All Chapters of The Life She Stole: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

14 Chapters

Chapter 1 The Deal Is Off

"What?" Eugene Carter froze, staring at me in disbelief.I looked at my half-brother and tore the contract to shreds. The torn pieces came raining down over Eugene, scattering across his face and clothes.I leaned back in my chair, watching the smug look on his face instantly turn to rage.My voice was cold. "Evercore Technology will never get a single license from Starcrest Group."Eugene stood there for a full three seconds before he finally snapped out of it."Daniel, are you fucking insane? Do you have any idea what happens when you piss off my dad? My dad can wipe out the company you spent ten years building overnight!"He kicked the chair aside and stormed out, slamming the door so hard that the glass on my desk rattled.The shareholders waiting outside erupted instantly. They swarmed into my office and crowded around my desk, every face more livid than the last."Daniel, have you lost your mind? That's $300 million! You tear up a deal like that without blinking? Are you

Chapter 2 The Cost of Refusal

I raised an eyebrow and motioned for her to come in.The door opened, and Lauren walked in. Each pearl on the necklace around her neck was perfectly round, and her tailored skirt suit accentuated her refined, gentle demeanor.The moment she entered, she handed me a business card, her smile polished, with just a hint of the condescension of someone accustomed to being above others."Mr. Morgan, it's a pleasure. My name is Lauren Bennett, a shareholder of Evercore Technology."She smiled again, the expression perfectly practiced but devoid of warmth."Eugene was out of line yesterday. He's young, and he doesn't always know better. I wanted to apologize on his behalf."She paused, watching for my reaction.When she saw that my expression remained impassive, even that perfunctory smile faded, and her tone turned cold."Of course, we at Evercore Technology aren't unreasonable. We do value Starcrest Group's technology. The terms can be renegotiated. But Mr. Morgan, in business, it's

Chapter 3 The Day of Reckoning

More than 200,000 comments had piled up, most of them cursing me.I had barely put down my phone when a notice from the administration popped up. "An emergency shareholders' meeting will be held in ten minutes."I grabbed a jacket and headed for the conference room.The moment I pushed open the door, more than 20 shareholders turned to stare at me, every face gloomier than the last.Leo Parker, the second-largest shareholder, threw the $300-million partnership offer Evercore Technology had previously sent us right in front of me."Daniel, you fucking idiot! You had $300 million sitting right in front of you, and instead of taking it, you pissed off Professor Morgan from Ashford University and screwed up every single university partnership we had!"Either you sign this contract right now and apologize to Professor Morgan, or all of us shareholders will remove you as CEO!"The others immediately joined in. Some slammed their hands against the table while others hurled insults. The

Chapter 4 The Evidence

The lobby of Starcrest Group was in complete chaos.More than a dozen representatives from partner companies had crowded around the waist-high marble reception desk, pounding on the counter hard enough to make it shake."Either pay me the $3 million penalty today, or get Daniel out here to explain. Otherwise, we're staying right here!"Lyra Shaw, the receptionist, had only graduated six months ago. She had never dealt with anything like this. Her eyes were red-rimmed like a rabbit's, and her hand shook so badly around the radio that she could barely hold on to it.The employees in the open office were just as rattled. One recently hired employee quietly stuffed his laptop and the invoices he'd been saving into his backpack. A few longtime employees huddled together, scrolling through social media, their screens filled with vile comments and insults.Even ordinary Starcrest Group employees had been tracked down through their social media accounts and hounded with abuse online.

Chapter 5 The First Blow

I paused and pointed to a log folder from December 2021."This month's iteration was completed on a bench in a hospital hallway. My dad had hit his head in a fall at a construction site and needed 12 stitches. I stayed with him in the hospital for three days. "I went through 37 versions of the parameters before I finally got it running. You can still see the handwritten notes I left in the logs. The writing was crooked because my hands were so stiff from the cold."As soon as I finished speaking, the technicians brought up an independent technical assessment issued by the National Institute of Science's computing division. Its official seal was stamped clearly across the page. In black and white, the report stated, "Starcrest Group's core architecture for its large language model was developed entirely in-house, with no overlap whatsoever with publicly available technology from overseas laboratories."The comments froze for a full three seconds. Then the entire mood shifted. Mes

Chapter 6 The Trap

The moment I finished speaking, the livestream cut off.I had barely stepped out of the conference room when Serena came running over, excitement written all over her face. She nearly dropped the tablet in her hand."Mr. Morgan, we're number one on the trending topics!"The topic "Evercore Technology Plagiarized a 30-Year-Old Manu" had shot straight to number one, with its engagement surpassing two billion.The prominent influencers who had been stirring up outrage against us were already deleting their posts. Several business partners who had been blocking our doors were now saying they wanted to see our follow-up evidence before terminating their contracts.I nodded without a word and kept walking toward my office.…It was four in the morning, and I hadn't been asleep for long when my phone started buzzing.It was Serena. Her voice was trembling, almost on the verge of tears. "Mr. Morgan, something's gone terribly wrong. They paid more than 20 influencers with millions of

Chapter 7 The Lie Unravels

"1996's SAT essay question was 'My Greatest Treasure.' What the hell does that have to do with ideals? That's obviously made up.""He can't even answer the SAT essay question he supposedly took. What if he really did steal someone else's identity?"The host was panicking, too. He kept shooting Connor desperate looks, trying to steer the conversation in another direction and smooth things over. But the more flustered Connor became, the more he tangled himself up. Even his words were coming out in a jumbled mess.The director had no choice but to cut to a commercial.I watched Connor on the livestream, flailing around like a clown. Then, I tapped my fingers against the desk, signaling the technicians to release the evidence.…Three minutes later, my social media account posted the forensic report along with an interview video. There was no caption, no explanation. They were simply dropped online, cold and merciless.The first document was a handwriting analysis of the 1996 stat

Chapter 8 No Way Out

I sat in my office and signaled the tech team to release the final wave of evidence.This was the hard proof exposing Connor's entire academic fraud operation.First came the chat logs and payment records from the ghostwriters who had produced 12 papers for leading academic journals. The earliest dated back to 2005. In one of the chats, a writer had complained, "This professor doesn't even know what C is, and he expects me to write a paper for a top journal. He can't even explain what he wants. Making money from this guy is a real pain."The payment records for every paper were laid out in black and white, ranging from $50,000 to $200,000. Every transfer was labeled as a "consulting fee," and every payment had come from Lauren's personal bank account.It didn't take long for a Ph.D. to come forward with another piece of evidence. He revealed that he'd written one of Connor's papers for a top journal. Connor had been his advisor at the time and had taken credit for his work. C

Chapter 9 The Family Act

"They're all just throwing each other under the bus.""This family is unbelievable. Thieves turning on thieves."I shut off the video and didn't give it another thought.I had known exactly what Lauren's trump card would be. She'd use our blood relationship to guilt-trip me, plain and simple. All I had to do was wait for her to come to me.Sure enough, the next morning, I got a text from her.Every word carried a threat. She wanted to meet me at Hilltop Lounge downtown, claiming she had something to discuss with me. Then, she added, "If you don't come, I'll go straight to your company's front door and tell every employee and reporter there that you refuse to acknowledge your own mother. I'll make sure everyone sees what an ungrateful son you are. Let's see how long you last in this business after that."I read the message and smiled.I replied with a simple, "Fine."I wanted to see what kind of show she thought she could put on.…Hilltop Lounge occupied the top floor of th

Chapter 10 What Money Can't Buy

"Danny, I'm still your mother. Blood is thicker than water. You can't leave me with nowhere to turn."If Connor and I go to prison, it'll hurt you, too. People will point fingers and call you a heartless son. You don't want that, do you?"I looked up at her, my voice cold as ice, every word cutting into her."When I was eight, I had a fever of 103.6 degrees. Dad carried me three miles through the snow, begging you for five dollars to buy medicine. You told him that if I died, I died."Over the years, you paid people off three times to keep Dad from getting legal identification. Twice, you had people beat him up. The last time, they nearly beat him to death."And now you're talking to me about blood being thicker than water? You're telling me you're my mother?"I smiled, but there wasn't a trace of warmth in it. Only bone-deep cold."My mother died on that winter night when I was eight and burning with fever. I have only one parent I call Dad. I don't have a mother as vicious as

1 2

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP