I Forgot I Ever Loved You (Zoe and Hayden) novel Chapter 267

Ignoring Hayden completely, Zoe cut straight to the chase.

"How did you get your hands on the data for the AI companion robot?"

Sienna didn't display an ounce of panic. Instead, she looked at Zoe with amused pity.

"You show up half an hour late to a critical meeting, and you have the nerve to interrogate me? The files I presented to Mr. Stone were as thorough as they get. Next time, try showing up on time and taking notes instead of throwing a tantrum in the parking lot."

Zoe wasn't going to play her twisted games. "You didn't compile a single piece of that data."

Sienna's expression faltered for a fraction of a second, but her arrogant composure quickly swallowed her guilt. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

She turned to leave, but Zoe stepped forward to block her again.

"Zoe," Hayden warned, his voice dangerously low. "This isn't the place for your hysterics. We can reschedule the divorce for tomorrow. There's no need to take your pathetic frustrations out on someone else."

Sienna nearly tripped over her own feet, thinking she had misheard him. Divorce?

Zoe stared at Hayden, a bitter, mocking laugh escaping her lips.

"I was actually just about to ask you the same thing. You trick me into going to City Hall, use the distraction to waltz into Sterling Group with your mistress, and steal our proprietary data. Tell me, Hayden, is your entire empire built on sleazy, backstabbing cons? I seriously gave you too much credit."

They were a match made in hell. They even operated with the same sociopathic playbook. They truly deserved each other.

Hayden's face turned to stone. He neither confirmed nor denied the accusation, but every word he spoke was designed to draw blood.

"If you lack the skill, you need to own up to it. You spent five years as a secretary at Sterling Group, and sure, you achieved a few things. But you know damn well how little you actually understand about tech development."

The vile implication was glaringly obvious—he was accusing Garrett of handing her the project on a silver platter just to get into her pants.

An icy determination settled over Zoe's features.

The android was still in early development. It had the potential to be incredibly lucrative, but the tech world was notoriously unpredictable.

No matter how hard or devastating it was to lose this project, how could it compare to mindlessly transferring billions of dollars to Sienna when she had lost her memories? Hadn't she suffered enough during those five lost years? As long as she was breathing, she could always create something new. There was no way in hell Sienna could steal every single idea she ever had.

"Of course not," Zoe smiled faintly. "I'm just not going to build it here. I'll set up a private studio and construct it piece by piece with my own two hands. Once I've built a fully functional prototype with lifelike skin and temperature, and once it clears all the testing phases, we'll talk about mass production. Easton Group might have the blueprints, but without the core logic, it's all just theoretical garbage. If they want to blow their budget trying to piece it together, let them."

Garrett nodded. "That works. We have to lock down our intellectual property."

A dark, chilling light flickered in Zoe's eyes.

Sienna thought building a sentient AI was simple. But no matter how much stolen data she had, it could never compete with the brilliant, instinctive logic hardwired into Zoe's brain—a terrifying genius she herself still couldn't fully comprehend.