Chapter 3

The assault came at dawn. Not with lawyers or press releases, but with crowbars and sledgehammers. David wasn't content with just ruining my reputation; he wanted to physically and mentally shatter me. He sent a team of hired thugs, dressed as a "salvage crew," with a forged work order to demolish the "obsolete equipment" in my apartment.

They burst in before I had time to react, their faces impassive. I tried to stop them, screaming that this was my property, that they were trespassing. One of them just shoved me aside, sending me stumbling into a wall. "We've got our orders, lady."

They descended on the antique servers, my family's legacy. The sound of metal crunching under a sledgehammer was a physical blow. Each strike echoed the destruction of my past life, the ruin David had brought upon my family. They were destroying the archives, the physical proof of my family's work, the last tangible piece of my grandfather's genius.

"Stop!" I screamed, grabbing one of the men's arms. "Please, just stop!"

He threw me off, and I fell to the floor. And then, David walked in, stepping over the threshold as if entering a conquered territory. Emily was on his arm, watching the destruction with a gleam of pleasure in her eyes.

"You see, Sarah?" David said, his voice calm amidst the chaos. "This is what happens when you don't listen. This is what happens when you cross me."

I scrambled to my feet, my body shaking with a rage that burned away all fear. "You're destroying my family's history! My work! The work I did for you!"

I pointed a trembling finger at him. "Your entire company, your precious Phoenix algorithm, is built on my research! The core stabilization sequence that prevents data decay in your compressed files? I wrote that! I wrote it for you in one weekend when your system was crashing, and I never asked for a dime! I gave it to you!"

The room went quiet for a second, the thugs pausing their work to look at him.

David's face was unreadable. But Emily laughed, a high, tinkling sound that was utterly chilling.

"Oh, Sarah, you're still telling that story?" she said, stepping forward. "David told me all about it. You tried to help, yes. But your code was a mess. It was unstable. It almost corrupted his entire project. I was the one who stayed up all night, fixing your mistakes. I was the one who saved his company."

It was the most audacious lie I had ever heard. My code was flawless, elegant. It was the very heart of his success.

"You're lying," I whispered, staring at David. "Tell her she's lying."

David looked from my desperate face to Emily's adoring one. He put a comforting arm around her. "Emily is right, Sarah. Your contribution was... well-intentioned. But it was ultimately a failure. You were too emotional, too sloppy. Emily has the kind of clean, logical mind that this work requires. You don't."

The betrayal was so absolute, so complete, it felt like a physical impact. He wasn't just stealing my work; he was rewriting reality, erasing my very identity as a creator.

I looked at him, really looked at him, and a strange, cold thought took root in my mind. The David I had loved, for all his ambition, had respected my skill. He had been in awe of it. This man standing before me, who dismissed my genius with such casual cruelty... was he really David? The way he looked at me, the utter lack of recognition for the years we'd spent as partners, as lovers... it was like looking at a stranger wearing his face.

"You're not him," I said, the words coming out before I could stop them. "You're not David."

He just scoffed. "Now you're completely delusional. I think the stress is finally getting to you." He waved a hand at the thugs. "Finish up. I want all of this junk gone."

The destruction resumed. I didn't try to stop them again. It was pointless. I just stood there, watching my past being dismantled, and I made a decision. I couldn't stay here. I couldn't stay in this city that he owned, in this life that he was determined to demolish.

I turned, walked into my bedroom, and grabbed a pre-packed bug-out bag from my closet. It was a habit from my work, always being ready for a sudden departure. I had my passport, some cash, and a few encrypted hard drives containing my own personal projects. It was all I had left.

I walked back out, right past David and Emily, and headed for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" David demanded.

"Away from you," I said without looking back. "You've won. You've destroyed everything. Congratulations. Enjoy your empire."

I walked out the door and didn't stop. I went to the train station, bought a ticket to the furthest city I could think of, and got on board. As the train pulled away, I watched the city skyline shrink, feeling a strange sense of release. It was over. I was free.

Or so I thought.

Two days later, in a cheap motel room a thousand miles away, there was a knock on my door. I froze. Two men in formal black suits stood outside. They weren't David's thugs. They were polished, professional, and exuded an aura of immense power.

"Sarah Miller?" one of them asked.

"Who's asking?"

"We have a message for you from Mr. Chen."

My heart sank. David's father.

"He is aware of your... departure," the man continued, his face impassive. "He finds it unacceptable. The Chen family does not appreciate loose ends. Especially with the Phoenix IPO so close."

"I'm not a loose end," I said. "I'm gone."

"Not far enough," the other man said. He slid a thick envelope under the door. "Mr. Chen has made an arrangement. To ensure your silence and cooperation. He has arranged a marriage for you."

I stared at the envelope in disbelief. A marriage?

"You must be joking."

"Mr. Chen does not joke," the first man said. "The groom is a man of considerable influence. He will keep you... occupied. Your compliance is not optional. If you refuse, Mr. Chen will be forced to take more... permanent measures to protect his family's interests. He has enclosed the details. The ceremony is tomorrow."

They turned and walked away, leaving me alone with the envelope. My hands trembled as I opened it. Inside was a marriage certificate, already filled out with my name. The space for the groom's name was there, but it was a man I had never heard of. And tucked inside was a single, small, antique silver locket.

I gasped. It was the locket David had thrown out my window. The one my brother Liam had given me. There was no way to mistake it; a specific scratch near the clasp was a dead giveaway.

How? How could they have found it? And why would my new, mysterious, and forced fiancé send it to me?

I opened the locket. The family photos were gone. Instead, the microscopic data chip inside now held a single, encrypted file. A file I knew, instinctively, held a truth far more shocking than a faked death or a stolen legacy. The game wasn't over. A new, unknown player had just dealt me a hand.