Chapter 14
The system stayed dead for a full seventy-two hours.
In those three days, StellarTech lost five clients. Three of them came straight to me.
"Mr. Carter, we're in a real bind right now," the voice on the phone was practically shaking with anxiety. "Can we sign the contract today? Like, right now?"
"Absolutely," I replied.
By day thirty-five, Skyline Data had signed eleven clients. Total contract value: twenty million dollars.
Our team had grown from three to eight people. We'd moved into a whole floor in the building across from the startup hub.
I was working sixteen hours a day—coding, meeting clients, putting together proposals. I didn't have time to think about anything else.
Until that night.
I left the office after working overtime until eleven. The elevator took me to the first floor, and I pushed the door open.
A black Mercedes was parked by the curb, headlights on.
The door opened.
Emily stepped out of the car.
She was wearing a black coat, her hair down. She looked noticeably thinner than the last time we met.
"Alex," Emily said.
I stood there, watching her.
She walked over and stopped a couple of meters away from me.
"You won't answer my calls, you won't reply to my messages, you won't even look at my emails," Emily said, her voice soft but strained. "How much more are you going to push me?"
"I'm not forcing you," I replied.
"You pulled the patents, poached our clients, tanked the company's stock by a third—and you still say you're not pushing me?" she fired back.
"It's just business. You're not part of it," I said.
"Not part of it?!" Emily's voice shot up. "Alex, I'm the vice president! My dad's the chairman!"
"Did you ever think about how that vote would affect me?" I shot back.
She froze.
I watched her, her shadow stretched long under the streetlight.
"Emily, you stood there in front of everyone and called me nothing but a guy who builds walls. You said I didn't understand the market, didn't know the users, couldn't lead a team. And you chose Michael right there for all to see," I said.
"That was a company decision—" she said.
"Well, this is a company decision too," I shot back.
Emily opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.
"Alex, I—" Emily tried to speak.
"Are you going to sign the divorce papers or not?" I interrupted her.
She sucked in a sharp breath.
"No," Emily said, her voice tight.
"Then we'll settle this in court," I replied.
I walked past her, crossing the street without looking back.
"Alex!" she shouted after me.
Her voice echoed behind me as I kept walking.
I didn't look back.
"You'll regret this!" she shouted.
I walked into the night.
'No, I won't,' I thought.