Page 145 of Code of Heart

Lockwood had been a minor nuisance in the beginning…until that conveniently timed marriage to his fake fiancée. A distraction Tyler couldn’t have orchestrated better himself. When those explicit photos landed in his inbox? That had been the real gift, delivered straight from the heavens. A few quick clicks and his media contacts took care of the rest.

Now, he had full control of Neuronix and its product roadmap. Government contractors were practically drooling over the technology, especially Project DL. If he played his cards right, he would make a fortune selling the technology to the military.

The smile on his face widened as he took another leisurely sip, savoring the rich flavor of the imported brew.

An unexpected knock sounded at the door to the office. His brows pulled together in confusion.

“Come in,” he called, quickly planting his feet on the ground and straightening himself. He didn’t bother to disguise his irritation over the interruption, however.

The door opened, and Harrington Perkins, Chief General Counsel, stepped in—grim-faced, a thick manila envelope in one hand and a neat stack of papers in the other.

“Well?” Tyler snapped, motioning impatiently. “What is this? Why are you barging into my office without an appointment?”

Without a word, Harrington dropped the envelope onto the desk with a heavy thud. The scratch of it sliding across the desk grated on Tyler’s nerves.

“Neuronix has been served a cease-and-desist order. That’s your copy,” Harrington said coolly.

Tyler stared at the thick envelope, confusion clouding his features.

“What the hell do you mean by ‘cease-and-desist’? On what grounds?”

Harrington allowed a slow, almost satisfied smirk to cross his face. “Turns out, Neuronix doesn’t fully own the IP for its flagship products. The rights belong to the creators and developers.” He let the unspoken implications of that hang in the air. “You’re to halt all sales and use of those products immediately or face legal action. Effective immediately, Tyler.”

Tyler gaped at him, refusing to believe what he just heard. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Fight it! That’syourjob!”

Harrington chuckled, the sound dark and humorless. “Correction. Thatwasmy job.” He slammed another stack of papers down next to the envelope. “That’s my formal resignation. Along with every single member of the legal department.”

Tyler surged to his feet, his face a shade of red rarely seen in nature. “You—you can’t just leave!”

“My loyalty was to actual leaders, Tyler. You? You’re nothing but a pompous fraud who thought he could buy loyalty and respect.” Harrington’s eyes were cold and held no remorse. “This mess? It’s yours now. Enjoy it.”

Before Tyler could muster a response, Harris Wilkerson burst through the door, panting, eyes wide with panic.

“They resigned!” he gasped, nearly collapsing against the doorframe. “The entire IT department—every last one of them—resigned all at once!” His words tumbled out in a frantic stream.“They shut down the login portals, locked out customer sites—everything. There’s no one to answer support calls. Customers are flooding us, and I don’t have anyone left to—”

Tyler could only gape. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. He didn’t know what to make of it.

Harrington snorted and clapped Harris on the shoulder with mock sympathy. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that. You’re still here.”

Harris stared at him, horrified.

“You might want to head down and start answering the phones,” Harrington called over his shoulder as he left. “That’s what a real CTO would have done.”

Harris turned back to Tyler, completely unravelling. “This isn’t what I agreed to,” he rasped. “This is a dumpster fire Ican’tput out. I quit. I—I’m done. I only wanted to be seen for my skills and the value I bring to the table at this company, not…this.”

Tyler’s eyes finally focused, as if seeing Harris for the first time.

“You’re on your own, buddy,” Harris said, already slowly backing out of the office. “I’m out.”

And then Tyler was alone.

Alone in the office he had schemed and lied about to obtain, the silence inescapable.

Immobile and helpless as he watched everything he had spent months building collapse in a heaping pile of shit…and realizing there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stop it.

CHAPTER 61

Levi