Chapter 4

I headed back to my own place.

Not the apartment I shared with Emily. This was a one-bedroom I rented over on the Eastside—just 400 square feet, 700 dollars a month. Nobody knew I had this place.

I got it three years ago. Whenever I worked too late and didn't want to go home, I'd crash here. Lately, those nights just kept getting more frequent.

I set the box on the floor and fired up my laptop.

Jenny had already sent over the draft termination letter. I went through all 32 patent numbers one by one, e-signed the document, and sent it off.

After that, I leaned back in my chair.

I leaned back and stared at the ceiling.

My phone screen kept flashing on and off, again and again.

I grabbed my phone and glanced at the screen.

Susan texted again: "I heard what happened. Are you okay? Don't do anything rash."

This time, I texted back.

"Already did."

"Wait, what?"

"I just revoked every single patent license."

There was silence for a good ten seconds before her call came through.

"Alex, are you out of your mind?" Susan practically yelled. "Do you have any idea what this means?"

"I know," I said.

"StellarTech's entire core system runs on your patents! If you pull them, they're—"

"They'll be completely paralyzed. No way they can fix it anytime soon."

"Have you thought about the legal risks? Richard won't just let this slide."

"It's all there in black and white—the license gives me the right to end it whenever I want. Back when we signed, Richard insisted on just licensing the patents instead of buying them outright, all to save a few bucks. Well, that saving's come back to bite him now."

Susan went quiet for a moment.

"So what's your next move?" she asked.

"Tomorrow, I'm heading to the Intellectual Property Office to file the official paperwork. And then—"

I paused.

"Then I'm going to start my own company."

"What are you going to do?" Susan asked.

"I'm going to turn all that tech into real products. No more working for someone else—I'm doing it on my own," Alex replied.

"Do you even have the money?" she asked.

"Not much. Just four hundred thousand in my account."

"four hundred thousand to start a tech company? Alex, are you crazy? Has all that coding fried your brain?"

"It's enough. I just need a server and three people to get started."

Susan went quiet again.

"Want me to handle legal for you?" she asked.

"Wait, aren't you still with StellarTech?" I asked.

"I'm quitting tomorrow," she said.

I froze for a moment, caught off guard.

"Why?" I asked.

"Michael's got no future, but you do." She finished and hung up right away.

I set my phone down.

I glanced out the window. The city was lit up, stretching out like a giant circuit board.

There are twenty million people in this city. Starting today, I'm just another nobody.

No title, no team, no one in my corner.

But I still had 32 patents. Five years of hard-earned experience. And at least one person willing to stick with me.

Enough.