Chapter 5

"I believe everyone here already knows her. This is Seraphina Finch."

Julian sat at the head of the conference table, looking sharp in his designer suit, his arm draped casually over the back of Seraphina’s chair. Thirteen board members sat around the table, their eyes darting back and forth between Seraphina and me.

He wasn't acting like he had amnesia anymore.

At this table, he didn't need to.

"We have only one agenda item for today’s emergency meeting—the ownership of the thirty-seven patents under Clara Vance's name."

He opened the folder in front of him, and the projector lit up.

"These patents cover Sterling Group’s chip architecture, AI scheduling algorithms, and full-chain control protocols. While currently registered under Clara's individual name, they were developed using a massive amount of company resources, including our servers, testing equipment, and engineering teams."

"Our legal team has already filed a lawsuit regarding the ownership. Today, I ask the board to vote on suspending Clara from all duties at Sterling Group and freezing her technical access during the litigation."

Seraphina flipped open her notebook, looking as poised and comfortable as if she had sat at this table a hundred times.

In fact, she was sitting in my old seat.

I sat at the very end of the long table.

"Clara, do you have anything to say?"

An unfamiliar board member in wire-rimmed glasses spoke up.

"My patent holding company, Vance Technologies, was incorporated eight years ago. One year before Sterling Group. All development logs, experimental data, and published papers predate the creation of Sterling Group. As for the so-called company resources—"

"For the past seven years, you have been using Sterling Group's servers and equipment for iteration and development," Julian interrupted, his voice flat. "Your employment contract clearly states that any technological achievements produced during your employment belong to the company."

"That contract applies only to newly developed projects. All thirty-seven core patents were fully registered before I joined—"

"That's enough."

Another board member waved his hand dismissively.

"We aren't judges here. Let the court decide the ownership. Today, we are only voting on one thing: whether to suspend Clara's management access during the lawsuit. All in favor, raise your hands."

Out of thirteen hands, eleven shot up.

Seraphina didn't have voting rights, but she turned her head slightly to look at me, a tiny smirk playing on her lips.

It was a subtle, mocking look, as if saying—*See? You can't even protect this.*

After the meeting adjourned, the crowd dispersed. I stood by the elevator, waiting.

Footsteps sounded behind me.

Julian walked up and stood right next to me.

The projector lights were off, and the hallway was lit only by the cold, sterile glow of the emergency lights. With no one around, his polite, gentlemanly mask slipped off.

"Don't blame me."

He didn't look at me, keeping his eyes on our blurry reflections on the metallic elevator doors.

"You hold too much power, Clara. Seven years ago, when you had nothing, I was the one who gave you a platform to shine."

"You gave me?"

I turned to face him.

"Seven years ago, when I found you, you were running code on a second-hand laptop in a cramped basement apartment in the suburbs. You couldn't even afford to pay for domain registration."

"I was the one who gave you the full technology license to Vance Technologies. That was the only reason you could take those slides and land your first round of funding."

Julian's lips curled into a faint sneer.

"So what? Without my business strategies, your code would still be gathering dust in a lab. At the end of the day, you're just a technical worker."

The elevator arrived.

The doors opened, then closed.

I didn't step in.

"Julian, you just declared in front of thirteen board members that we have absolutely no relationship."

"So what?"

"The spousal lock-up clause only applies during a valid marriage. You denied knowing me in front of thirteen witnesses. Once this recording is presented in court, the judge will rule that you have voluntarily waived your spousal claims."

Julian’s expression froze.

"Since the lock-up clause is invalid, my thirty-four percent stake can be traded freely starting tomorrow morning."

"You—"

"And one more thing."

I pulled my phone from my bag and opened the admin dashboard for Vance Technologies.

"Section 11 of the Technology Licensing Agreement. When the marriage or cohabitation relationship between the parties is dissolved, all licensing authorizations terminate automatically. You said it yourself today—we have no relationship."

Julian lunged to grab my phone.

I took a half-step back.

My thumb tapped the screen.

[Authorization Status: Terminated.]

A confirmation window popped up. I tapped 'Confirm'.

Julian's face went completely pale.

I called Arthur.

"Did you get the recording of today's meeting?"

"Every single second of it."

"Put in the sell order before the market opens tomorrow. Thirty-four percent. Sell every single share."

"Ms. Vance, Sterling’s current stock price is eighty-six dollars. Are you sure you want to dump everything? Once the market sees a major shareholder liquidating—"

"I know. Do it."

I hung up and took one last look at Julian.

"You wanted to play amnesia and reset your life to when you were eighteen. I'm happy to help you. In seventy-two hours, every single chip running Sterling Group's systems will stop functioning. When that happens, the multi-billion-dollar empire in your hands won't be any different from that dusty second-hand laptop in your basement."