Chapter 1

My world ended with a single LinkedIn notification.

The screen glowed with a picture of Leo, the smirking intern from my fiancée's team, his arm slung around Chloe herself.

The caption read, "Thrilled to announce I'm the lead architect on Project Prometheus! Can't wait to share my work. Huge thanks to my mentor, Chloe, for this incredible opportunity!"

My breath caught in my chest.

Prometheus.

My project. My three years of sleepless nights, of sacrificed weekends, of pouring every ounce of my soul into code that was supposed to revolutionize logistics. My ticket to finally impressing Jessica Thorne and leading my own division.

I took a screenshot, the image burning itself onto my phone and into my mind. I found Chloe in the kitchen, calmly sipping her morning coffee as if nothing had happened.

I held the phone up, my hand shaking with a rage I couldn't control.

"What is this?"

She glanced at it, her expression not changing.

"Oh, that," she said, taking another sip.

"That? Chloe, he's taking credit for three years of my life."

She finally put her mug down and looked at me, not with guilt, but with a tired sort of annoyance.

"Ethan, relax. Leo needs this to get his foot in the door, to secure a full-time offer. It's just a title."

"It's not just a title! It's my work!"

"You're a genius, Ethan," she said, her voice smooth and placating, the way you'd talk to a child. "You can just build another one. This is a big deal for him, it' s nothing for you."

I stared at her, the woman I had planned to marry. The casualness of her betrayal was a physical blow.

"You don't get it," I said, my voice low. "This was my portfolio for Jessica Thorne. This was everything."

She sighed, picking up her car keys from the counter.

"Actually, speaking of that, you need to do something for me," she said, completely changing the subject. "Marcus wants to promote Leo, but he needs a good word from the technical side. I told him you'd endorse Leo's contribution."

The audacity of it left me speechless. She didn't just steal my work for her pet intern, she wanted me to be an accomplice in my own professional execution.

"You want me to lie for him?" I asked, my voice dangerously quiet.

"I want you to be a team player," she corrected. "Don't make this a problem, Ethan."