Chapter 2
The preview file for the roadshow screen loaded slowly.
The first page was the company introduction.
The second page was the management team.
Charles was at the top, listed as CEO and Founder.
Vivian stood next to him, listed as the Head of Brand Strategy and the Co-Founder.
I kept scrolling down.
The third page had nothing.
The fourth page had nothing.
It wasn't until the very end of the appendix that I spotted a line of tiny print. [Technical Support Team: Evelyn Shaw.]
The cold glow of the screen washed over my face.
All of a sudden, I realized the backstage AC was set way too low. The chill was slowly seeping into my fingers, inching its way up.
Charles was standing right behind me.
Charles called out, "Evelyn."
I didn't turn around. "Who changed it?"
He didn't answer right away.
I looked back at him. "Charles, who put Vivian down as the Co-Founder?"
He pressed his lips together. "Vivian got back to the country, and things haven't been easy for her. She faced setbacks on that overseas project, and there are people in the industry waiting for her to stumble.
"Giving her a title that puts her in the spotlight. It's good for Cloudspire Technologies."
"And what about me?" My voice was barely more than a whisper.
It was so quiet that the music from the stage nearly swallowed it up.
Charles looked at me, a bit resigned in his eyes. "You're different from her. Your spot at Cloudspire is untouchable."
I looked down at my name tag.
He said no one could touch my position.
But it had already been changed.
I was still clutching that blue pen in my hand.
The pen was old, its matte blue surface scuffed, with a little spot at the end where the paint had chipped away.
On the first day we started the company, Charles used it to sign the lease for our first office.
After he finished signing, he handed the pen to me.
"From now on, we'll sign every important document together," he said.
I laughed at how much he loved making things feel official.
He said, "Evelyn, you're my only partner."
He said only.
I believed him back then.
The countdown in my earpiece jumped to ten minutes.
The makeup artist walked past me, carrying a deep blue suit.
I knew that suit instantly.
It was the one the brand sponsor had picked out for me.
There was a little silver button on the cuff.
Just then, Vivian stepped out of the dressing room.
She was wearing that deep blue suit, her hair elegantly pinned up, her face a little pale, but her lips touched with the right red.
When she saw me, she paused for a moment, surprised. "Evelyn."
She walked over, her fingers nervously fiddling with the cuff.
"I'm sorry, I learned about the schedule change. Charles thought you were worn out lately, so he asked me to take some of the pressure off you," Vivian said softly.
My gaze fell on the tiny silver button at her cuff.
The silver caught the light, and it was so bright it stung my eyes.
Charles shifted, putting himself between us.
"Alright, it's time to go on stage," he said.
Vivian nodded and walked past me.
The stage lights dimmed.
The host's voice echoed through the room. "Please welcome Vivian, the Co-Founder of Cloudspire Technologies, here to introduce Cloudspire's latest flagship product, the Z17."
Applause erupted like a tidal wave.
Vivian walked onto the stage, standing in the spotlight that was meant for me.
I stood backstage in the shadows, watching as her name flashed across the big screen.
My phone suddenly buzzed.
It was a message from the investment bank advisor. [Hey, Evelyn, the roadshow system says you've given up your public Co-Founder title. Is that true?]
I stared at that message, reading it over and over.
The blue pen pressed so hard into my palm it hurt.
The applause out front kept rolling on.
That was when it hit me. Today's last-minute changes weren't about who was speaking.
I stood in the narrow backstage corridor, my finger paused on the phone screen.
The message from the investment bank advisor was still lit up.
[Is that true?] Those words lingered in the center of the screen.
It felt like a sterile confirmation form, cold and impersonal.
As I was about to reply, Charles reached over and swiftly took my phone from my hand.
He didn't do it roughly.
He was so quick that I barely had time to react.
The screen went dark in his palm.
I didn't say a word.
"Give it back," I finally said.
Charles held my phone in his hand, his voice low. "Don't disrupt the mood of the launch event right now."
The mood of the launch event.
I chewed on those words, letting them roll around in my mind.
Vivian's voice echoed from the stage. "The Z17 was born from our team's dedication, building everything from the ground up."
She said "our team."
Yet on the big screen, only her face filled the frame, no sign of anyone else.
I reached for my phone.
Charles moved it out of reach. "Evelyn, calm down."
I stared at his hand.
I knew that hand better than my own.
It had massaged my aching shoulders on countless late nights, and held me close on that rainy night our funding fell through, whispering to me not to be afraid.
Now, it was taking my phone, like hiding evidence away in the dark.