Billions Comeback: I Stand With The Fallen Heir To Build A Tech Empire

The sound of a file slamming against a conference room table echoed down the entire hallway. I stood outside the glass doors of StarPath Tech's R&D department, my fingers tightening around my freshly printed resume. As a four-time consecutive National Scholarship winner from the top-tier A University's Computer Science department, I had over a dozen offers from the biggest tech companies in the country. Yet I had chosen this job—the one everyone warned me was a death trap. My classmates called me insane. Everyone knew StarPath Tech was China's leading tech giant, but its R&D department was a living hell. Lu Chen, the department head, was the chairman's own eldest grandson. But after his father's sudden "accidental" death, his power-hungry uncle Lu Hongyuan had systematically stripped him of all authority. The entire department was gutted, no complete team could be formed, and no one had ever lasted more than two months working for him. But what they didn't know was that I didn't care about the big company prestige. I was here for the full-scene autonomous driving system mentioned in the job posting. It was the project I had dedicated four years of my life to researching—and the only team in China brave enough to tackle this impossible challenge. Another door slammed. A young man in a garish suit stormed out of the conference room, spitting over his shoulder as he passed me: "Lu Chen, you might as well disband this useless R&D department right now!" That was Lu Mingyu, Lu Hongyuan's spoiled son and the company's most useless vice president, who made it his personal mission to humiliate Lu Chen at every opportunity. I ignored him and pushed open the glass doors to the R&D department. The vast open-plan office was completely empty except for one man sitting by the window. He wore a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing sharp, defined wrists. His fingers spun a pen absently as sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting long shadows across his face. Yet the light did nothing to warm the coldness and loneliness in his eyes. He was like an iceberg, isolated from the entire world even in the middle of the bustling corporate headquarters. This was Lu Chen. The internet called him the most useless heir in the Lu family, a man with nothing but a title who couldn't even protect his own department. But only I knew the truth: he was the earliest pioneer of autonomous driving in China, holding over a dozen core patents, and a true technical genius. "Hello, I'm Su Nian, here for my first day," I said, walking up to him and handing over my resume. Lu Chen looked up. His eyes were dark, like bottomless pools of ink. When he scanned my resume, his eyebrows lifted slightly, clearly surprised that such a perfect resume had landed on his desk. "A straight-A student from A University, and winner of the National Algorithm Competition gold medal?" He put down the resume, his gaze returning to my face. There was a faint exhaustion in his voice. "Are you sure you want this job?" I nodded firmly. "I'm absolutely sure. I'm very passionate about this autonomous driving research direction." Lu Chen was silent for a few seconds, leaning back in his chair and staring at me intently. "Let me be honest with you. No one has lasted more than two months in this position. The entire company is against me. Standing with me means making enemies of the most powerful people in the Lu family. You can still back out now." He wasn't exaggerating. I had done my research before coming. Previous employees had been driven out by the finance department blocking their expenses, fired by HR for made-up reasons, or even threatened by Lu Mingyu's thugs until they had no choice but to resign. But as I looked at the loneliness hidden deep in his eyes, and the towering stacks of research materials on his desk, a stubborn fire ignited in my chest. Just because others couldn't handle it didn't mean I couldn't. I met his gaze and smiled, my voice steady and determined: "Mr. Lu, I'm taking the job. The others couldn't stay because they weren't good enough. I'm not only going to stay longer than two months—I'm going to help you make this project a success." Lu Chen froze. For the first time, a flicker of genuine surprise crossed his dark eyes. He stared at me for a long moment, and just when I thought he would try to talk me out of it again, he picked up the employment registration form and slid it across the desk to me. "Alright," he said, his deep voice softening slightly, a c***k in his icy facade. "Welcome to the R&D department, Su Nian." I picked up my pen, about to sign my name, when the office door was suddenly thrown open. People from the finance department stormed in, slamming a stack of expense reports down on Lu Chen's desk. Their voices were arrogant and dismissive: "Mr. Lu, none of these R&D expenses are approved! President Lu Hongyuan says not a single cent will go to your department from now on!" My hand froze mid-air. I looked up at the intruders. And Lu Chen's face turned instantly cold. I had no idea that on my very first day, I would be thrown headfirst into this battle against Lu Chen's tormentors. Nor could I have imagined that this single decision would intertwine our lives forever.