My Family Made a Group Chat Without Me, I Rose Above Them Chapter 07

My Family Made a Group Chat Without Me, I Rose Above Them Chapter 07

The private jet landed at four in the morning.

The person waiting for me held up a whiteboard that read “Nora Bennett“.

The reception team had arranged a place for me to stay, a 37th–floor apartment with

floor–to–ceiling windows overlooking the bay.

I stood in front of the bathroom mirror for a while, looking at the scar on the back of my head. It had

faded into a thin white line.

I started at the new company first thing the next morning.

The team had fifteen people, and most of them were local hires. They called me Ms. Bennett.

A three–year plan was posted on the conference–room wall. My name was at the top.

A week later, Legal brought me a document.

“The partner back home has terminated the master agreement. They’re willing to pay the

termination fee, but they want us to sign a non–compete.”

“No.”

“Ethan Brooks has been asking around about who you are.”

“Let him ask.”

Two weeks later, a critical flaw in Ethan’s company’s core technology came to light.

The headline read, “Company Loses $4 Billion in Market Value.”

He called my assistant’s phone three times. Each time, my assistant said, “Nora Bennett isn’t

here.”

That afternoon, I received an email from the attorney back home.

Sophie Hart had been formally charged with felony property destruction. The amount in question was in the million–dollar range, and she could face at least three years in prison.

The last line of the email read:

“Marlene Hart has been named a co–defendant for concealing and laundering criminal proceeds.”

I closed the email and went back to the project schedule for the next quarter.

Half a month later, at Ethan’s company’s new–product launch, he personally announced a strategic

partnership with an overseas company. When reporters asked which company it was, he said the name wasn’t being disclosed yet.

hat afternoon, his assistant sent my assistant a partnership proposal.

I skimmed it. The project overlapped almost exactly with the core project we were building, and it was based on the same underlying logic as the file Sophie had deleted.

“Ms. Bennett, should we sue them for infringement?”

“Not yet.”

A week later, our company opened a branch back home. We chose the building directly across from

Ethan’s company.

On opening day, I stood in front of the floor–to–ceiling windows and watched employees drift in and out of his building below. His black car was parked at the entrance.

My phone rang. It was Mom.

The number was new, but her voice hadn’t changed.

“Nora, is that you? It took me forever to find this number.”

I said nothing.

“Ryan told me a few days ago that something terrible happened to Ethan’s company. Do you know?

And Sophie…”

I cut her off. “Did you call just to tell me about them?”

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds.

Then she started crying.

“I miss you.”

“You stopped wanting me five years ago. Don’t say things like that now. It means nothing.”

“Nora, don’t hang up. I know I was wrong. Please come home, just once. I’ll make your favorite…”

“What is my favorite?”

She fell silent again.

“Mom, stop pretending.”

I hung up.

I stood at the window and looked down. The traffic light at the intersection turned green, and people flooded across the crosswalk.

By the time I counted seventeen people, Ethan walked out of his office. He wore the same dark–gray coat, his tie half loosened, and much more gray threaded through his hair than a month earlier.

He waited at the corner and glanced up at my building.

The glass facade reflected too much light for him to see anything. But I saw his lips move, as if he were saying something.

The light turned green, and he lowered his head and crossed the street.

At eleven that night, I received a text from an unknown number.

“It’s Ethan. I know you’re in that building. Leo has cried every day since you left. My mother has fallen apart. My company is on the verge of collapse. Nora, come back. We need to talk.”

I didn’t reply.

A week later, our company was invited to Ethan’s company’s annual partner–selection meeting as its largest potential investor.

That day, I wore a white suit and walked into the venue with my ID badge. Ethan was giving a speech onstage. Halfway through, his eyes swept over the audience and stopped.

The microphone let out a harsh squeal.

His whole body froze. The color drained from his lips.

I sat in the exact center of the second row and smiled at him.

It took everything he had to force out two words.

“Nora… Bennett?”

The entire room went silent.

People turned to look at me. Others lowered their heads to check the guest list. The host hurried to take the microphone and smooth things over.

Ethan set down his notes and walked straight off the stage toward me.

His eyes were hollow, and he had lost a lot of weight.

“You…”

“Mr. Brooks, nice to meet you.”

I held out my hand. “I Jack Buckly, a po… You viewed posts from this creator.

ive investor.”

He didn’t take my hand. He stared at me for a long time, his lips trembling. “Why are you doing

his?”

“You stole my core files and gave them to Sophie. She deleted the originals, and now she’s building a project with the same logic. Why do you think I’m doing this?”

I withdrew my hand, stood, and walked toward the stage.

The host stared, then handed me the microphone.

“Everyone, I’m Nora Bennett. Before we begin today’s formal agenda, I need to say something. Your company’s current core technology plan is based on project files I completed while I was employed there. Those files were illegally deleted after I left. We have preserved all evidence, and legal proceedings are already underway.”

I turned toward Ethan below the stage.

“Today’s investment meeting is canceled.”

The room erupted.

Ethan stood there while the presentation he had spent an entire month preparing continued to play behind him. Slowly, he sank back into his chair and covered his face with one hand.

As I left the venue, my phone rang again.

It was a photo from Mom.

The photo showed a hospital admission form dated today.

Patient:

Sophie Hart.

Diagnosis: 12 weeks pregnant.

The caption had only one line.

“Sophie is pregnant. Ethan is the father.”