Chapter 2

In the elevator, I looked at the changing numbers in a daze.

My phone rang, and it was a call from Matt. I did not expect myself to answer the call.

“Oscar, Ms. Anderson really liked the model that you optimized for me. Next time, just send all of your creative designs to me. Then, I don’t have to trouble Ms. Anderson to do so.

“Of course, I’m very grateful for your support to me and to Ms. Anderson. Don’t worry. We’ll definitely invite you to our wedding as a groomsman.”

Even though I had expected his words, I still felt a numbness in my heart.

Celine and I had met in university. Even though she did not come from a rich family, I never looked down on her for it.

When we were twenty, we were madly in love. I gave up on an investment invitation and started a business with her.

When we were twenty-three, she accepted my proposal. I thought she was my entire future.

When we were twenty-five, her company was set up. I rejected all offers and focused on supporting her.

Over ten years, we supported each other. We were a model couple in everyone’s eyes.

However, everything started to change once she hired a male assistant.

She purposely kept a distance from me in public and indirectly denied our working relationship.

Even though we had been engaged for a long time, she would not let anyone in the company know about it.

After I asked her many times, she finally agreed to officially announce our relationship once the company hit the billion-dollar mark in market capitalization.

However, to help Matt, she kept letting him take credit for my work. It reached a point that everyone in the industry thought I was a useless creep who slept his way up.

My phone buzzed again. I thought it was a spam message and wanted to delete it. However, it was a call from my private lawyer, Theo Black.

“Mr. Smith, preparations for the initial public offering for Ms. Anderson’s new company are complete. As one of the core partners, would you like to submit the documents to the board?”

“No. Scrap it.”

Theo stayed silent for a while before he hesitantly asked, “Do you mean… you want to add even better terms and conditions?”

“Liquidate all the shares under my name and inform the legal department to initiate the intellectual property protection protocol for my core investment strategy model.”

Theo was shocked by the complete change in my attitude. He was dumbfounded for a long while.

Everyone knew that I was Celine’s strongest backing.

I had exhausted all of my network and savings for her so that she would not run into cash flow issues.

I had pulled all-nighters to analyze data and risk so that she would not make the wrong decisions.

To everyone, I was just an average data analyst.

However, I did not hide any of my talent and ability from her.

Despite spending so much effort, she once said to the board of directors indifferently, “Without my platforms, his strategies are just a stack of waste paper.”

At that time, I still naively thought that she only said it to reinforce her authority.

I finally realized that I was just a tool to her.

“From now on, you no longer have to tell me anything about Celine and Harmony Corporation. Treat it how you would treat other businesses.”