Chapter 2

Behind me was dead silence.

Then Mandy's furious scream echoed out. "Richard, stop right there. Who do you think you are? Without the company's platform, you are nothing."

I didn't look back.

Nothing? She would find out soon enough that without my Polaris system, they were the ones who would end up as nothing.

I walked out of the conference room, closed the door, and left all the chaos behind me.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

A message popped up: [Polaris core access revoked effective immediately upon your resignation. 72-hour countdown to low-level data self-destruct initiated. Have a nice life.]

I deleted the message, stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button for the first floor.

The doors slid shut, reflecting my calm face.

The game had begun.

*****

Back in the marketing department, the atmosphere was as still as a tomb.

The team members who once called me brother now kept their heads down, pretending to be busy, not one daring to meet my eyes.

The air was thick with betrayal and awkward silence.

I couldn't care less.

They were the type to go whichever way the wind blew.

I started packing up my stuff.

There wasn't much. A few books, a coffee mug I'd had for ages, and a photo of Mandy and me.

In the photo, Mandy and I were grinning from ear to ear. That was three years ago, right after I'd just finished the prototype for the Polaris system.

We were celebrating in a tiny, shabby apartment. She was snuggled up to me, saying she wanted us to change the whole industry together with this system.

Back then, her eyes still had that spark. Now, all that was left was scheming and greed.

I pulled out the photo, glanced at it, and then tossed it into the trash with a bunch of scrap paper.

My phone was buzzing like crazy in my pocket.

It was Henry White calling. He was my protégé and the only one in the conference room who had not kicked me when I was down.

I swiped to answer.

"Richard, are you really leaving? Don't be impulsive. Mandy wasn't thinking straight." Henry's voice was frantic on the other end.

"Henry," I cut him off, my voice level. "Keep up the good work. The department's counting on you guys now."

"But Richard, what'll happen to the Polaris system without you? We..."

"You'll figure something out," I replied offhandedly, then hung up.

Figure something out? Not a chance.

The Polaris system was mine from the ground up. From the underlying architecture to the core algorithms, every line of code was written by my own hand. It was like my child. No one but me could truly master it.

I set up tons of backdoors and permission locks, and the most crucial one was linked straight to my employment contract.

Once I left, the core functions would automatically lock themselves up in 72 hours, and all the critical data would be destroyed.

This was my final safeguard for myself, and my first parting gift to the company.

As I walked out of the office with my box, the receptionist caught sight of me. She avoided eye contact and whispered, "Goodbye, Mr. Ludwig."

I nodded at her.

Stepping out the front door, the afternoon sunlight hit me hard.

I squinted, took out my phone, and blocked Mandy and every company exec.

The world was suddenly peaceful.

I grabbed a cab and headed back to my downtown apartment.

I bought this place with the bonus from my first 10-million-dollar project, the one I landed using the Polaris system. I almost put Mandy's name on the deed.

Looking back now, it was laughable.

I tossed the box aside and flopped onto the soft couch.

Memories from the past kept flashing through my mind.

I remembered how I'd pulled three all-nighters to crack a tough algorithm. Mandy sat beside me with a cup of warm milk and said, "Richard, you're the most amazing man I've ever met."

I remembered when the system first ran successfully and brought in a million dollars for the company. At the celebration party, Mandy kissed me in front of everyone. "I'm sticking with you for life."

I remembered the day she got promoted to vice president. I set up a candlelit dinner and had a diamond ring ready. But she said, "Let's wait a bit longer. Once the company goes public, we'll get married."

It turned out that all those "wait a little longer" promises were only paving the way for a better kick to the curb.

Love didn't stand a chance when power and money were involved.