The Divorce Papers Gave Him The Shell And Gave Me The Future Chapter 10

The Divorce Papers Gave Him The Shell And Gave Me The Future Chapter 10

Apex’s technical briefing was held at the Grand Metro Convention Hall.

Ethan booked the largest ballroom. Invited over a hundred media outlets. Live streamed the whole thing.

On stage, a giant LED screen cycled through Apex’s history.

Conveniently, a lot of those early photos included me, with my face blurred out.

Ethan walked on stage in a custom suit. He looked thinner than he had a month ago. His cheekbones stood out more.

He adjusted the microphone. His voice was steady.

“Thank you all for coming. Today’s briefing is to clarify certain facts.”

“Apex Dynamics has invested over a hundred and twenty million dollars in autonomous driving R&D since 2018. Our L4 technology represents the work of hundreds of engineers.”

“Yet this year, our former co-founder, Skylar Chase, left the company and within three months released a product remarkably similar to Apex’s technology.”

“Three months. A hundred and twenty million dollars of investment. And she did it alone.”

He paused.

“Do you think that’s possible?”

A murmur rippled through the audience.

“An independent forensic tech auditor has reached a preliminary conclusion: Skyline Intelligence’s product is substantially similar to Apex Dynamics’ technology.”

Ethan’s expression turned heavy with emotion.

“To be honest, this has been painful. Skylar was my most trusted partner. My wife. I never imagined I’d be standing here like this.”

“But I owe it to Apex’s twelve hundred employees. I owe it to the investors who trusted me. This is a matter of principle.”

The live chat flooded.

[Poor Ethan. My heart breaks for him.]

[Betrayed by the person closest to him. So tragic.]

[Support the lawsuit!!! Stealing technology is wrong!!!]

Grace sat in the front row. Tears glistening in her eyes.

Ethan continued. “I’m holding this briefing not to attack anyone. I want everyone to understand that innovation needs protection. If everyone can leave a company and take the technology with them, who would dare invest in R&D?”

He spoke with such conviction.

People in the audience started clapping.

More joined in.

When Grace clapped, a tear rolled down her cheek.

The camera caught it in close-up.

More sympathy flooded the live chat.

I watched the entire stream.

Then a message from Sean.

[The evidence is solid. The timestamps show you were developing this architecture long before the lawsuit, and independently. We might not lose in court. But he’s winning the media war. You need to do something.]

I opened X, scrolled through the sea of hate comments, and found the account I’d put on special notifications.

@Ethan_Apex.

My mouse hovered over the reply button. I hesitated.

I couldn’t just post something.

I had something better. An email.

From three years ago. An internal communication between him and Samuel.

If I released it, it would be a knockout blow, not just for the media war, possibly for his entire life.

Leo pushed the door open. “Boss, Julian Walsh from NestWorks Technologies wants to meet. He says he has a business proposition.”

NestWorks Technologies.

An AI unicorn. Valued over $200 million.

The founder, Julian Walsh, was a serial entrepreneur, known as a deeply technical founder.