Chapter 3
The next day was technically my first workday after quitting.
I slept in at my apartment, waking up naturally as sunlight streamed through the half-closed curtains and spilling across the floor.
I checked my phone—it was already 10 AM.
Linda called me twice more and even shot me a text.
[Ryan, what's the maintenance password for the data hub? The tech team says they can't get in.]
I looked at her message and couldn't help but smile.
I left her on read.
I rolled out of bed, slipped on my slippers, and wandered into the kitchen. I fried up two eggs and made myself a bowl of noodles.
Back at Linda's villa, cooking was off-limits—she didn't want any grease messing up her precious marble counters.
My breakfast was always just a sandwich from the convenience store.
Now, I could fry as many eggs as I wanted.
After I finished my noodles, my phone rang again.
This time it wasn't Linda—it was Alex Lewis from the tech department at Summers Tech.
"Ryan, the data hub triggered an alert this morning. We can't get into the admin panel," Alex said.
"Ask your new boss," I replied.
"Ethan Chandler said he's not really familiar with the system," Alex admitted.
"He can always learn," I said.
"But you built the whole system yourself, and the docs." Alex said.
"All the docs are on my laptop, and I've already moved it out," I replied.
Alex was speechless.
"Alex, I'm not there anymore. Stuff like this should be handled by whoever's still on the job," I said.
I hung up and turned on the TV, flipping to a fishing show.
Guess I could start learning how to fish now.
At 11 AM, my phone rang again.
It was Linda.
This time, I picked up.
"Ryan! Are you even aware the data hub just crashed?" she yelled.
She sounded pissed and stressed.
"Yeah, I know," I replied.
"Give me the password!" she demanded.
"Ms. Summers, I'm not with the company anymore. Just doing things by the book, like you wanted. Let Ethan handle it—he's supposed to be your tech genius, right?" I said.
There was a three-second silence on the other end.
"Ryan, quit playing games," she said.
"I'm not messing around," I said, leaning back on the couch. "You wanted me to hand over my spot to him, so you must think he's better than me. This kind of issue should be a breeze for him, right?"
"You're doing this on purpose," Linda shot back.
"Ms. Summers, I've got other things to take care of. Gotta go," I said.
I hung up and went right back to watching the fishing show.
On the screen, a big carp was flopping around, but in the end, it got pulled out of the water.
All that struggling was useless—the fish just hadn't figured it out yet.
At 2 PM, Mark shot me a message.
[Ryan, Summers Tech just blew up.]
I asked: [What do you mean?]
[The data hub crashed—every online service is dead. The phones are ringing off the hook, and three major clients are already asking to terminate their contracts.]
I asked: [That fast?]
Mark replied: [You built the system—don't you know how it works? Without the admin password, the whole setup is a total black box.]
I couldn't help but smile.
It's not like I made things difficult on purpose.
Linda never gave a damn about the tech details—she dumped everything on me, and I was the only one with the passwords.
She used to say, "You take care of all the tech stuff. I don't want to deal with it."
Well, now she gets to deal with it.
At 4 PM, another unknown number popped up on my phone.
"Hello, Mr. Cooper. This is Attorney Smith from Summers Tech's legal department," someone said on the line.
"Hey, Attorney Smith," I replied.
"So, about the patent transfer agreement between you and the company" he started.
"She signed it herself. Need me to send you a copy?" I said.
"Mr. Cooper, there may be some irregularities with how the agreement was signed," he said.
"Irregularities ? Are you saying Ms. Summers can't read? Or that she was forced to sign it?" I shot back.
Attorney Smith was speechless.
"Attorney Smith, it's all there in black and white—Ms. Summers signed it herself. If you want to take this to court, I'm ready whenever you are," I said.
I paused for a moment.
"But honestly, you might as well save your legal fees. Those patents were always registered under my name—I just let Summers Tech use them for free. Now I'm revoking the license, and it's all perfectly legal. The agreement is basically just a notice," I added.
There was another silence on the other end.
"Best of luck with Summers Tech," I said.
I hung up.
Just then, a news notification popped up on my phone.
"Summers Tech's core system appears to be down—multiple users reporting service outages."
I dismissed the notification, stood up, and threw on my jacket.
There's a new smash burger joint right around the corner. Word is their sauce is legit.
Grabbing a burger solo? That's the way to go.
*****
It was the third day after I quit.
I was at the convenience store downstairs from my apartment, trying to decide which flavor of chips to get.
Cucumber or barbecue? This was a serious decision.
My phone rang.
It was Linda.
That was the sixth call from her today.
I picked up.
"Ryan! Where are you?" Linda's voice came through, sharp and urgent.
"I'm at the convenience store," I said.
"Get back to the office!" she demanded.
"I don't work at Summers Tech anymore. Why would I go back? To hang out with my ex?" Ryan replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"Ex-wife? What the hell are you talking about?" Linda shrieked, disbelief twisting her voice.
Her tone shot up several pitches.
I moved the phone away from my ear.
"Take a look at the third page of what you signed—those are the divorce papers," I said, flat as ever.
There was complete silence on her end.
It was so quiet I thought the call had dropped.
"What did you just say?" Linda finally whispered, disbelief thick in her voice.