My five years of blood, sweat, and tears? Gone. My startup, NovaSpark, was dead.
But the universe wasn't done with me.
A text from my boyfriend, Ethan, read: "We're done." Just like that.
Five years of supporting his music, funding his dreams, all for nothing.
To add insult to injury, he was already parading a new girlfriend, Chloe, flaunting his sudden "Hamilton inheritance."
I had a custom Cartier ring in my purse, getting ready to propose to him that night.
Talk about timing.
Then I found him, not an hour later, at a high-end lounge, publicly announcing my "tech dream went bust" and sneering, "Look who it is, my desperate stalker."
This from the man whose stepfather's gambling debts I quietly managed, whose career I financed.
The absolute gall.
He thought because he' d stumbled into some inherited wealth, he could rewrite history and label me a gold-digger.
How could he?
The man I loved, the man I poured my soul into, standing there, dripping in new money, spitting venom and lies.
My heart was a shattered mess, reeling from the sheer audacity of his betrayal.
But then, as he launched into another tirade, an unexpected ally, Liam, one of my former investors, stepped between us.
His quiet authority cut through Ethan's arrogance.
And when he took my hand, then softly kissed me, leading me out of that suffocating lounge, I knew something had to change.
My next words to him were clear: "Take me to my grandfather' s estate. Arthur Sterling."
It was time to stop hiding.