Her Betrayal, My Revenge, Our Ruin

rain-slicked windows. I didn' t go home. I couldn' t. Our house, the one I had helped d

ng I did was

he words tasting like ash.

. "The license agreement is ironclad. It terminates with your employment. Without

d in my chest. It wasn' t

Canceling joint credit cards. Moving my personal funds to a new account.

ed with a tex

talk about the transition.

nore

, she called. I let

tion. Her voice was soft, laced with a ma

to make. But it was for the company. For us. Mark is just a temporary solution until the I

e promoted herself to CEO without discussion. "It' s just a title, honey. We' re still partners." She' d said

r saw

t what she wanted. And right

red at the screen, a fresh wave of anger washing o

answered, my

ozing false friendliness. "Listen, no har

you want

your development files are gone. The documentation, the update logs... I can'

He knew exactly

ldly. "My personal notes and research logs are my in

rah' s sharp voice in the backgrou

n' t make this harder than it needs to be. Sarah is already talking

ired me," I shot back. "Tell her t

efore he co

company was my life, and Sarah... Sarah had been my world. Now

one buzzed again. This time it was an unknown numbe

lex

liar, but from a d

mil

ed me code for code. We' d lost touch after graduation. I' d heard she became th

warm, empathetic. "I, uh... I heard what ha

ped up. "Yo

lead VC on your Series B funding. He

ur parents' funeral. I had no idea he was the silent giant backing Sarah' s ambition. T

ntinued softly. "Alex, I' m so sor

m my old rival, meant more

is," I said,

ten, I know the timing is awful, but this might be fate. We' re starting a new R&D divi

eeded. A new beginning. A place where my work would be va

don' t know w

ake things very difficult for Sarah. Her company is a house of cards w

y and natural. It felt... good. Like breathing fres

out the window. The city di

Sarah popped u

our favorite dinner. Just come home

t my desk in the office, feet up, a stupid grin on his face. The caption

essages without

ow it was mixed with something else.

rough manipulation. She had no idea who she wa

e and my