The Divorce Papers Gave Him The Shell And Gave Me The Future Chapter 08

The Divorce Papers Gave Him The Shell And Gave Me The Future Chapter 08

The summons arrived at ten the next morning.

Apex Dynamics was suing Skyline Intelligence for trade secret theft.
Damages sought: $20 million.

Leo stood behind me, eyes red.

“This is insane. This is a total reversal of right and wrong. You built every piece of that technology yourself. How do they—”

I set the summons on the desk. “They don’t want a verdict. They want the lawsuit itself.”

“With a $20 million claim, the court could freeze our assets and patents if they issue an injunction. As long as the case drags on, we can’t go into production. If they delay a year or two, our technical advantage disappears.”

Within hours, every potential partner started calling.

One message after another. Delays or cancellations. The same story, over and over.

“Ms. Chase, it’s not that we don’t believe you. But our legal team has compliance concerns. Until the case is resolved, we have to pause the cooperation.”

“Ms. Chase, we need to reevaluate the investment.”

“Skylar, I want to help you. But the investment committee thinks the risk is too high.”

Valerie called too.

“Skylar, this is bad. Ethan bought a ton of influencer accounts. The online narrative is completely against you. The ‘ex-wife stole from ex-husband’ story is too juicy for people to resist.”

“Also, Apex just announced another press conference next week. They’re calling it a technical briefing to explain the ‘theft of L4 technology.'”

“They’re waging a media war.”

I sat in my office and took call after call.

The last one was Samuel.

“Skylar. You can’t afford a twenty-million-dollar lawsuit. Settle. I can mediate.”

“Settle how?”

“License your core technology to Apex. Ethan drops the suit. The two companies cooperate. You focus on R&D. Leave the business side to professionals.”

“He wants a license?”

Samuel paused.

“No. He wants your entire architecture. Your end-to-end technical approach.”

I laughed.

“Samuel, he doesn’t want a license. He wants me dead. If I give him the technology, what’s left of Skyline?”

“Skylar, don’t be so stubborn. You’re the weaker party right now…”

“Thanks for the reminder.”

I hung up.

The office went quiet.

Leo sat in the corner with his head in his hands. Derek chain-smoked.

The newer employees looked at each other nervously.

I stood up.

“Everyone listens up.”

They raised their heads.

“Effective immediately, this company is in wartime mode. I’ll cover expenses personally. We can last six months.”

“Leo, split the technical team into two groups. One keeps developing the product. The other documents every piece of our R&D from the Apex years. Every version of code. Every email. Every chat log.”

“They’re suing us for theft? Fine. We’ll bury them in evidence.”

“Derek, you’re in charge of partner outreach. Keep whoever we can. If we lose some, we lose some. Once the product is on the road, people will come back.”

“And. Anyone who wants to leave. Say so now. No hard feelings.”

No one moved.

Leo spoke first. “Boss. I’m with you.”

Derek stood up. “Me too.”

Then one by one, everyone stood.

I turned to the window, and pretended to look outside, not letting the tears fall.

That afternoon, I got an unexpected call.

“Ms. Chase, this is Sean Harrington. I’m a partner at Sterling & Hayes Law.”

I knew the name. One of the top intellectual property litigators in the country. Dozens of trade secret cases. A win rate that was almost obscene.

“Mr. Harrington, why are you calling?”

“I watched your launch video. And I saw Apex’s lawsuit. Ms. Chase, I want to represent you.”

“Your fees are too high. I can’t afford you.” I said honestly.

“No upfront fee. We work on contingency.” He said. “You pay if we win. If we lose, you pay nothing.”

“Why?”

He laughed on the other end.

“Because I looked at your architecture. Skylar, if that technology dies because of a twenty-million-dollar lawsuit, it would be a tragedy for this era. Besides…”

He paused.

“I’ve seen guys like Ethan Harrison before. I don’t need the money. I just want to fight a good fight.”