Chapter 4

I stood up. "I'll answer that. The backside cooling solution causes substrate deformation on chips of this size. We ran over 400 comparative tests and found that the side cooling solution is 23% more stable for manufacturing nodes under 15 nm."

The technical director nodded.

Peter glanced at Sunny, then at me, twirling his pen. "This design is ingenious. Ms. Smith, were you the one who led the team?"

Sunny smiled. "It was a team effort. Sofia made a big contribution."

She didn't mention that I was the one who sketched out every detail myself.

Peter didn't press further.

After the meeting, Theo was waiting in the hallway. He only asked Sunny one question. "Did it go well?"

Sunny slipped her arm through his. "It went well. Peter was very satisfied."

Theo looked at me with the same indifference, as if I were nothing more than a piece of furniture. "Sofia, get the follow-up docs sorted."

I nodded.

Theo put his arm around Sunny's waist and walked away.

Nina slipped out of the conference room, clutching a cup of cold coffee. She murmured so only I could hear, "That last look from Peter. He knew."

*****

Theo's mother, Fiona Ludwig, showed up at our place unexpectedly over the weekend.

She never gave a heads-up. Every time she appeared, it felt like a surprise inspection.

I was in the kitchen cutting fruit when I heard the sound of high heels in the living room.

"Sofia, come out," Fiona called out.

I wiped my hands and walked out.

Fiona was sitting in the center of the sofa, with two assistants behind her carrying shopping bags. "These are from brands Sunny likes. Help me get these wrapped, will you? I'm having her over for dinner next week."

I glanced at the six or seven gift boxes spread across the coffee table, all filled with high-end skincare and jewelry worth tens of thousands of dollars. "You are having Sunny over for dinner?"

Fiona crossed her legs and flicked an imaginary speck off her skirt. "She's Theo's friend, back from studying abroad. Refined and well-mannered. What's wrong with having her over?"

She never looked at me once. "You should fix yourself up a bit, too. Don't let yourself look shabby in front of guests."

The assistants opened the shopping bags one by one, setting the gift boxes out on the table. The last bag contained an off-white dress, the same style Sunny always wore.

Fiona picked up the dress, held it up against herself, and nodded approvingly. "This size should be perfect. Sunny's got the kind of figure that looks good in anything."

As she said that, she finally shot me a glance. That look said it all, "Look at her. Now look at you."

Nina called me that night and asked what I was doing. I told her I was wrapping gifts.

"What kind of gifts?" she asked.

"For Sunny. My mother-in-law bought them," I replied.

Nina went quiet for a few seconds. "So your mother-in-law bought gifts for your husband's ex-girlfriend and wants you to wrap them up for her?"

"Yeah."

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nina."

"I wasn't yelling at you. I was yelling at your mother-in-law." Nina's voice shot up. "Does she even know you and Theo are married? Is she clueless or just deliberately trying to make you sick?"

"She doesn't know."

Nina was completely stunned. "What do you mean she doesn't know?"

"The only person who knows about our marriage is Theo's dad. It's all hush-hush. His mom has no idea I'm her daughter-in-law. She thinks I'm the live-in maid."

Nina's breathing grew heavy on the other end. "Sofia, listen to me. You've been married to Theo for three years, kept it hidden for three years, and busted your ass for his company all that time.

"He gave your opportunity to his ex, handed your design over to her, and his mom treats you like the maid. How much longer are you going to put up with this?"

I finished wrapping the last gift box and tied it up with a ribbon. "Nina, can you check something for me?"

"What is it?"

"I need a screenshot of the chip design master's program graduates from Berringer Tech over the past five years. It's on their website. Can you get that for me?"

Nina paused. "You already checked?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"Sunny's name isn't on the list."

I heard Nina slam her hand on the table. "I knew it."

"Don't say anything yet. Just get me the info and save it."

After hanging up, I stacked the wrapped gift boxes neatly on the table.

The fruit in the kitchen had already gone brown, so I dumped it in the trash.

Standing by the kitchen window, I saw a black car parked by the curb with its engine off. It wasn't Theo's car.

I didn't recognize the license plate, but there was a discreet logo on the side of the car. It was the Harrison Group's corporate logo.

The Harrison Group was the Ludwig Group's biggest rival in the chip industry.

The car sat there for about ten minutes before driving off.

I saved the license plate number in my phone.