Chapter 1

My CEO girlfriend promised she’d marry me the moment I took her startup, AuraTech, public.

I worked myself to the bone, pulling endless all-nighters. Finally, in our seventh year together, we hit the milestone. But instead of putting a ring on my finger, Chloe turned around and signed a marriage license with Julian—her golden boy, the one who got away. She even threw a lavish, high-profile wedding to celebrate.

On the day of their wedding, my mother, unable to take the shock, collapsed and was rushed to the ICU in critical condition.

I literally fell to my knees, begging Chloe to let me withdraw my own money from our joint future fund so I could pay the $50,000 hospital deductible.

Instead, she clung to Julian’s arm, laughed in my face in front of all our colleagues, and called me a delusional psychopath before having security beat me and drag me out.

I had to watch my mother take her very last breath in that cold hospital bed. Meanwhile, Chloe and Julian were popping champagne and blowing cash at an upscale club.

After burying my mother, I went back to our apartment to pack my things. That was when I caught Chloe’s brand-new luxury SUV shaking violently in the driveway.

With her clothes disheveled and fresh hickeys staining her neck, Chloe looked at me with a flicker of guilt.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Ethan," she stammered. "We were just... testing the car's suspension."

I just smiled. A cold, empty smile.

She had no idea. From the moment my mother died, I—the sole developer who held the core algorithm to her entire company—decided to make sure she lost absolutely everything.