Chen Hao didn't wait for the dust to settle.
Tuesday morning, 7:03 a.m.
Wanyin's phone lit up with a news alert while she was tying her hair.
Exclusive: Hengxin Director Gu Wanyin's past startup theft allegations resurface. Former partner Chen Hao claims intellectual property dispute "unresolved."
She clicked the link.
The article was brutal.
Old emails. Screenshots of code. Timestamps from seven years ago.
Her code.
His company.
The story painted her as bitter. Vengeful. The woman who cried theft when her idea succeeded without her.
Comments were already piling up.
Typical. Climbs the ladder, then plays victim.
CEO sleeping with her to keep her quiet?
Hengxin stock down 3% pre-market.
She set the phone down, hands steady.
Ye Beichen appeared in the kitchen doorway, reading the same article on his tablet.
His face was stone.
"He's going nuclear."
She nodded. "He wants the board to force you to drop me."
He set the tablet down. "They won't."
"They might."
He stepped closer. "We handled the last attack."
"This one's personal."
He took her phone, read the comments.
His jaw tightened.
"I'll sue for defamation."
"You can't. The emails are real. The code is mine. He just… took it."
He looked at her.
"You never told me the details."
She laughed, bitter. "Because it's humiliating. I was twenty-five. In love. Trusted him with everything. He filed the patents in his name the week after I showed him the prototype."
He was quiet.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It made me who I am."
He reached for her hand. She let him take it.
"We fight this together."
"How?"
"Truth. But the right version."
They spent the morning preparing.
Legal team on standby.
PR drafting statements.
Old records pulled—her original notebooks, timestamps proving prior art, witnesses from the startup incubator.
By noon, they had a counter-narrative.
Not victim.
Victor.
Wanyin held a press call at 2 p.m.
Stood in the conference room, cameras flashing.
Calm. Clear.
"I built that platform from nothing. Mr. Chen took credit. I moved on. Built bigger things. Hengxin is proof of what happens when talent is given real opportunity."
She didn't mention love.
Didn't mention betrayal.
Just facts.
Ye Beichen stood beside her.
Silent support.
The stock recovered by close.
Comments shifted.
Queen.
She ate him alive.
CEO standing by her—power couple.
Chen Hao's next message came that night.
Private email.
You win this round. But I'm not done.
Attached: a photo.
Her and Ye Beichen leaving the apartment that morning.
Hand in hand.
She showed him.
He read it.
Deleted it.
Blocked the address.
Then pulled her close.
"He's watching."
"I know."
She leaned into him.
Twenty-one days left.
And for the first time, she wasn't afraid of what came after.
Because whatever Chen Hao threw next, they'd face it together.