Chapter 4I Sold My Family For Millions

"Theo, I was hoping for another five minutes regarding the proposal I sent to your sister."

She caught him as he was leaving, her voice respectful but tinged with a desperate edge. She looked exhausted, her coat a little frayed at the sleeves, clutching a folder of data. "The latest metrics are game-changing. If Mary could just see the revised projections—"

Theo didn't even look at the folder. He swiped it out of her hand, and the papers scattered across the floor, sliding under the feet of passing students.

"Enough," Theo snapped, brushing phantom dust off his sleeve. "My sister was very clear. Your project has zero market viability. Are you slow, or just stubborn?"

Nadia froze, her hand still reaching for the empty air. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.

Theo looked her up and down with a sneer. "A PhD who can't pay her rent shouldn't be dreaming of empires. Go find a job in a lab somewhere and stop wasting our time."

He started to walk away, then paused, looking back over his shoulder. "And don't come back. You’re depressing the room."

The people around him laughed. Nadia stood there, the light dying in her eyes as she looked at her scattered papers.

I stepped forward, past the laughing crowd, and knelt down. I began picking up the pages.

"Dr. Keller?" I said.

She looked at me, her face a mask of weary confusion. "Yes?"

"My name is Julia," I said, standing up and handing her the folder. "I heard you’re looking for five million."

Nadia hesitated, her brow furrowing. She was used to being mocked; she was looking for the punchline. "I am. Why?"

I pulled out the card Theo had just filled with five million dollars. I held it out to her. "I’ll give it to you. On one condition."

She didn't take it. If anything, she looked more suspicious. "What condition?"

"That I get right of first refusal on every project you develop for the next ten years." I looked her in the eye. "I don't understand the chemistry, Dr. Keller. But I understand people. And I believe in you."

Nadia was silent for a long time. She searched my face, looking for the catch, the cruelty. But she was a drowning woman, and I was the only one offering a hand.

I suggested we grab a quick bite downstairs to discuss the paperwork. Over a cheap sandwich, I realized she was even more brilliant than the rumors suggested. Every word out of her mouth was a masterclass in logic.

By the time we finished, the contract was drafted on a legal pad. I handed her the card.

She held it as if it were made of glass. "Julia... I won't make you regret this."

"I know you won't."

I watched her walk away, her posture straighter than it had been an hour ago. I felt a profound sense of relief. I turned back toward the elevators to grab my bag from the classroom.

And that’s when I saw Mary.

She was standing in the hallway, her face pale with a cold, simmering fury. I wondered how long she’d been standing there.

She marched toward me, her heels clicking like gunfire on the tile.

Slap.

The force of it cracked across my cheek, echoing in the quiet hallway.