Chapter 1

The soft glow of three monitors was the only light in my office, casting long shadows across walls covered in whiteboards. Lines of code, complex algorithms, and user-flow diagrams filled every inch of space.

This was my world. My name is Ava Chen, and I was the architect of Nexus.

The rhythmic clicking of my keyboard was a familiar comfort, a language I understood better than spoken words. On the main screen, real-time data streamed in, millions of users logging on, connecting, sharing. Every green upward-trending line of the server load graph was a testament to the stability of the system I built from scratch.

I worked best at night, when the rest of the ConnectCorp office was quiet, when the hum of the servers was my only companion. My live-in boyfriend, Mark Davis, the CEO of ConnectCorp, called it my "creative cave." He used to admire it, but lately, he just complained about my unconventional hours.

The door to my office slid open with a soft hiss, breaking my concentration.

Chloe Miller stood there, framed in the harsh fluorescent light of the hallway. She wore a sharp, ridiculously expensive power suit, and her red-soled heels clicked loudly on the polished concrete floor.

She was Mark's new Head of Product, and my old rival from college. She always had a way of looking at me like I was something she' d scraped off her shoe.

"Ava," she said, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "Still hiding in your cave?"

I swiveled my chair to face her, my fingers still hovering over the keyboard.

"I'm working, Chloe. The IPO is tomorrow. I'm running final diagnostics."

She gave a dismissive wave of her hand, a smug smile playing on her lips.

"About that. We need to talk."

She walked further into the room, wrinkling her nose at the stacks of technical manuals and empty coffee cups.

"The board and I have had a discussion. We've decided to let you go."

I blinked, the words not quite registering. It felt like a line from a bad movie.

"What? You're firing me? The day before the IPO?"

"Your role has become redundant," she said, examining her perfectly manicured nails. "And frankly, your attitude is not conducive to a positive team environment. These hours you keep, your refusal to attend 'team-building' happy hours... it shows a lack of commitment."

My laugh was short and harsh.

"A lack of commitment? Chloe, I am Nexus. Every line of code, every algorithm, it came from me. Mark and I built this from the ground up."

Chloe's smile widened. It was a predatory, ugly thing.

"Oh, Ava. You were never more than a coder. A very good coder, I'll admit. But Nexus needs a public face, a vision for the future. That's Mark. And now, me."

She leaned against my desk, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.

"I'm going to be the First Lady of Tech, you see. And Mark needs a partner who supports him in public, not some recluse who just types all day. You were just a gold-digger who got lucky, latching onto him when he had nothing. Your time is up."

Rage, hot and sharp, surged through me. I grabbed my phone from the desk, my hands shaking.

"I'm calling Mark. He would never agree to this."

I hit his name on my contact list. It rang once before Chloe plucked the phone from my hand.

"Oh, you don't want to bother him right now," she cooed.

She answered the call, putting it on speaker. Her face crumpled into a mask of distress.

"Mark? Oh, thank god," she sobbed. "It's Ava... she's going crazy. She's threatening me... I'm scared."

I stared at her, speechless. The sheer audacity of the lie was stunning.

The commotion had drawn a crowd. I could see faces peering through the glass walls of my office, whispering, pointing. The entire product team, the marketers, even some of the new interns, were all there. Their curious and judgmental eyes felt like a physical weight. They saw Chloe, a picture of a damsel in distress, and me, the strange woman who worked all night and never spoke to them. The narrative was already written.

"I'm the Chief Architect of this company," I said, my voice low and shaking with fury, wanting them all to hear. "I own a stake in its success. You can't just fire me."

A new voice, that of a young intern Chloe had hired last week, piped up from the doorway.

"All we ever hear is how Mr. Davis built this company with his bare hands. We've never even seen you in a strategy meeting. You're just a code monkey who got a fancy title."

The others murmured in agreement. The betrayal wasn't just from Chloe, it was from all of them, people who used my work every single day without a second thought. They saw the charismatic CEO, not the quiet woman who made his success possible.

My heart pounded in my chest. This was a coup. And I had been too lost in my work to see it coming.