All Chapters of The Missing Royalties: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

At 2 p.m., I stood at the bank counter to report a lost debit card. I'd lost it the week before and hadn't gotten around to replacing it.Evie Reynolds, the teller, took my ID, pulled up my information, and suddenly paused."Sir, there's a recurring patent royalty payment under your name. Would you like to link it to your new card?"I froze. "What patent royalty payment?"She turned the screen toward me.I squinted at it for three seconds, my mind going blank.The screen clearly showed a recurring quarterly deposit of $300 thousand, paid into a bank account under my name that I'd never seen before.The deposits had started five years ago and continued without interruption to this day.Five years.Twenty quarters.$6 million.My fingers began to tremble.Five years ago, I was still spending my days and nights in the lab, completely immersed in research and development.My wife, Danica Pearson, brought me a stack of documents and asked me to sign them. She said our company,

At noon, I skipped work and headed straight to the city's Intellectual Property Office.After two hours of searching, I found the information I needed. All seven patent licensing agreements listed Eveningstar Technologies as the contracting party. However, under the patent owner field, a name was clearly written: Kit Pearson.This meant only one thing—Eveningstar Technologies had the right to use the patents, but the patents themselves belonged to me.Back then, the agreement Danica got me to sign merely granted Eveningstar Technologies a license to use my technology.Buried in the contract was a clause that stated: "The patent holder reserves the right to terminate the license agreement at any time."I hadn't even read it when I signed, but now, that clause was the strongest card in my hand. The moment I terminated the license, every product line under Eveningstar Technologies would lose its technical foundation overnight.$9 million a year in royalty revenue? They wouldn't see

Natalie packed the four documents into a file envelope and handed them to me."Mr. Pearson, I'll send the legal notice tomorrow morning and email a copy at the same time. Once the 60-day countdown expires, their entire production line will be forced to shut down."I took the envelope, then suddenly thought of something."Natalie, is there any way to shorten the countdown?"She adjusted her glasses, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips."You're the patent holder. If you discover evidence of willful infringement, you can apply for a temporary injunction. If the court approves it, the order takes effect immediately.""Then add that."She nodded and added a note to the file.I left the law firm with the envelope in hand. It was raining outside.My phone buzzed. A message from Danica appeared on the screen. "Honey, what do you want for dinner tonight? I'm going grocery shopping."The word "honey" made my stomach churn. I replied with two words: "Anything's fine."She i

On the evening of the eighteenth day, I didn't go home.Instead, I checked into a hotel near the office and sat alone on the edge of the bed with my phone on silent.When I finally looked at it, there were 67 unread messages and 23 missed calls.They were from Danica, Yvonne, and Kevin. There was even a number I didn't recognize, identified as Eveningstar Technologies' legal department.I went through them one by one.Danica's messages swung wildly from threats to pleas.At first, it was "You'll regret this" and "Do you really think you can beat me?"Later, they became pleas. "Honey, can we talk?", "I know I was wrong. Please give me another chance."Yvonne was more direct. "How much do you want? Name your price."Kevin only sent one message. "Kit, this is your last chance. Sit down and talk."I didn't reply to any of them.First thing in the morning of day nineteen, my supervisor called me into his office. "Kit, someone's here to see you."I pushed open the door and found

The argument lasted far longer than five minutes.In fact, it went on for a full twenty.Kevin pointed at Danica, accusing her of moving assets behind his back.Danica argued that she had earned the money and could spend it however she wanted.Yvonne sat beside them, cursing Kevin and insisting he was an outsider with no right to interfere.The three of them argued until their faces turned red, completely forgetting I was still sitting across the table.In the end, Natalie tapped the table."Everyone, time is limited. If we can't reach an agreement today, then we'll see each other in court."Just a reminder. The temporary injunction carries a daily fine of $50,000, and we're already on day four. The Intellectual Property Office has also issued an investigation notice to Eveningstar Technologies."If Mr. Baker's fraudulent capital contribution is confirmed, this won't be a civil matter anymore. It'll be criminal."The moment the word criminal left her mouth, the color drained