Chapter 4

Chloe stopped crying, her voice soft but firm.

"Thank you, Ms. Vance. I will organize everything and hand it over to you."

As she spoke, she stood up and bowed deeply.

I raised my hand to stop her.

"No rush. Focus on recovering first."

"Just get it to me in two weeks."

I opened the thermos I had been holding. The hot soup inside was steaming.

I handed it to her.

Chloe took it, her mouth opening and closing as if she had a thousand things to say but couldn't find the words.

"When times are tough, many women fall into the trap of thinking they need to rely on a man. They think love and marriage are an escape, but it’s actually a dead end. Even your own parents can't guarantee your future."

"What makes you think a strange man would?"

Leaving her with those words, I turned and walked away.

The very next day, Chloe handed in her resignation to Julian.

She kept her mouth shut, using her "recovery" as an excuse to clear her head out of town. Julian couldn't get any answers out of her. Perhaps stressed by his lack of progress in the lab, he decided to redirect his anger at me.

Bang!

My office door was slammed open, and Julian stormed in, livid.

"Harper! Why did you force Chloe to quit?!"

I put down my files, met his furious glare, and frowned.

"Chloe submitted her resignation herself. Your assistant left, and you’re blaming me?"

"She resigned? Ha! Who knows what kind of dirty tricks you played behind my back!"

Clack!

I slammed my pen onto the desk, the sharp sound echoing in the room.

"Julian Reed. Is that how you speak to me?"

"Why shouldn't I?" he yelled, letting out weeks of pent-up rage.

"You promised the extra funding, but you've been delaying it over and over. Now I'm broke, and I have to beg the institute directors for crumbs!"

"And you fired my mother's nephew without saying a word! Where is my respect?!"

"Harper, do you really think I can't live without you?"

I stared at him, watching him throw a tantrum like a clown.

It was utterly pathetic.

This is what happens when you treat someone too well for too long. They start taking your grace for granted.

I stopped holding back and decided to stab him right where it hurt.

"Can you?"

"Julian, who do you think you are without me? There are over 300 million people in this country, and new 'geniuses' pop up every single day. But how many billionaires are out there?"

"Without me, you'd still be eating instant ramen, living off food stamps, and letting everyone in the lab walk all over you. You're only standing here, looking like a decent human being and yelling at me, because you latched onto my family's wealth."

My words pierced right through his fragile ego.

His face flushed bright red with fury as he pointed a finger at me.

"Fine! Since you want to put it that way, I don't need a single dime of your money. Just wait. My research is about to be published."

"When that happens, investors will be lining up to throw money at a genius like me!"

Julian slammed the door as he left, nearly colliding with my assistant who was walking in.

My assistant ignored him and hurried over, handing me a tablet with excitement.

"Ms. Vance, look at the headlines!"

"Ethan Cross just published his breakthrough. It’s causing a massive stir in the scientific community!"

"He scheduled his press conference right in the lobby of Vance Enterprises. He wants to invite you, his sole investor, to join him on stage. He’s already in the VIP lounge."

While the media was gathering downstairs, Julian had just arrived back at his lab.

All along the way, his colleagues looked at him with pity, contempt, and even amusement. Just as he was about to grab someone to demand an explanation, his new assistant ran up to him, pale as a ghost.

"Dr. Reed! This is bad!"

"Ethan Cross just published our research!"

Julian gasped in denial. "Impossible!"

"He's a nobody! Where would he get the funding and equipment?!"

The assistant frantically pulled up the livestream on his phone and shoved it in front of Julian's face.

On screen, Ethan looked confident and radiant as his voice filled the room:

"Through this research, I want to give a special thanks to my sole investor, the woman who provided all the funding and top-tier equipment..."

"The Managing Director of Vance Enterprises, Ms. Harper Vance."

Fifth Chapter