Betrayed by My Husband, Reborn as a Tech Queen

Synopsis

I went undercover to an overseas R&D center for two years, working in isolation to crack the core AI chip technology for my husband's tech company. He promised me that once we achieved the technical breakthrough, I would be named co-founder when the company went public. But when I returned home with patents that could revolutionize the entire industry, I discovered my private office had been turned into a nursery. At the pre-IPO celebration party, he was holding my intern assistant in his arms, announcing that she was now the company's youngest CTO. The intern rubbed her slightly rounded belly, her face full of smug satisfaction. I let out a cold laugh and shut down all the core servers with a flick of my wrist. Want to use my life's work to elevate your mistress? I'll make your entire company go down with you! **1** Bang! I shoved open the doors to the penthouse ballroom. Inside, the lights blazed and designer dresses swirled. To crack that critical technical barrier, I'd worked day and night in Silicon Valley for two years. I slept less than four hours a day and ended up in the ER three times from exhaustion. I came back with the final patent authorization, thrilled to give my husband Ethan Chase a huge surprise. But the scene before me was like a bucket of ice water poured from the top of my head straight down to my feet. On the stage in the center of the ballroom, Ethan wore the custom-tailored suit I'd personally ordered for him. His arm was wrapped intimately around the waist of a young woman. It was Madison, the intern assistant I'd hired before going abroad. A fresh graduate who couldn't even write basic code and only knew how to act cute and flirt. Right now, she was wearing a gorgeous evening gown with that sapphire necklace around her neck—the one I'd admired at an auction, the one Ethan had said was "too expensive, maybe later." "Ladies and gentlemen, investors!" Ethan raised his glass, his voice booming with pride. "Today is the most important day in Summers Tech's history! Our core AI chip development is finally complete, and next month, the company will officially ring the bell on the stock exchange!" Thunderous applause erupted below. Ethan lowered his head and kissed Madison on the forehead, his eyes dripping with affection. "Here, I want to give special thanks to one person. Our company's new CTO, and my future wife—Madison!" "These past two years, she led the team working day and night to achieve today's technical breakthrough. And she's also carrying my child. Double blessings!" The whole room exploded. "Mr. Chase and Ms. Cooper are such a perfect match!" "Congratulations, Mr. Chase! Double blessings indeed!" "Ms. Cooper is so young and already shouldering the technical operations—what a powerhouse!" I stood in the doorway listening to this nauseating flattery, feeling like I'd entered some absurd alternate reality. Madison led the team? Technical breakthrough? She couldn't tell C++ from Java if her life depended on it. What the hell did she break through? These past two years, I was overseas with a handful of core engineers, under crushing pressure, writing that underlying core code line by line. I'd traded half my life for these results, and now they'd become her ticket to promotion and status as the mother of his child? I took a deep breath, my heels clicking as I walked toward the stage step by step. The sound of my stilettos striking the marble floor rang especially clear in the gradually quieting ballroom. The crowd automatically parted to make way. The executives who used to call me "Ms. Summers" all changed their expressions when they saw me, their eyes shifty, whispering among themselves. When Ethan saw me, the smile froze on his face. He instinctively released his arm from around Madison, a flash of panic in his eyes, quickly replaced by coldness and impatience. Madison saw me too. Not only did she show no guilt, she actually thrust out her barely visible belly and leaned closer to Ethan, speaking in a saccharine voice. "Oh, Lila! You're finally back!" She raised her glass of juice, looking down at me from her position above, every inch the victor. "Please, have a seat. Everyone's celebrating. You've worked hard 'studying abroad' these two years. Now that I'm handling the company's technical R&D, you can just rest easy." I looked at her smug face and laughed coldly. "Studying abroad? Handling things?" I turned and stared hard at Ethan. "Ethan Chase, is this what you told them about me? I nearly killed myself developing technology for you overseas, and you told them I went to study abroad?" Ethan frowned, hurried down from the stage, and hissed at me in a low voice: "Lila, what are you making a scene for? There are investors here. Don't embarrass me!" "Embarrass you?" I shook off his outstretched hand. "You're using code I wrote to elevate your mistress, and you don't feel embarrassed, so why should I?" **2** Ethan's face turned iron gray. "What are you talking about! What do you mean 'your code'? That's the collective achievement of the company team! Madison, as project lead, made invaluable contributions!" "Lila, I know you feel bitter. But you need to face reality. These two years you weren't in the country, Madison helped me manage everything at the company, top to bottom." "She's not only capable at work, she's also carrying my child. I owe her something." His self-righteous tone made it sound like I was the one who'd cheated and stolen credit. I was so angry I laughed, pointing at Madison's meticulously made-up face. "Capable at work? She can't even understand basic algorithmic logic. What project could she possibly lead? The project of providing you inspiration in bed?" "Smack!" Ethan suddenly raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face. The force was so strong it made me stumble and fall to the ground. I tasted blood at the corner of my mouth. The entire room fell deathly silent. Madison screamed and hid behind Ethan, clutching her belly and putting on a fragile act. "Ethan, don't hit Lila, she just can't accept it yet... Oh! My stomach hurts a little..." Hearing this, Ethan immediately tensed up, quickly supporting Madison, then turning to point at me viciously. "Lila! Watch your mouth! If you dare hurt the baby in Madison's belly, I'll never forgive you!" The surrounding executives and colleagues started criticizing me too. "Lila, you're being so unreasonable. Mr. Chase is worth billions now—what's wrong with getting a younger, prettier wife?" "Exactly. Ms. Cooper is a company hero now. You haven't contributed anything in two years, so what gives you the right to make a scene here?" "Just apologize to Ms. Cooper and stop making Mr. Chase angry." I got up from the floor, wiped the blood from my mouth, and looked at these boot-licking faces. My heart went completely cold. Years ago, Ethan and I started our business in a hundred-square-foot basement apartment. To land our first investment, I drank with investors until I had a stomach hemorrhage and spent two weeks in the hospital. To meet project deadlines, I pulled so many all-nighters I developed sudden hearing loss in my left ear. My hearing still hasn't fully recovered. I built him up from a penniless nobody into the glamorous tech mogul he is today. Now that he's successful, he wants to dump his devoted wife? "Ethan Chase, have you forgotten that I own forty-nine percent of Summers Tech's shares!" I stared at him coldly. "Want me gone? Fine. Split the company in half, and I'll take what's mine!" Ethan laughed like he'd heard the funniest joke in the world. He straightened his tie, walked up to me, and said in a voice only we could hear: "Shares? Lila, while you were abroad these two years, the domestic equity went through several rounds of dilution and restructuring." "The shares you hold now amount to less than one percent." "For old times' sake, I've prepared five hundred thousand in compensation. Take the money, sign the divorce papers, and hand over the core source code." "Otherwise, you won't get a dime, and I'll make sure you can't work anywhere in this industry!" My whole body trembled as I clenched my teeth. "Five hundred thousand? To buy out half my company? To buy two years of my life?" "Ethan Chase, dream on!" I turned to leave. "Stop!" Ethan shouted. A dozen burly security guards immediately rushed forward and surrounded me. Ethan walked up behind me, his voice icy. "Lila, don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a penalty. Without that source code, the company's chips can't go into production and the IPO will fall through." "If you don't hand over the hard drive with the source code today, don't think about leaving through that door." He was going to rob me outright. I looked at the menacing security guards around me and pulled a black encrypted hard drive from my bag. Ethan's eyes lit up as he reached to snatch it. I laughed coldly and smashed the hard drive toward the champagne tower beside us. "Crash—" The sound of shattering glass rang out. The hard drive fell to the floor, and without hesitation, I raised my stiletto heel and stomped down hard. "Crack!" The hard drive shattered into pieces. "Want the source code? In your next life!" Ethan's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he lunged at me like a madman. "Lila! You crazy bitch! I'll kill you!" I took advantage of the chaos to shove a guard aside and ran out of the ballroom without looking back. **3** Outside, the rain was pouring. I didn't have an umbrella. I was soaked through, and the cold wind cut straight to my heart. I got in a cab and went back to the downtown villa Ethan and I shared. We'd bought it for our third wedding anniversary. I'd sold the old house my mom left me to come up with the down payment. I walked to the door and habitually entered my fingerprint. "Beep—fingerprint error." I froze for a moment, then entered the passcode. "Passcode error." I pounded on the door. "Open up! Let me in!" After a while, the door finally cracked open. It was Ethan's mother—my mother-in-law. She wore a silk robe and held a glass of red wine, looking at me with complete irritation. "Wailing like a banshee in the middle of the night! What's all the noise!" Seeing it was me, she rolled her eyes and moved to close the door. I jammed my hand against the doorframe, staring at her coldly. "This is my home. Let me in." My mother-in-law scoffed and looked me up and down in my bedraggled state. "Your home? The property deed has my son's name on it! You can't even have children—what gives you the right to call this your home?" "Ethan already told me you're getting divorced. Madison's moving in soon, and she's carrying our family's heir!" "Get lost and don't bring your poverty stench into our house!" The sound of high heels came from inside. Madison appeared wearing my limited-edition slippers and my cashmere wrap, holding an apple, walking over leisurely. "Mom, who's making all that noise? It's upsetting the baby." My mother-in-law immediately put on a fawning smile and rushed to support her. "Oh, my precious! Walk slowly, don't disturb the baby. It's just a beggar. I'll get rid of her right away." Madison walked to the door and looked at me with fake surprise. "Oh my, Lila! Look at you, all soaked! Didn't Ethan arrange a hotel for you?" "You know, Ethan said the master bedroom decor is too old-fashioned. Tomorrow they're tearing it all out to renovate and make it into a nursery for me." "All your raggedy old clothes and junk—I had the maid pack them up and throw them in the trash bins in the basement garage." I shoved past my mother-in-law, forced my way inside, and ran straight for the second-floor study. That's where my father's last possession was kept—a programming notebook he'd written by hand. It was my most precious treasure! I burst into the study. It had already been ransacked. My desk had been cleared out. All the books on the shelves were gone. I whipped around, my eyes bloodshot as I glared at Madison, who'd followed me up. "Where's my dad's notebook?!" Madison covered her mouth and giggled. "That ratty old thing? The pages were all yellow, covered in chicken scratch I couldn't even read. I thought it was dirty, so I had the maid burn it as scrap paper." "Lila, you're not going to get mad at me over some old notebook, are you? I'm pregnant, you know." Burned... My mind went "boom," and my last shred of rationality snapped completely. I charged at her like a crazed lioness, grabbed her hair, and slapped her hard across the face. "Smack!" "You dared burn my father's belongings! I'll kill you!" Madison let out a pig-like squeal, struggling desperately. My mother-in-law screeched and rushed at me, scratching and clawing, yanking at my clothes. "You jinx! You dare hit my grandson's mother! I'll kill you!" I kicked my mother-in-law, sending her sprawling, grabbed Madison by the hair, and slammed her face hard against the wall. "Give me back my dad's notebook! Give it back!" Madison's forehead split open and bled. She burst into hysterical tears. "Help! Murder! Mom, save me!" Suddenly urgent footsteps came from outside. Ethan burst in with several bodyguards. Seeing the scene, his eyes went wild and he roared: "Lila! Stop it right now!" He rushed forward and kicked me in the stomach without mercy. I flew backward and crashed hard into the stair railing. My internal organs felt like they'd shifted. I curled up on the ground in agony, unable to breathe for what felt like forever. Ethan tenderly gathered Madison's bloodied form into his arms. "Madison, Madison, are you okay? Does your stomach hurt?" Madison collapsed into his embrace, crying pitifully. "Ethan, it hurts so much... Lila tried to kill me, she tried to kill our baby..." Ethan turned his head, his eyes vicious enough to devour someone. "Lila, you're absolutely insane! A monster!" "Let me tell you, after what you did to Madison today, I will never forgive you!" "Throw her out! Never let her set foot in here again!" Several bodyguards came over, dragged me up from the floor like a dead dog, and threw me out the front door. "Bang!" The heavy door slammed shut mercilessly in front of me. I lay in the freezing rain, the violent pain in my abdomen nearly making me pass out. Rainwater mixed with mud streamed into my eyes, blurring my vision. I bit my lip hard until I tasted thick blood. Ethan Chase. Madison Cooper. That old hag. You'll pay back everything you owe me a thousand times, ten thousand times over! **4** I don't know how long I lay there in the rain. Until a pair of black custom leather shoes stopped in front of me. A black umbrella opened above my head, blocking out the torrential downpour. I struggled to lift my head. Before me was an extremely cold, sharply defined face. Adrian Sterling. CEO of Sterling Empire, Ethan Chase's biggest business rival. And for the past two years, my true "secret partner" overseas. "Ms. Summers, seems like your celebration tonight wasn't very pleasant." Adrian's voice was deep and magnetic, with a barely detectable hint of mockery. I pushed myself up from the ground, swaying as I stood, and looked at him coldly. "Mr. Sterling here to watch me suffer?" Adrian chuckled softly, took off his black trench coat, and draped it over my shoulders. "I'm just here to take my Chief Technology Officer home." "The car's outside. Let's go." I didn't refuse. I followed him to the Rolls-Royce Phantom parked by the curb. The cabin had the heat on. Adrian handed me a cup of hot coffee. "That hard drive—destroyed?" he asked casually. I cradled the coffee cup, feeling its warmth. "Fake. It had the complete series of some old cartoons on it." Adrian raised an eyebrow, a smile of appreciation curving his lips. "And the real source code?" I pointed to my own head. "All in here. No one else in the world can make that system run except me." Adrian leaned back in the leather seat, his long fingers tapping lightly on his knee. "Ethan thinks that as long as he kicks you out, he can take your technology to ring the bell at the stock exchange." "He has no idea you already built a backdoor into that system." I laughed coldly, a flash of ruthlessness in my eyes. "Did he really think he could just take what's mine?" "I'm going to make him fall as hard as he's climbed." Adrian turned to look at me, his gaze deep. "What do you need me to do?" "Help me prepare a big gift." I looked out at the speeding nightscape. "Ethan wants to hold his IPO bell-ringing ceremony, doesn't he? I want the whole world to see his true face." The next morning. I was still resting in the hotel Adrian had arranged when my phone started ringing like crazy. It was Ethan calling. I hit answer and turned on the recording. "Lila! What the hell did you do to the source code!" On the other end, Ethan's voice was frantic, like a rabid boar. "Why is all the test data showing errors? The system won't even start!" "The investors are coming to see the final demo tomorrow. Hand over the decryption file right now!" I took a leisurely sip of milk. "Mr. Chase, we're getting divorced. Whether your company goes public or not has nothing to do with me." Ethan gritted his teeth. "Lila, don't push me!" "You think I can't do anything if you don't hand it over?" "Your brother's kidney transplant surgery years ago—that went through company accounts! Three hundred thousand dollars!" "I have all the transfer records and signatures. If I report this to the police, that's embezzlement, misappropriation of company funds!" "Enough to put you away for ten years or more!" My hand clenched suddenly, nails digging deep into my palm. My brother had sudden kidney failure years ago and urgently needed a transplant. I was overseas in lockdown development and couldn't get back. Ethan had volunteered to advance the money from company funds, saying I could pay it back from my dividends when I returned. Turns out he'd been calculating this from the very beginning. He'd deliberately made this transaction look like evidence of embezzlement just so he could have leverage over me today! "Ethan Chase, you're truly despicable," I said through clenched teeth. "No mercy in war!" Ethan sneered. "Three o'clock this afternoon. Come to the office, sign the divorce papers, and hand over the decryption file." "Otherwise, just wait for the court summons and spend the rest of your life in prison!" The call was brutally disconnected. I looked at the blackened phone screen and laughed in fury. Fine. Very good. Ethan Chase, if you want to play, let's play big. **5** Two-thirty in the afternoon. I changed into a sharp black business suit, did full makeup, and applied bright red lipstick. In four-inch heels, I walked back into Summers Tech's building. Every brick, every pane of glass in this building was soaked with my blood and sweat. Now it had become a den of filthy thieves. The receptionist saw me, her eyes evasive, stammering: "Ms... Ms. Summers." I ignored her and walked straight to the top-floor CEO's office. I pushed open the door. Ethan and Madison were sitting on the sofa. On the table lay a thick divorce agreement and a document renouncing all company equity. Madison saw me, a flash of triumph and venom in her eyes. She stood up, picked up a cup of freshly brewed hot tea from the table, and walked over to me. "Lila, you're finally here. Ethan's been waiting forever." "Have some tea. Ethan specially had someone brew this premium blend for you." She walked up to me, and suddenly her wrist flipped—the scalding tea splashed straight toward my face! If that tea hit me, my face would definitely be scarred. But I'd been prepared. I dodged to the side. The tea spilled entirely onto the carpet, sending up clouds of steam. Madison covered her mouth in fake panic. "Oops, sorry Lila. My hand slipped." My eyes went cold. I swung my hand back and slapped her hard across the face. "Smack!" I used my full strength. The slap spun Madison halfway around and she fell onto the sofa. "Hand slipped? Well, my hand slipped too." I looked at her coldly. Madison clutched her rapidly swelling face and burst into tears. "Ethan! Look at her! She hit me again!" Ethan slammed his hand on the table and stood up, pointing at my nose and cursing. "Lila! Don't push your luck! You think I won't call the cops and have you arrested?" "Just sign the papers and leave the decryption file! I don't have time to waste on you!" I pulled out a chair and sat down at the desk, casually flipping through the divorce agreement. Leave with nothing, give up all shares, assume all marital debt. What a brilliant scheme—they wanted to bleed me dry. "Ethan Chase, aren't you afraid of karma?" I looked up at this man I'd once loved deeply. Ethan laughed coldly, his face full of disdain. "Karma? I only believe in winners and losers." "You're a washed-up old hag. What gives you the right to fight me?" "Sign the papers and get out of my world. That's your only option. Otherwise, you can go rot in prison with that sickly brother of yours!" I picked up the pen and without any hesitation, signed my name with a flourish. Ethan's eyes flashed with wild joy as he eagerly snatched the agreement. "Smart choice! Where's the decryption file?" I pulled a USB drive from my bag and tossed it on the desk. "That's what you wanted. Plug it into the computer and the system will automatically decrypt and run." Ethan grabbed the USB like it was treasure, his hands trembling with excitement. "Perfect! Notify the tech department immediately—prepare for system launch!" He turned to look at Madison. They exchanged a smile, as if they could already see the glorious moment of ringing the bell at the stock exchange. "Lila, you can get lost now." Ethan looked down at me like I was trash. "From now on, Summers Tech has nothing to do with you. Madison is the master here." I stood up and smoothed my suit jacket. Looking at their smug faces, a mocking smile curved my lips. "Ethan Chase, I hope everything goes smoothly at your bell-ringing ceremony tomorrow." I turned and walked out of the office. The moment the elevator doors closed, I pulled out my phone and sent Adrian a message. "Fish has taken the bait. Prepare to close the net." **6** The next day at ten in the morning. The domestic synchronized bell-ringing ceremony for Summers Tech's IPO was held at the city's largest international convention center. They'd invited hundreds of media outlets. Countless camera flashes lit up the hall like daylight. Ethan wore a brand-new white suit, standing on stage full of pride. Madison wore a designer maternity gown, dripping in jewels, nestled beside him with all the airs of a CEO's wife. My mother-in-law sat in the front row VIP section decked out in gold and silver, grinning ear to ear. "Ladies and gentlemen of the media, dear investors!" Ethan held the microphone, his voice trembling with excitement. "Today is a historic moment for Summers Tech! Our core AI chip will completely change the landscape of the entire industry!" "In ten seconds, we will ring the IPO bell in sync with the stock exchange!" The whole room stood and began the countdown. "Ten!" "Nine!" "Eight!" ... "Three!" "Two!" "One!" Ethan and Madison simultaneously raised the mallets in their hands and struck the bronze bell behind them. "GONG—" The bell's echo reverberated through the entire hall. Ethan spread his arms, ready to receive thunderous applause. But the expected applause never came. Instead, there was deathly silence. Then came a collective gasp of disbelief. Ethan froze, following everyone's gaze to the massive LED screen behind him. The screen, which should have been displaying the stock ticker and soaring K-line charts, now showed a high-definition security camera video. In the video, Ethan sat in a private room at a discreet club, across from the vice president of a competitor company. "Mr. Chase, as long as you package and sell us Summers Tech's core user data, this fifty million is yours." Ethan smiled greedily and sleazily. "No problem. I control all the technology now anyway. That idiot Lila is still slaving away for me overseas. If anything goes wrong, I'll just pin it all on her." The room erupted in chaos! Camera flashes went crazy, and reporters swarmed like sharks smelling blood, instantly in a frenzy. "Mr. Chase! Is what's in the video true?" "Are you involved in illegally selling user privacy data?" "Are you stealing trade secrets?" Ethan's face went deathly pale, his whole body shaking as he screamed toward backstage: "Turn it off! Turn it off now! This is fabricated! This is slander!" But the screen was completely out of control. The image suddenly changed. It switched to bed photos and video of Madison with a balding middle-aged man in a hotel room. The man was Mr. Harrison, one of Summers Tech's biggest investors. In the video, Madison moaned continuously. "Mr. Harrison, I've got that idiot Ethan wrapped around my finger for you. He still thinks the baby in my belly is his." Mr. Harrison pinched her face, laughing lecherously. "You little minx. Once the company goes public, I'll kick Ethan out and make you the chairman's wife." BOOM! This bombshell completely exploded the venue. Reporters' microphones were practically shoved in Ethan and Madison's faces. "Ms. Cooper! Whose baby are you really carrying?" "Mr. Chase, did you know you've been cheated on?" Ethan whipped his head around, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at Madison. "You bitch! You dare lie to me!" He lunged at her like a madman and grabbed her throat. Madison screamed in terror, struggling desperately. "Ethan! Let me explain! It's fake! It's synthetic! Lila did this to me!" My mother-in-law saw this scene, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted on the spot. The scene descended into complete chaos. Just then, the hall doors swung open. Several uniformed police officers strode in. "Ethan Chase, you're under arrest for illegal theft and sale of citizens' personal information, embezzlement, and commercial fraud. You need to come with us." Cold handcuffs clicked onto Ethan's wrists with a snap. He struggled to lift his head and through the crowd spotted me standing behind the glass of the second-floor VIP box.His eyes were filled with disbelief, despair, and madness. "Lila! It was you! You set this up!" "That USB drive didn't have the decryption file at all! It was a virus!" I raised my wine glass and looked down at him from above, lifting it in a distant toast. Ethan Chase, you thought you won? This is only the beginning. **7** Ethan was taken away by the police, and Madison was also brought in for questioning as an accomplice. Summers Tech's IPO plan completely fell through. Trading was suspended indefinitely. Investors pulled out one after another, demanding massive penalty payments for breach of contract. The once-mighty tech rising star collapsed overnight and became the laughingstock of the entire industry. The third afternoon. I was sitting in Adrian Sterling's office, looking through Summers Tech's bankruptcy liquidation report. The receptionist called. "Ms. Summers, there's an old woman downstairs claiming to be Ethan Chase's mother. She's making a scene in the lobby and insists on seeing you." I raised an eyebrow. "Send her up." Before long, my mother-in-law was escorted into the office by two security guards. Her hair was messy, her clothes filthy. She had none of the arrogance she'd shown when she threw me out that day. The moment she saw me, she dropped to her knees with a thud, wailing dramatically. "Lila! Please, I'm begging you!" "Let Ethan go! He's your husband! You can't be so heartless as to send him to prison!" "He owes hundreds of millions in debt. The court seized our villa. I don't even have a place to live now. I'm sleeping on the streets!" I sat in the large leather executive chair, looking at her coldly. "Husband? When he tried to send me to prison for some mistress, did you think about him being my husband?" "When you let that mistress burn my father's belongings, did you think about me being the lady of the house?" My mother-in-law trembled all over and began frantically slapping her own face. "It's all my fault! I was a confused old fool!" "Lila, that little bitch Madison seduced Ethan! The baby isn't even Ethan's—he was tricked!" "As long as you sign a settlement letter and get Ethan out, I'll make him cut ties with that bitch immediately. You can still be our family's good daughter-in-law!" I looked at her disgusting display and found it laughable. "Settlement letter? He committed criminal offenses. You think my signature can just release him?" "Besides, why would I forgive a piece of trash who wanted me dead?" My mother-in-law froze. She didn't understand the law, but she heard the finality in my words. She suddenly changed her expression, scrambled up from the floor, and pointed at me, cursing. "You evil woman! You just can't stand to see our family prosper!" "You destroyed my son! I'll haunt you even as a ghost!" She lunged at me with claws out, ready to attack. Adrian pushed open the door and walked in. He swept his icy gaze over my mother-in-law, his entire presence radiating powerful authority. "Security, throw this crazy woman out." "If you ever let her set foot in Sterling Empire again, you're all fired." The guards quickly covered her mouth and forcibly dragged her out. The office returned to quiet. Adrian walked to my side and handed me a file. "Ethan Chase is in detention and urgently requesting to see you." "He says if you're willing to visit him, he'll tell you a secret about your father's car accident years ago." My heart sank sharply, my pupils contracting. My dad's car accident... wasn't an accident? I clenched my fists so tightly my nails dug into my flesh, but I couldn't feel the pain. "Arrange it," I said through gritted teeth. "I need to see him." **8** The detention center's visitation room was cold and damp, filled with the smell of mold. Ethan wore an orange prison uniform and handcuffs, sitting across from me behind iron bars. In just a few days, he'd become haggard beyond recognition. His hair was greasy and disheveled, his eye sockets sunken, his face unshaven. He looked like a walking corpse. Seeing me, he lunged at the bars, gripping the iron rods tightly. "Lila! You finally came!" "You have to save me! I know you can contact Adrian Sterling. As long as he drops the lawsuit, as long as you hand over the source code, the company can still be saved!" "I'll agree to anything! I'll give you all my shares!" I looked coldly at his pathetic begging. "Didn't you say you'd tell me a secret about my dad's car accident?" Ethan's eyes flickered as he swallowed. "Promise to get me out first, then I'll tell you." I stood up and turned to leave without hesitation. "If you don't want to talk, forget it. You have fifteen years inside to remember slowly anyway." "Wait!" Ethan panicked, screaming desperately. "I'll talk! I'll talk!" I stopped, turned around, and looked at him coldly. Ethan collapsed into the chair, his voice trembling. "Back then... your dad's car accident wasn't an accident." "He discovered I'd doctored the company's early financial records. I'd embezzled funds to play the stock market." "He was going to report me with the evidence." "I... I just had someone tamper with his brake line. I wanted to teach him a lesson, make him mind his own business." "I didn't think... I didn't think he'd crash into a semi-truck and die on the spot..." BOOM! It felt like a bomb exploded in my brain. All the blood in my body froze completely in that moment. My dad... was killed by him! I stared at the man before me, trembling uncontrollably. "So you killed my dad, took over his company, then pretended to care for me, making me grateful, working for you like an idiot?" Ethan covered his face in anguish, sobbing. "Lila, I was possessed by demons back then! I couldn't go to prison!" "But wasn't I good to you afterward? I built up the company. I made you the boss's wife..." "Shut up!" I roared, tears falling uncontrollably. I rushed forward, wishing I could tear him to pieces through the bars. "You animal! You slept beside me every night—didn't you have nightmares!" "You even used my brother's life-saving money to threaten me! Ethan Chase, you don't deserve to be human!" Ethan suddenly looked up, his eyes showing madness and venom. "Lila, stop acting so noble!" "You think Adrian Sterling is some good guy? He's helping you just to absorb Summers Tech's technology!" "You're just a pawn in his hand! Sooner or later, he'll destroy you too!" I took a deep breath, wiped my tears, looked at him, and smiled cruelly. "So what? At least he didn't kill my father." "Oh, I forgot to tell you something."