Chapter 3

A wicked smile spread across Chloe's face. She reached into her designer handbag and pulled out a folded document.

"A divorce? That might be difficult," she said, her voice laced with poison. She unfolded the paper and held it up for me to see.

It was a marriage certificate.

With Mark's name and hers on it. Dated three months ago.

The air left my lungs. My own marriage certificate, the one Mark had given me in a small, private ceremony two years ago, was framed on our bedroom wall. I stared at the official-looking document in her hand, then back at Mark's emotionless face.

"Mark?" I whispered. "What is this?"

He finally looked me in the eye, and there was nothing there. No love, no remorse. Just cold, hard dismissal.

"The one we have is a fake, Ava," he said, his voice flat. "I downloaded a template online. It was just a piece of paper to make you feel secure. It never meant anything."

The world tilted on its axis. The five years we had spent together, the promises, the future we were supposed to share-all of it was a lie. A carefully constructed cage to keep me working, to keep me producing for him.

"The company," I stammered, my mind racing. "The shares. We were partners. I have a right to half of ConnectCorp."

Mark let out another cruel laugh.

"You really are naive, aren't you? Your name isn't on a single legal document. Not the incorporation papers, not the shareholder agreements. Nothing. You have no equity, Ava. You were an employee. And now, you're a fired employee."

He reached into his pocket and tossed a single, grimy key onto my desk. It clattered against the surface.

"But I'm not a monster," he said with a magnanimous sneer. "As a severance package, you can have our first apartment. The one you loved so much with the leaky ceiling. It's all yours."

The humiliation was a physical blow, winding me. He was giving me back the symbol of our humble beginnings as a final insult, a reminder of what I had helped him escape.

Chloe stepped forward, her eyes glinting. "Now, give us the drive. The one with all the core algorithms and client data. It's company property."

Mark's eyes narrowed. "Don't make this difficult, Ava. Hand it over."

He took a step towards my desk, his hand outstretched, as if he was going to take it from me by force.

For a moment, I just looked at them. The two people who had systematically destroyed my life, standing there demanding the very heart of my creation. They didn't just want to erase me; they wanted to own every last piece of me.

A strange calm washed over me. The shock and pain solidified into something hard and unyielding.

I reached for the small, black USB drive plugged into my laptop. It contained everything. Years of my life's work. The source code, the encryption keys, the entire database of our most valuable enterprise clients. Without it, they had a pretty interface and nothing else.

I pulled it out. Mark and Chloe both visibly relaxed, thinking I was complying.

Then, with all the strength I had, I threw it.

Not at them. But between them. It clattered against the far wall and fell to the floor behind a stack of server manuals.

"You want it? Find it," I said, my voice as cold as ice.

I walked towards the door, pushing past the stunned onlookers. As I reached the threshold, I turned back to look at them one last time. Mark was scrambling on the floor, frantically searching for the drive, while Chloe watched him with a furious expression.

"I wish you nothing but a long, slow, and painful bankruptcy," I said. "Enjoy your house of cards. I was the foundation, and I'm taking it with me."

And then I walked out, leaving the wreckage of my old life behind me.