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63 Priscilla Vane dropped to one knee in front of my husband while three hundred investors watched. / Chapter 10 / 10

Chapter 10 - The Masterpiece

The private gala celebrating Solstice Dynamics’ tenth anniversary was held at a cliffside estate overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Big Sur.

There were no press cameras. No shallow society elites looking for a scandal. Just a tight-knit circle of brilliant engineers, loyal executives, and true friends who had stood by me through every storm.

I stood on the glass balcony, the cool ocean breeze catching the silk of my emerald-green dress. The night sky was clear, dotted with brilliant constellations that seemed close enough to touch.

Footsteps echoed softly behind me. Julian Vance—now representing a much smaller, thoroughly humbled investment portfolio—stepped out onto the terrace, holding a glass of sparkling cider.

"I have to hand it to you, Elena," Julian said quietly, leaning against the railing beside me. "Solstice is valued at over four billion dollars today. You outmaneuvered everyone."

"I didn't outmaneuvere anyone, Julian," I said, turning my gaze toward the horizon where the moonlight danced across the dark waves. "I just stopped letting other people write my code."

Julian chuckled softly. "And Martin?"

"Serving a federal sentence at a medium-security facility in Nevada," I replied evenly. "Last I heard, he’s running the prison computer literacy class. Fitting, in a poetic sort of way."

Julian nodded, raising his glass in a silent toast before excusing himself back inside to join the celebration.

I stayed on the balcony for a few more moments, breathing in the crisp, salt-scented air.

My phone buzzed in my clutch. I pulled it out, expecting a corporate notification or a board memo. Instead, it was an alert from my personal home automation system: Front gate secure. All systems nominal.

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At a family dinner, I stood up smiling and announced I was pregnant. The whole table went completely silent — then my mother-in-law suddenly let out a laugh and yelled: “She’s pretending to be pregnant just to milk money from us!” Before anyone could even react, she seized my hand and pushed me off the hotel rooftop to “prove” I was faking it. Broken and barely conscious, I came to in the hospital with my husband by my side, pale as a ghost and shaking. But the moment the doctor stepped in and opened his mouth, the words he said made the entire room freeze in utter disbelief and horror.

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At Christmas dinner, my mother-in-law pushed my plate away and said, “Leave—this table is for people who bring money into this family.” I turned to my husband and asked if he agreed, but his cold silence was the biggest mistake of his life, because two months later, my father’s true net worth destroyed his entire bloodline…

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I smiled, locking the screen and slipping the phone back into my bag.

Betrayal had tried to write my ending, but I had rewritten the entire engine. The foundation was rock-solid, the architecture was bulletproof, and the future was entirely mine.

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