Chapter 4

Jessica' s face went from furious to incandescent.

"A divorce? You want a divorce?"

She laughed, a harsh, ugly sound.

"You have nothing, Alex. Nothing! I' ll make sure you' re fired from Davenport Digital. I' ll make sure you walk away with absolutely zero."

Blake, who had re-entered silently, smirked from the doorway.

"Listen to your wife, buddy. You' re out of your league."

Jessica gestured towards Blake.

"He' s bringing cutting-edge AI tech from Silicon Valley. Real innovation. Your little projects at Davenport will be obsolete in months."

"You were always just... adequate, Alex," she said, her voice dripping with contempt. "A placeholder."

A disposable asset. That' s all I' d ever been to her.

I felt a cold clarity.

Maya was gone. My marriage was a lie. My career, apparently, was next.

I turned and walked out of the house.

Once in my car, I pulled out my phone.

I didn' t call a friend. I didn' t call my lawyer about the divorce yet.

I called my patent attorney, Sarah Chen.

"Sarah, it' s Alex Miller."

"Alex! How are you holding up? I was so sorry to hear about Maya."

"Thank you, Sarah. Listen, about Project Beacon."

"Yes?"

"I need you to finalize the patent immediately. Under the trust."

I' d set up a blind trust years ago, a small, private thing.

"The 'Maya M. Miller Benevolent Trust'," I specified. "The ultimate beneficiary needs to be the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation."

There was a pause. "Alex, I thought Project Beacon was for Davenport Digital. That was the plan."

"The plan changed," I said. "Jessica and her family think it's their leverage. They think Blake is bringing the tech. They don't know I'm Beacon's lead, that it's mine."

I had developed it mostly in secret, with a small, loyal team.

Jessica knew I was working on something AI-related, but she never cared about the details, only that it would eventually make her company look good.

"Consider it done, Alex," Sarah said, her voice firm. "I'll expedite everything."

I hung up.

Let them think they had me.

Project Beacon was Maya' s legacy now.

And their downfall.