Chapter 3

The next day should have been the eighth anniversary of our engagement.

Two months earlier, Selena had promised to keep the afternoon free. At nine that morning, she texted me. "Dinner's postponed. Julian's company is going public today. I need to be there for the opening bell."

Thirty seconds later, another message appeared. "You've been too worked up lately. Take the day to cool off."

I didn't reply. I went to the law firm alone.

Over the years, I'd kept my core algorithm patents under a lab I owned so they wouldn't become tangled up with Nexora's assets. The lab then licensed the technology to Nexora.

Selena had never questioned the arrangement. She assumed we'd eventually marry and everything I owned would become ours anyway.

Now that worked in my favor.

My attorney, Mitchell Reed, had just opened our prenuptial and patent licensing documents when Julian sent me three contracts. Each one granted Cross Dynamics a permanent, exclusive license to a core part of the Orion system.

Licensee: Cross Dynamics.

Authorizing signature: Adrian.

I looked at the signature and smiled.

Not a bad forgery. But fake was fake. No one could legally hold me to something I'd never signed.

Julian sent another message. "See that? Everything you spent eight years building for Nexora is about to become Cross Dynamics' trump card. Don't blame me. Selena says you're great with tech, but you don't know the first thing about business. Even the best technology is worthless if you don't know how to use it."

I passed the documents to Mitchell. "Verify the digital certificate, electronic signature logs, and internal approval chain."

He studied them, and his face grew serious. "If these contracts go through, we're in trouble."

"I know."

An hour later, we had the results. Nexora's digital certificate was real. The chief legal officer's electronic signature was real. The approval credentials were real. The only fake part was my signature.

So Julian hadn't created some fake contracts just to taunt me. Someone inside Nexora had helped him push them through the official process.

Mitchell asked, "Do you want to send the cease-and-desist letters immediately?"

I nodded. "To Nexora, Cross Dynamics, both companies' boards, and every legal officer who participated in the signing."

I paused. "Also, suspend all technical support for Orion's next phase. Under the current licensing agreement, we have the right to halt the release of new modules during a major intellectual property dispute."

Mitchell looked up. "Adrian, several of Nexora's biggest client upgrades will be affected."

I smiled. "That's something they should have considered before they forged the authorization."

That afternoon, I went back to the apartment.

In the bottom drawer of the study were a property deed, a revenue-sharing agreement, and an engagement ring I'd bought but never given Selena.

I'd spent two years preparing that Manhattan riverfront apartment for us.

The revenue-sharing agreement would have given me twenty percent of Orion's revenue for years to come.

I'd planned to lay everything in front of Selena that night and ask her one last time when we were finally going to get married.

That was no longer necessary.

I shredded the agreement, put the ring back in its box, and listed the apartment for sale.

I took only my own clothes, a few hard drives, and the old photos from the desk.

Selena came home at eleven that night. The moment she walked in, she spotted my suitcase by the door. "Where are you going?"

"Moving out."

She stood there for a few seconds, as if the words hadn't registered. "Because of last night?"

"Because of many things."

"Adrian, I'm exhausted. I don't want another emotional argument tonight."

"Then we won't have one." I placed the three licensing agreements on the table.

Selena looked down at them, and her face immediately changed. "Where did you get these?"

"So you knew."

She went pale. "I can explain."

"Go ahead."

She hesitated. "Cross Dynamics needed a technology endorsement. Nexora has already made most of the money it can from Orion. Letting Julian use a few of its core modules won't really hurt us."

"What I'm asking is why you forged my signature."

"Because you would've said no." She said it so naturally that the room went silent for several seconds.

For a moment, I didn't know whether to laugh. "You knew I wouldn't agree, so you forged my signature anyway. That means my consent never mattered to you."

"Adrian, it's just business." She rubbed her forehead. "Once Julian's company takes off, Nexora's shares in it will be worth several times more. Everyone wins."

I spoke calmly. "Selena, I don't own a single share of Nexora."

She froze.

For years, she'd promised me equity after the next funding round, after the company became stable, after the board approved it.

Eight years later, I was still nothing more than a well-paid advisor who licensed technology to her company.

She quickly recovered. "Once we're married, what difference does it make?"

"There is a difference." I picked up my suitcase. "The difference is that we're not getting married."

The color drained from Selena's face. "What did you say?"

"The engagement is off."

She stepped in front of me. "You're throwing away eight years because of a few licensing agreements?"

"No." I looked straight at her. "I'm leaving because you thought my money was yours to control, my friends were yours to judge, my technology was yours to give away, and my life was yours to plan. You didn't love me. You were just used to owning me."

Her lips parted, but no words came out. I walked around her and opened the door. Then I heard her behind me. "Where are you going?"

I didn't turn around. "Somewhere you can't make my decisions for me."