Chapter 3
"Alright. See you around." Samuel nodded, stepping aside.
As I walked past him, I caught the scent of his cologne. It smelled like the air freshener in Natalie's office.
I never paid attention to that before.
Or maybe I did notice, but I didn't let myself think about it.
When I got back to my desk in R&D, my coworkers were giving me weirder looks than before.
Zack came over and handed me a glass of water. "Charlie, so what's the verdict? Did finance screw up or what?"
"Nope, they didn't mess up," I replied.
I set the glass down on my desk and fired up my computer.
There was a new email waiting for me. It was from NovaTech's legal department.
The subject line read: [Prenuptial Agreement Renewal Draft (2.0). Please Confirm and Sign Within 72 Hours.]
It was 72 hours.
Three days to decide if I wanted to stay invisible.
I didn't open the email.
Instead, I opened another folder.
There were three files inside.
The first was a licensing agreement for a chip architecture patent. [Inventor: Charles. Licensed to: NovaTech.]
The second was another algorithm patent. Same deal. I was the inventor.
The third was a screenshot of an email. It was from the VP of Qualcomm, sent to an email address registered under LC Design.
The email was short and direct: [Mr. Reed, regarding your XR-7 architecture, we're willing to offer 240 million dollars for an exclusive buyout. Please reply with a meeting time.]
I received that email two months ago.
I never replied.
Because the XR-7 architecture was the foundation of NovaTech's entire product line.
If I sold it, NovaTech's technological edge would vanish overnight.
But today, for the first time, I found myself thinking maybe I should reply to that email.
My phone buzzed.
It was a WhatsApp message from Natalie's mom, Vivian Grant. She said, "Charlie, come over early tonight. I asked the housekeeper to make some of your favorite dishes.
"Oh, and Natalie said you've been working so hard lately and lost some weight. Don't forget to take care of yourself."
It was a voice message, and her voice was as gentle as ever.
Vivian had always been nice to me. At least on the surface.
But she never actually asked how I was doing at work.
I replied: [Got it, Mom. I'll be there on time tonight.]
After closing WhatsApp, my eyes drifted back to that Qualcomm email.
It was 240 million dollars.
And right now, my entire net worth was 28 dollars.
My phone rang again. This time, it was an unknown number. The area code was from a northern city.
The caller sounded young and spoke fast. "Mr. Reed?
"This is William Lewis, an investment manager at Stellar Capital. Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to talk to you about something."
"What is it?" I asked.
"We've noticed you hold two core patents, one of which is the underlying design for edge inference architecture.
"We're launching a new chip fund and wanted to see if you'd be interested in starting your own venture. If you are, we'd be prepared to offer a 100 million dollars pre-money valuation."
It was 100 million dollars.
Someone was actually valuing me at 100 million dollars.
And yet, in my own wife's company, they treated me as if I were worth 5 bucks.
"I'll think about it," I said.
"Alright. Feel free to reach out anytime," William replied.
I hung up.
I left right at 5:30. Nobody in R&D ever leaves on time, so when I stood up to grab my coat, a few people looked up at me.
No one said a word.
But I could totally read their minds. When someone's year-end bonus was only 5 dollars, no one cared they left early or late.
The Grant family's villa was perched on a hillside in the western part of the city.
I took a cab there. The fare was 20 dollars. After swiping my card, I only had 8 dollars left.
Three cars were parked out front: Natalie's black Maybach, Samuel's white Porsche, and Andrew's red Ferrari. Andrew was Natalie's brother.
Samuel's car was here.
I stood at the door for a couple of seconds.
I took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell.
The housekeeper answered the door. "Charlie, you're here. Come on in, everyone is already here."
In the living room, Vivian was sitting in the center of the sofa, with Natalie beside her. Andrew was sprawled out on a single armchair, glued to his phone. Samuel was sitting next to Natalie, cracking jokes with Vivian and making her laugh.
As soon as I walked in, Samuel was the first to stand up. "Hey, Charlie. You're here."
He greeted me as if we were best friends or something.
Natalie glanced up, her face completely blank. "You're here? Mom has been waiting for you. Did you remember to buy the collagen peptides?"
"Yeah, I bought it," I replied.