The Core Patents Leave With Me

Chapter 2 The Final Straw

The ten-thousand-dollar charge stayed open on my office monitor. Liam had approved it with two clicks.

I printed the expenditure report. The page came out warm, with his authorization centered beneath the vendor name.

Through Liam’s glass wall, I saw Mia sitting on the edge of his desk while they watched something on his phone. She laughed. He replayed it for her.

Liam spotted the report in my hand and motioned Mia out. She passed me with her tablet tucked under one arm and a small smile on her face.

I closed the door and slid the report across his mahogany desk.

He barely looked down. “An aggressive PR move, yes, but a necessary one. Team morale was taking a hit.”

“You used company money to amplify a video calling me a soulless monster.” I waited. He straightened the report instead of answering.

“Serena, don’t be dramatic. It’s business. Your image took a hit, which affected the company, so I contained it. StarTech looks responsive, and I look like I listen to employees.”

“You made yourself the hero by paying people to attack me.”

He came around the desk and reached for my shoulders. “You’re the COO. You can take it. Mia is an intern, and she’s fragile. The team needed a win. Now they see me stepping in for them.”

I moved before his hands settled.

“Then shut it down. Suspend her access and issue a company-wide correction about the misuse of funds.” I tapped his approval signature.

“No. We would look weak and divided.” He pushed the report back. “At tomorrow’s all-hands meeting, you’ll say you misread the room, you appreciate the feedback, and you support the Hawaiian cruise as a team-building initiative.”

He opened his calendar as though he had assigned another agenda item.

“You want me to apologize.”

“Handle it gracefully, and we can move on.”

His calendar invitation read *Serena apology and cruise announcement.* Mia was included as an organizer.

I declined the invitation. Five years beside him had earned me a speaking slot at my own humiliation.

Back in my office, I moved the framed blueprint of our first server farm and opened the steel safe. The code was our anniversary date.

Beneath the server deeds and hardware contracts lay three leather folders. Each held an original notarized patent for the core AI behind StarTech. The owner’s name on every one was Serena Vance.

The next morning, people arrived early for the all-hands meeting. Mia sat in the front row with her phone propped against a water glass. Its red light was on.

Liam gave me an encouraging nod from his seat.

I set my briefcase on the lectern. Several employees had the cruise company’s page open on their laptops.

I clicked on the presentation Liam had prepared, then closed it.