Chapter 2: The Past That Came Back to Haunt Her
Chloe spent the next hour sitting in the bathroom of the gala, staring at her reflection in the mirror, trying to process what she’d just seen. She’d known David was smart, that he’d come up with the original algorithm that had made their startup worth $20 million before it folded, but she’d never imagined that he’d become a billionaire. She’d always assumed he’d end up working a minimum-wage job, living in a tiny apartment, and begging her for a second chance.
She pulled out her phone and called her sister, Mia, who’d always been the only person who’d liked David. “Mia, you’re not going to believe this,” she said, her voice breaking. “David was at the gala tonight. He’s not the broke guy we thought he was. He’s the chairman of a hedge fund. He just bought the family manufacturing business, and everyone in the room was bowing to him.”
Mia went silent on the other end of the line. “Chloe, you remember that algorithm David wrote before the startup folded, right? The one you took credit for when you left him? I just saw an interview with him last year, where he talked about how he sold the rights to that algorithm to a hedge fund for $50 million. He didn’t tell anyone, not even me. He said he wanted to start over.”
Chloe’s blood ran cold. She’d taken credit for David’s algorithm at a venture capital conference six months after they broke up, telling the audience that she’d come up with the idea herself. She’d used that speech to land her job at Liam’s firm, and she’d never looked back.
She’d always assumed David had hated her for it, but she’d never thought he’d come back to get revenge. She’d spent the last two years bragging about how she’d left David behind to build her own career, and now she’d just made a fool of herself in front of every person who could have helped her advance in her industry.
She left the bathroom and made her way back to her table, where Liam was sitting with the keynote speaker, laughing and shaking hands. He looked up when she sat down, and grinned. “Did you see that guy? The chairman? He just bought our family’s business. We’re going to be rich beyond our wildest dreams.”
Chloe didn’t have the heart to tell him that the chairman was her ex-boyfriend, the guy she’d humiliated in front of the entire ballroom. She just nodded, staring at her hands, and tried to pretend that she wasn’t panicking.
After the gala, Liam drove them home in his new Tesla, talking nonstop about the deal they’d just landed. “We’re going to be able to buy that beach house in Malibu,” he said. “We can quit our jobs and live off the interest of our investment.”
Chloe didn’t say a word. She was too busy replaying the moment David had walked past her, ignoring her completely, in her head. She’d spent years making fun of him for being broke, and now he was the one who controlled every aspect of her family’s business.
She pulled out her phone and sent David a text message, begging him to meet with her to talk. He didn’t reply. She called him three times, and each time he sent her straight to voicemail. She left a dozen voice messages, telling him how sorry she was, begging him to give her a second chance.
She didn’t hear back from him for three days, and then she got a letter in the mail from her family’s manufacturing business. It was a notice of termination: all 120 employees would be laid off effective immediately, and the plant would be shut down within 30 days.
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Liam came home that night with a stack of newspapers in his hands, his face pale. “The news just broke,” he said. “David Hale is buying our family’s business, and he’s going to move all of the manufacturing operations to Mexico. He’s going to lay off every single employee. Our family’s business is gone.”
Chloe sat down on the couch, staring at the floor, and felt tears streaming down her face. She’d ruined everything. She’d broken up with the man who could have saved her family’s business, humiliated him in front of an entire ballroom, and now she’d watched him destroy the life she’d spent her whole trying to build.
