Chapter 3

Before he could get a word out, I cut him off.

"I already told those old-money friends of mine that when you proposed you said you'd give me a hundred million dollars as a bride gift. They actually made a bet that you'd never hand over anything that big."

"Don't tell me they were right? They'll laugh at me forever for landing myself a kept man."

Something in that hit a nerve, because Myron's temper snapped and he cut me off.

"Of course not! It's just been so hectic with the wedding, it slipped my mind."

I nodded.

"I knew it. You'd never lie to me!"

His face went from white to gray and back again, and he nodded through gritted teeth.

"When have I ever gone back on anything I promised you?"

He pulled out his phone right in front of me and got the bank on the line.

"It'll take an hour to clear. Let's go get the license now."

He was about to put the phone away when I caught his arm.

"Wait."

His brow twitched.

"Now what?"

"The memo line."

I handed the phone back to him like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's a lot of money. You have to note clearly that it's a voluntary gift. What if someone later mistakes it for a company transfer through my firm?"

Myron stared at me for a few seconds.

But the reception was full of guests, and those three words, kept man, had clearly landed on something raw.

In the end, jaw set, he had the bank manager add the gift note.

Only after the system confirmed the transfer paperwork and the gift documentation were both airtight did I slip my arm through his, satisfied.

"I knew Myron was the best. Otherwise those girls really would have laughed at me."

Myron forced out a smile.

The system tutted twice in my head.

【A hundred million dollars for one marriage license. This bastard's face is practically green.】

【But the way the plan runs, you're supposed to "kill yourself" today out of guilt, and once he inherits the billions in shares under your name, that hundred million ends up his again too!】

When the ceremony ended, Myron made an excuse about an urgent company matter, an online meeting, and headed to the car parked behind.

The system pushed the feed from inside the car straight into my vision.

Roberta was in there too, just as expected.

The moment the door shut, she dropped her voice, on edge.

"You actually gave her a hundred million dollars?"

"That's almost half the cash you can move right now! Have you lost your mind?"

"What was I supposed to do? She suddenly went stupid today and had to turn it into some contest with those society girls."

Roberta's face darkened with the sheer waste of it.

"But that's a hundred million dollars, not a hundred million in local money!"

Myron let out a scoffing laugh.

"What are you worried about? Once we've got the license, however she carried that money off, I'll make her cough it all back up."

"My cousin already got his hands on the company seal, and the overseas buyer has wired the payment. The second we go in and register, you call the relevant department and report her for selling classified research files abroad. Then have people move in and close the net."

"The sleeping-pill injection you arranged, is it ready?"

Roberta nodded.

Myron leaned back against the seat, his tone easing again.

"Once she's legally my wife, I handle the estate afterward as her spouse and the company's actual operator. Makes everything a lot smoother."

"That seventy million overseas is only the first slice. On top of that there's all the procurement, the foreign channels, the client base I've been peeling off Cooley over the years. You know the total better than I do."

Roberta finally smiled.

"True. Once the report goes in and she's under investigation for leaking technology, where's she going to find the life left to spend that hundred million of ours?"

Myron reached over and touched her belly.

"Once she's gone, Cooley falls apart completely."

"Our three kids are the ones who really win in the end."

Watching the two of them in the projection already carving up my estate, all I felt was a cold aftershock of fear.

Thank god everything had already been moved out!

Because just minutes earlier, I'd gotten Karen's message.

Solaris's legal, audit, and management teams had moved into Cooley headquarters and several core subsidiaries.

For now the whole handover was known only to a handful of the most trusted people. The executives Myron had planted were still completely in the dark.

"Brand, back up the footage of Brad Vance going into my office to steal the seal just now."

【Backed it up ages ago. I even saved his idiot face fumbling the safe code twice, crystal clear, no loss.】

I sent the emergency text to the police right away.

【Hello, this is Constance Cooley, chairwoman of the Cooley Group. I believe someone has stolen the company seal and intends to use it to illegally sell classified data from a major research project overseas.】

The dispatcher replied at once.