Chapter 4

Victor glared at me, pure rage burning in his eyes.

"Veronica, don't push your luck!" he hissed. "You think you can survive in this industry on your tech skills alone? Without the backing of the Bates Group, you're nobody! If you walk through that door today, I'll have you blacklisted in the entire industry!"

I gave a thin smile, turning to leave. "We'll just see about that."

At the door, I paused and looked back at Sallie, who was clutching the flash drive with a smug, hidden grin. "Miss Kemp, Starry Sea is a massive undertaking. I wish you the best of luck."

She had no idea that the flash drive I handed over didn't contain any core data at all. Instead, it held a gutted shell whose underlying logic had been dismantled.

It was a mess waiting to crash at the worst possible moment. As for my core technical team... I had secretly transferred them to Alexander's command last night.

Victor thought he held all the cards, blissfully unaware that he was inheriting a ticking time bomb.

...

The moment I stepped out of the office building, the afternoon sunlight stung my eyes. But for the first time in years, I felt free.

Two weeks later, a premier charity gala was held at the Hilton.

Gathering every titan of Wall Street and Moonaiholt, the event was also the grand stage where the Bates Group planned to announce the launch of Starry Sea.

Sitting in the back of Alexander's Maybach, I watched the neon city lights flicker past the tinted window.

"Nervous?" he asked, handing me a glass of champagne with a faint smile in his eyes.

"I'm only worried Victor's going to cry too loudly later," I replied, taking the glass and lightly clinking mine against his.

Over the past two weeks, the private investigator I hired had finally made a massive breakthrough.

...

Inside the grand ballroom, high society radiated in diamonds and designer tuxedos.

Victor stood in the center of the crowd wearing a bespoke suit, practically glowing with arrogance. Beside him, Sallie wore a cocktail dress that looked painfully familiar.

It was the custom bridal gown I had spent nine months designing. Now its long train had been chopped short and altered into a party dress for Sallie.

[GROSS! Wearing someone else's wedding dress? Is this girl a dumpster diver?]

Holding a champagne flute, Victor was boasting to a group of venture capitalists.

"Veronica was just throwing a tantrum. Once she hits a wall out there in the real world, she'll come crawling back to beg for my forgiveness. Sallie is heading Starry Sea now, and everything is running smoother than ever. We'll be turning a profit by next month."

The moment the words left his mouth, the doors to the ballroom swung open. Every eye in the room instantly shifted toward the entrance.

Arm in arm with Alexander, I stepped onto the marble floor in five-inch heels. I wore an exclusive Parisian haute couture galaxy dress that Alexander had flown in just for the occasion; under the chandeliers, the fabric shimmered like a night sky.

The smug smile on Victor's face froze. His hand jerked, sloshing champagne all over his shirt cuff. He stared at my hand wrapped around Alexander's arm, pure jealousy and rage threatening to erupt from his eyes.

Storming over, he blocked our path. "Veronica, what are you doing with him? Do you have any idea what kind of event this is? Did you bring him here on purpose just to embarrass me?"

Alexander shifted subtly, shielding me behind his shoulder as his cold gaze cut through Victor like a blade. "Watch your tone, Mr. Bates. Miss Norris is now the Chief Technology Officer at the Mercer Group."

Victor froze, staring at me in disbelief. "Chief Technology Officer? Veronica, have you lost your mind? You sold our life's work to our biggest rival?"

[Major drama ahead! The scumbag is about to shatter! Slap that evidence right in his face!]

Granting their wish, I pulled a dossier from my clutch and slammed it right against Victor's chest.

"Open your eyes and look closely," I said, my voice echoing across the ballroom. "This isn't a sale. It's a total divestment. Furthermore, I am reporting you for embezzling 30 million dollars from Starry Sea's funds to buy Sallie a luxury oceanfront villa in Mararinmere."

Dead silence fell over the room, followed immediately by an explosion of shocked whispers.

Victor's face turned ghastly pale. He scrambled to gather the scattered documents off the floor, his hands shaking violently as he took in the wire transfer records.

"How... how did you get your hands on this?"

Realizing the tide had turned against them, Sallie immediately clutched her chest and collapsed weakly into Victor's arms. "Victor... my head is spinning. I can't breathe..."

Grasping at any straw to deflect, Victor wrapped his arms around Sallie and barked at me. "That's enough, Veronica! Sallie can't handle this kind of trauma. Are you really not going to stop until you've driven her to her death?"

I sneered, ready to play my final trump card.Drive her to her death? I'd love to ask her who really drove your brother to his death on that upstate mountain road years ago!

"Victor, this precious damsel you've spent years repaying wasn't your brother's innocent fiancée at all. She's the sister of the drunk driver who killed him!"