Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 89878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
“Jackson, that’s—”
“When we were ready to submit our proposals and secure all the patents, I let my guard down. I trusted him. And while I was already celebrating our future success, he was busy backstabbing me.”
“What do you mean?”
“He submitted all the patents, leaving me off them. By the time they were approved and sealed, it was too late. There was no way to reverse what he’d done. He was the sole owner.”
“No…”
“He left school and within two months, had every hospital across the US investing in our program.”
“I don’t get it. If he’s so successful, why does he want this ledger?”
“He’s broke. I’ve always been a smart man. Not so smart I saw his betrayal coming, but I’ve stayed one step ahead. I would’ve been a real dummy if I’d put all my cards on the table. He had reason to worry I would fuck him over. But the same went for him. It’s why I never wrote down the next level for the coding phase.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Burt has always been envious. No matter how equal we were, he always wanted more. Toward the end, he started to change. Got paranoid and became jealous.”
“What was he jealous of?”
“Veronica.”
Needing distance to tell the rest of this story, I set Georgia on the bed and stand up, pacing as I continue. “It was sophomore year when Veronica came into our lives.”
“Who is she?”
“Now or then?”
“Both?”
“Now, she’s his wife,” I say, my voice tight. “Back then, she was my girlfriend. Burt was in love with her. She was the one thing he wanted more than anything. I guess part of his plan was to figure out how he’d get her.”
Georgia stares at me, confusion clouding her expression. “What do you mean?”
I sigh at the weight of the memory. “Let’s just say, once she found out I was no longer going to be rich, she wasted no time jumping into bed with Burt.”
Georgia’s eyes widen, and she gasps. “She didn’t.”
“She claimed she was pregnant, and they got married in a lavish estate in the Napa Vineyards, courtesy of his first payout.”
“What a conniving bitch,” Georgia mutters, the anger in her voice stirring something inside me. “What happened next?”
I rest my back against the dresser. “While he was making millions, I watched, waited, and studied his every move. The program was engineered with built-in milestones—specific points at which the system would become outdated and require critical updates. We meticulously prepared for future technological advancements, ensuring our expertise remained indispensable. By embedding scheduled update intervals into the system’s design, we guaranteed clients would continually need our services, forcing them to invest more in maintenance and upgrades over time.
“It was always a matter of time before he’d require the next phase. Without it, his program would become obsolete. I kept a close watch on him as he poured his money into hiring coders, all of whose attempts ended in failure. As I wrapped up my master’s, he reached out, claiming he wanted to make amends. In reality, all he needed was for me to complete phase two. We both understood he couldn’t move forward without my expertise.”
“I hope you told him to fuck off.”
I hold her gaze, a surge of pride mixed with satisfaction in my eyes. “I did more than that, Peach. I sold the code to his biggest competitor, crippling his business in one fell swoop. His program had become outdated and resistant to progress, unable to adapt to the fast-paced demands of our industry. In this field, if you can’t innovate, you drown. Meanwhile, I launched Blake Industries. My program not only creates designs for raw materials but also manufactures them with a speed and precision no human could match.”
She raises an eyebrow, impressed but curious. “Did Burt ever try to come after you?”
He shakes his head. “He couldn’t. He hasn’t. Until now.”
“He has Vince doing his dirty work.”
"Seems that way," I confirm. "It’s not just that, though. Someone’s been tampering with our software. Everything’s been fixed, but the machines were glitching, and let me tell you, that’s nearly impossible—unless you know what you’re doing.”
“Burt?”
“Vince. Turns out, he never went to Harvard.”
“What do you mean?”
“He lied about it all. He’s been learning code, trying to sabotage me to level up his father’s system. I guess he thinks getting access to the ledger will revive his father’s company.”
“But if the updated program was sold, the ledger shouldn’t matter.”
“You’re correct. But Burt and his son don’t know that.” I slip my hand into my jacket pocket and retrieve the drive.
“What is that?”
“It holds the master files for the coding, but more importantly, it contains extremely sensitive information. The kind that, if it got out, wouldn’t just ruin me… it would take down a hell of a lot more than that.”
“Oh, God. I—I didn’t even know about the drive.” Panic rises in her voice. “He just spoke about the ledger. I would’ve never done it if I knew—”