instead, he'd spent the past week deleting incriminating files from Sarah's shared drive.

"I started running again," she said suddenly, stopping outside her office. "After Tom left. Needed to feel something different."

Tom. Her ex-husband. The reason Marcus had been hired in the first place—the man who'd stolen Vitality's proprietary formulas. The man Sarah still defended.

"Does it help?" Marcus asked.

"Some days. Other days I just end up back where I started, sweating and alone."

Their eyes met, and Marcus saw everything she couldn't say. The exhaustion. The doubt. The attraction she'd been pretending wasn't mutual.

"Sarah, about the merger—"

"Don't." She touched his arm, her fingers lingering. "I know you're not who you say you are, Marcus. The security team flagged your background check three weeks ago."

His chest tightened. "And you didn't—"

"Report you? No." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Tom stole those formulas because Vitality was lying about clinical trials. I divorced him because I wouldn't be part of it, but I couldn't blow the whistle either. Too many people's jobs. Too many lawsuits."

Marcus stared at her, the pieces clicking into place. He wasn't the spy here. He was just another person running from something, hoping the vitamins would make him whole again.

"What now?" he asked.

Sarah's phone buzzed. The meeting. "We go in there. We sell the merger. And tonight, you tell me who you're actually working for. Deal?"

Marcus smiled, feeling like he'd finally caught up to himself. "Deal."

The vitamin pack in his pocket suddenly felt very light.