Chapter 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.