Chapter 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.