Eight figures! Thanks to my dad’s VC fund, that’s what my startup, Aetheria, was worth after I graduated. I’m a total tech geek, always hated networking and public speaking. So I pushed my boyfriend, Leo, to be the face of the company. Big mistake. The charismatic CEO. He has been playing that part to the outside world ever since. Over time, his ego spiraled out of control. He actually believes this company can’t function without him. All of a sudden, he calls an emergency board meeting. Saying it’s for “Corporate restructuring.” He sidelines me to the very edge of the boardroom table. He begins talking about his major blueprint. Then he turns the entire table against me. Armed with a flashy pitch deck, he plays the righteous hero. “Board members, as harsh as this may sound, I propose the immediate termination of our co-founder and CTO — Miss Chloe Sterling.” “Her long-time absence from critical pitches brings zero value to our market growth, which makes her Aetheria’s biggest liability.” “To put it bluntly, she’s holding us back!” “I will bring in a new tech partner to take us to the next level.” Then, he leans down, whispering with toxic satisfaction: “Babe, once the board votes you out, your equity will be diluted to nothing.” “This company is mine to take now. Just sit back and be a good little trophy wife.” I stare at him, unfazed. Then, I open my laptop and mirror my screen to the projector. “You think I’m just a clueless nerdy girl you can step on?” “I just didn’t want all those networking, and you’ve been my free puppet. Did you seriously think you call the shots at Aetheria?” … The smug smirk vanishes from Leo’s face. He stares at the screen, completely frozen. He’s looking at a bulletproof, super-voting Founder’s Agreement, signed in red ink by my father — Julian Sterling. The new tech guy waiting to replace me turns ghostly pale. “How… how do you actually have super-voting power? Even your damn emails had to be handled by your assistant!” Mr. Harvey, my dad’s general counsel and a board member himself, adjusts his gold-rimmed glasses, dropping the hammer. “Miss Sterling owns the exclusive patents to every single core algorithm of Aetheria.” “Furthermore, under the Series A terms, her Golden Shares grant her absolute veto power over the entire board.” Mr. Harvey hands me a stack of documents, then shoots Leo a death glare. “Mr. Martinez, what do you think you’re doing? Is this board a joke to you?” “You colluded with outsiders to dilute a core founder’s equity.” “This is corporate fraud! You’ve breached your fiduciary duties!” “I can strip you of every asset, every stock option, and ruin your career before dinner!”
Leo’s so scared his knees go weak. He slams his laptop shut, instantly groveling to Mr. Harvey. “Mr. Harvey, it’s a misunderstanding! Chloe was never interested in our operations, I just thought… Just take it as a couple’s quarrel, please, ignore us!” “Couple’s quarrel? Is this a joke to you?” I cut him off, cold as ice. I stand up, walk straight to the head of the table, and slam my laptop down. “Your office keys. Corporate AmEx. Hand them over.” Leo clutches his suit pocket, his face turning ashen, refusing my order. “Chloe, please don’t make a scene, okay? The board is watching! At least show me some respect!” He drops his voice, adding a pathetic edge of threat. “Aetheria is scaling fast now. We’re at the key stage of expansion. Those VCs only recognize my face!” “You’re just a tech girl behind the scenes. What do you know about closing multi-million dollar deals?” “Be a good wife. Let me stay on as CEO. I promise I won’t use the board against you again.” I almost laugh out loud at his sheer, shameless audacity. “Those investors show up for my father, Julian Sterling, not you.” “You are just a broke gold-digger who mooches off my credit card.” “Who do you think you are?” I don’t even blink, nodding directly to the Head of Security. “Throw him out.” Leo is caught off guard. Two muscular security guards drag him out of the room like a bag of trash. Out in the hallway, the entire office erupts into whispers, everyone pointing fingers at him. His fragile ego shatters. Feeling totally humiliated, he thrashes around like a maniac, screaming at the glass doors: “Chloe Sterling! Don’t push your luck! You’re just a woman who doesn’t know any business! You wanna be the CEO? What a joke!” “Fire me today, and you’ll be begging on your knees for me to pitch your investors again! And I won’t say yes!” I don’t even give him a second glance. I take my rightful seat as CEO at the head of the table, making my announcement to the board. “Sorry, everyone. Let’s continue. Agenda number one: Immediate termination of Leo Martinez from all duties at Aetheria.”
I spin my leather chair around, coldly watching him get dragged away. “Free puppets are a dime a dozen. That backstabbing jerk had his chance. He won’t touch a single dollar of this company for the rest of his life.” I press the intercom button, my voice echoing across the entire executive floor: “Freeze all corporate access for Leo Martinez immediately. Revoke his keycard. As of today, this man has zero affiliation with Aetheria.” Early the next morning, the intercom to my penthouse wouldn’t stop buzzing. The second I crack the door open, Leo’s mother, Mrs. Martinez, pushes her way inside like a hurricane, plopping down on my Hermès sofa. Leo trails in behind her, sulking. “Chloe, you’ve got some nerve! Hiding the Golden Shares from our Leo this whole time? Are you treating my son like a thief?? He’s your boyfriend, for god’s sake!” Mrs. Martinez glares at me, her voice dripping with venom. “Well, since you’re officially the CEO now, I guess that works. Just assign Leo a personal chauffeur for his commute. It’s the least you can do as his fiancée.”
Did I hear that right? I lean against the wall, staring at this mother-son duo in disbelief. “Get him a personal chauffeur?” “You heard me.” Mrs. Martinez rolls her eyes, shamelessly dropping her real demand. “Oh, and, Leo’s younger brother has an interview on Wall Street next month. Hand him back the CEO title tomorrow.” “That way, his brother can put it on his resume. Having a sibling as the CEO of a unicorn company. It looks good on paper.” “Besides, you’re a young girl. Parading around in a room full of men? People will think you slept your way to the top! This company needs to be run by the Martinez family!” Is she hearing herself? She’s actually talking to me like that? Instead of stopping her, Leo takes a step forward, putting on his usual hypocritical mask. “Chloe, my mom may be harsh on words, but she has a point. An eight-figure company is way too much for a woman to handle.” “I’m the only one who can hit the golf course with those high-rollers as CEO. Only then will people see us as a real powerhouse, and close the big deals. It’s for our own good. Don’t you think?”
His shameless face makes my stomach turn. “Did you forget to take your meds before going out today? What century are you living in?” I stand up straight, staring them down coldly. “My dad funded this company, and my code built it. Wanna pad your deadbeat brother’s resume with my company? You Martinez family… I can smell the desperation from a mile away.” Mrs. Martinez snaps, jumping up from the couch, shoving her finger directly in my face, screaming: “How dare you talk to me like that, you little brat! You’re getting married sooner or later. We’ll share the same fortune anyway!” “In your dreams, you old hag!” I smack her hand out of my face, walk straight to the entrance, ripping the door open for them. “Now, get the hell out of my house! Or I will have security throw you both out like homeless trespassers.” Leo’s face contorts with rage, his teeth clenched as he glares at me. “Chloe Sterling, don’t push it too far! It’s just a title. Why are you treating me like the enemy?” “Did I not make myself clear?” I pull out my phone, dialing the front desk number immediately. “Hello, security? This is Penthouse A. I have two psychopaths trespassing in my place…” Seeing that I’m getting serious, Mrs. Martinez panics, grabbing Leo’s arm and cursing at me as they back out the door. “You’ll pay for this! You cheap bitch! Leo is going to dump you anyway!” I slam the heavy door shut, locking out the toxicity of that pathetic family. Leaning against the door, I replay replay Leo’s frantic, unhinged desperation in my head. My brows slowly knit together out of suspicion.
Something feels off. Leo is obsessed with his image. He usually plays the sophisticated gentleman in front of outsiders. But today? First, he tried a board coup, and now he lets his mom barge into my house to strong-arm me. His obsession with this company is getting way out of hand. Why is he so desperate to steal the company from me? What dirty business exactly is he pulling behind my back? To find out what he’s really up to, I head straight to the company data center early the next morning. When I first built our internal comm system, I left a master-access for myself. So I can pull every server log and recording backup — including Leo’s internal office lines. I trusted him so blindly that I never bothered to look at his logs before. I pull up his call history and surveillance footage from the past month. The progress bar loads. A whiny, high-pitched voice echoes from the speakers. “Leo, you are so impressive. When we merge next month, I wanna be co-CEO!” In the video, a woman caked in makeup is leaning against the desk in Leo’s former office, adjusting his tie while flirting. Leo holds a glass of scotch in one hand, while his other hand slides around her waist, like he’s done it a thousand times. He’s grinning like he owns the world. “Not just a merge, babe. What’s mine is yours. I built this eight-figure powerhouse from scratch. It’ll all belong to our kids someday.” Those words make my blood run cold. My knuckles turn white against the mouse.
The timestamp on the footage is last Friday night. That night, Leo texted me saying there was an urgent PR matter, that he had to pull an all-nighter, and told me not to wait up for him. Now I realize it. His “all-nighter” was all about bringing that bitch into my office, plotting to steal my life’s work! I’ve always preferred to keep a low profile. Throughout my four years at college, basic hoodies and ordinary backpacks were my everyday outfit. I also kept a complete secret about my dad. That he is the VC tycoon, Julian Sterling. Leo always believed I was just some clueless nerd with a knack for coding, that the company’s success depended entirely on his business brilliance. Now I see through him. This toxic leech didn’t just look down on me as a “tech geek” — He didn’t just use me as a stepping stone, he was out there hunting for a real heiress to fund his lifestyle! The video keeps playing: That woman suddenly spots my sketchbook sitting on Leo’s desk. “Leo, what is this childish graffiti? You’re not seeing another woman besides me, are you?” she whines. Leo doesn’t even miss a beat. He snatches the sketchbook and shoves it straight into the shredder.. That’s countless hours of my inspiration! “Don’t even mention it. Just some intern. She’s desperate for a full-time offer, so she drew this garbage to suck up to me. That girl reeks of poverty. If you ask me? She’s just disgusting.” “An intern?” That woman giggles. “Leo, don’t play the nice guy. If it were me, I’d just fire her already.” Leo leans in, planting a hard kiss on her cheek. “Right after our merge, she’ll be gone.” Suddenly, my phone pings. A security alert. Someone just unlocked my penthouse door. I quickly switch over to my penthouse security feed. It’s Leo. He thinks I’m out. Using the spare keycard I gave him, he slips inside the apartment. I watch through the screen as he heads straight for my study, ransacking the safe where I keep my important files. Looks like he’s done this many times before, too. Finally, his fingers wrap around the encrypted hard drive, which contains the master backup of Aetheria’s entire source code. A sick grin spreads across his face. He actually kisses the drive. Then he shoves it into his briefcase, rushing out the door.
I trusted him so much, and he uses the spare keycard I gave him to steal my source code! Watching him walk out on the security feed, I pick up my phone with a cold smile. I was going to let him walk away with some dignity, but he had to play a corporate spy. Now I’ll just put him behind the bars in a federal prison. I open the tracking app on my phone. The red dot is moving fast. He’s heading straight for Coleman Capital—another VC giant on Wall Street.. I follow the GPS tracking all the way to their top-floor boardroom. Perks of being a Sterling — the lobby security recognized my name and waved me through the private elevator. As soon as I push the door open, I spot Leo. He has his arms around that woman from the footage, while lounging in the head seat with his legs crossed. “Mr. Coleman, take a look at the technical architecture. Perfect, isn’t it?” Leo is bragging arrogantly, swirling a glass of champagne. “Honestly, if not for my engagement with Isabella and our merging plan, I’d never share core tech of this caliber.” “So, do we have a deal?” Across the table, the investment tycoon — Isabella’s father — looks hesitant as he reviews the technical transfer letter of intent. “Leo, the tech is revolutionary, I’ll give you that.” “But regarding the source code ownership… Your signature alone isn’t enough. Compliance dictates that a transaction of this scale requires two items: The original patent certificates and written consent from all co-founders.”
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