?Chapter 604:


    She wasn’t the type to back down from a fight.


    Marc had sent Ste a text hours ago, and the silence was starting to get under his skin.


    He wanted to see her again—but more than that, he wanted that patent in his hands, fast.


    Every ten minutes, he’d nce at his phone, worried he might have missed a reply. But from that afternoon all the way into the evening, nothing came through. It left him wondering—was Ste really that calm about all this? How could she not be panicking?


    Just after his shower, while he was getting ready for bed, his phone finally buzzed.<fne86b> Discover more novels at </fne86b>


    A message came in. “The patent’s yours if you want it. But it only works on Neb’s system. You’ll need me toe over and sync it with yours.”


    Marc narrowed his eyes at the message, then fired off a reply. “Tomorrow, 10 a.m., Walsh Group. We’ll talk then.”


    No point hashing it out over texts.


    Ste didn’t argue. She just sent a simple “Okay.”


    That one word made Marc sleep like a baby.


    He even had a rare sweet dream—of him and Ste getting remarried, walking down the aisle, the crowd cheering, her glowing in a white wedding dress. It was perfect.


    They were just about to exchange vows when—BEEP-BEEP-BEEP. His rm went off, tearing the dream to shreds.


    Marc shot up, grumbling, “Seriously? Couldn’t it have waited just five more seconds?”


    At exactly 10 a.m., Ste arrived at his office at the Walsh Group, punctual as ever.


    She wasn’t carrying much—just a single bag slung over her shoulder. Once seated across from him, she said straight-up, “Open the patent on your system. See if it works.”


    Marc didn’t doubt the patent itself—but he wasn’t about to hand her the reins. “I’ll do the system sync,” he said, watching her closely. “Not you.”


    Ste froze for a beat, then let out a low, sarcastic chuckle.


    “Thought as much. Someone who’s always scheming assumes everyone else is just as shady,” she said, tossing him a knowing smirk. “Fine. Let your people handle it—if they’re even up to it.”


    With a shrug, she pulled a USB drive from her bag and slid it across the desk.


    Marc eyed her confidence with mixed feelings—half impressed, half annoyed. He knew exactly what she was capable of. When Ste had yanked her patent from the Walsh Group years ago, thepany had crashed—hard.


    And not one person on his tech team had been able to recreate what she built. Still, he wasn’t giving up just yet.


    Alonzo had sent him some hotshot developer from overseas—supposedly just as talented as Ste.


    If Marc’s guys couldn’t crack it, maybe this one could.


    He made a call, and a few minutester, the guy walked in. “Stel, meet Niki Volkov. Tech genius from Osnuria. Won the Global Innovation Award. You’ve probably heard of him.”


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