Chapter 2 - THE MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR BLOW
Adrian Rashid did not let go of my hand as we walked toward the small stage at the end of the hall,
every step we took felt like a hammer blow to Ethan’s ego.
I could feel the heat of the spotlight on us,
the golden glow illuminating the truth of the moment.
Ethan stood paralyzed near the champagne fountain,
his face a mask of horror and confusion,
while Vanessa clung to his arm like a sinking sailor to a piece of driftwood.
The Sheikh stepped up to the microphone,
his presence commanding the attention of every single soul in the room.
“Ladies and gentlemen,”
he began,
his voice carrying an effortless authority that Ethan could only dream of.
“Tonight was supposed to be about the future of Blake Tech,”
he continued,
glancing briefly at Ethan,
who had started to sweat under his tuxedo collar.
“Many of you are here to see me sign a partnership with Mr. Blake,”
he said,
pausing for dramatic effect,
the silence stretching until it was painful.
“However,”
he said,
and the word felt like a guillotine blade falling.
“After a thorough investigation by my private auditing team,”
“I have discovered that the core technology Blake Tech is based upon,”
“is not the work of Ethan Blake at all.”
A gasp rippled through the crowd,
a wave of shock that turned the room into a sea of whispers.
I felt a sudden jolt in my stomach,
knowing exactly where this was going.
“The intellectual property,”
Adrian stated,
looking directly at me,
“belongs to a company called Claire’s Restorations.”
The ballroom erupted in a cacophony of voices,
people turning to look at me with wide eyes and open mouths.
“Ethan Blake has been using Claire’s proprietary algorithms for years,”
“without her knowledge,
without her consent,
and without giving her a single penny of credit.”
I looked at Ethan,
and for the first time in four years,
I saw him for who he truly was,
a thief dressed in a suit of my own making.
He had stolen my work,
the restorative algorithms I had designed to track structural decay in ancient buildings,
and repurposed them for his "predictive market software."
“Therefore,”
Adrian announced,
his voice booming over the noise,
“I will not be investing in Blake Tech.”
“Instead,”
he said,
his eyes shining with a fierce protectiveness,
“I am announcing a three-billion-dollar investment in the newly founded Claire Rashid Restoration and Tech Conglomerate.”
I nearly fainted right there on the stage,
the sheer magnitude of the statement hitting me like a physical force.
Ethan made a move toward the stage,
his face red with fury.
“This is a lie!”
he shouted,
his voice cracking with desperation.
“She’s just a girl who fixes old houses!
She doesn't know anything about tech!”
The Sheikh didn't even look at him.
“My lawyers have already filed the copyright infringement suit,”
Adrian said calmly into the microphone.
“By tomorrow morning,
Ethan,
your assets will be frozen,
and your company will be a shell of its former self.”
Vanessa let go of Ethan’s arm as if he had suddenly caught fire,
stepping away with a look of pure disgust.
She was a woman who only loved winners,
and Ethan Blake had just become the biggest loser in New York.
I stood there,
breathless,
as the world I had built for him collapsed and the world I was meant for began.
Adrian turned to me,
his eyes soft and full of a quiet pride.
“You never should have been staying home,
Claire,”
he whispered,
his voice only for me.
“You were always the sun he was trying to dim.”
The applause that followed was deafening,
a roar of approval for a woman they had ignored five minutes earlier.
I looked out at the room,
not with triumph,
but with the clarity of a woman who had finally found her worth.
Ethan was being led away by security as he tried to cause a scene,
a pathetic exit for a man who thought he could steal a soul.
The announcement was only the beginning,
May you like
but the blow had landed perfectly,
shattering the lies of the past four years.
