Chapter 1

"Your employee badge is no longer valid, Zachary. Please leave the company by 6:00 pm," Lisa Wright from Human Resources declared.

She placed a termination notice in front of me.

I stared at the words on the paper and blinked in confusion.

"I'm being laid off?" I asked.

"Not exactly." She capped her pen, her tone remaining perfectly polite. "Technically speaking, you haven't been a formal employee of the company."

For a split second, I thought my ears were failing me.

"I've worked at Stellar Technologies for three whole years. My clock-in records could fill an entire filing cabinet! How can you claim that I'm not an employee?"

Lisa refused to meet my gaze.

Next to her, Stellar Technologies' Technology Director, Eric Lawson, let out a small chuckle.

"Don't make yourself out to be more important than you actually are, Zachary," he said.

He leaned back in his chair and spun his car keys around one finger. "You were brought in as a project-based contractor from the very beginning. You never signed a formal employment contract. The money the company paid you was a service fee, not a salary."

I stared at him and asked, "Did you think I worked until 3:00 am because I had nothing better to do?"

"You're a young man. What's wrong with working a little harder?" He shrugged. "Besides, you only have a community college degree. You should be grateful that the company gave you the opportunity to participate in our projects."

I glanced at the termination notice on the table.

They weren't offering me any compensation.

Wonderful. Zero was a clean number. It reminded me of my bank account balance.

Lisa cleared her throat.

"Mr. Carter, Stellar Technologies is willing to give you three thousand dollars as a gratuity payment in recognition of your contributions to our projects. However, you must first sign this acknowledgement confirming that you won't pursue any further claims against the company."

I picked up the document.

The first clause stated that both parties acknowledged I had never been employed by the company.

The second clause stated that Stellar Technologies owned all intellectual property rights to the technology that is Stormshield Security System.

The third clause prohibited me from disclosing any information about the project to any external parties.

I looked up and asked, "Who wrote this thing?"

"The legal team," Eric replied, chuckling.

"Did the legal team write this with their eyes closed?"

The entire conference room fell silent.

Eric's expression darkened. "Don't push it, Zachary," he growled. "Do you really think you're indispensable just because you wrote a few lines of code?"

"I'm not signing it," I declared as I set the document back on the table.

Lisa grew anxious.

"You need to think this through, Mr. Carter. If you sign it, we'll be able to part ways on good terms. If you refuse, we have the right to confiscate your laptop and revoke your access."

I nodded and said, "Do it then."

Eric stared at me as if I were an idiot who didn't know any better. "Are you planning to turn this into a labor dispute?" he asked. "You don't even have a contract."

I couldn't hold back my laughter any longer. "Mr. Lawson," I began.

"What?"

"Could you repeat what you just said?"

Eric frowned. "What are you getting at?"

I pulled out my phone from my pocket. The audio recording app's interface was still displayed on the screen.

"Oh, nothing. I just thought you made a very good point," I replied.

Eric's expression instantly shifted. He instinctively reached for my phone, but I leaned back and prevented him from grabbing it.

At that moment, the door to the conference room opened.

A woman stood in the doorway.

Her hair was pulled back neatly, and she was dressed in a white blouse and black slacks.

The woman was none other than Stellar Technologies' CEO, Rachel Scott.

After shooting me a glance, she turned her attention to Eric and asked, "Did you just say that Zachary's not an employee of this company, Eric?"

Eric's breath hitched in his throat.

"Ms. Scott? What brings you here?" he asked nervously.

Rachel stepped into the room.

"I asked you a question," she declared coolly.

Eric tugged on his tie and stammered, "W-Well… Zachary doesn't have a formal employment contract. He's just a contractor we brought in to help us with one of our earlier projects."

Her gaze shifted to me.

"Zachary, Stormshield Security System's core module is on your computer. Who wrote it?"

I slipped my phone back into my pocket and rose from my seat.

"I'm afraid you're asking me the wrong question, Ms. Scott."

Rachel frowned.

Flashing her a smile, I continued, "You should be asking whether the company has the right to use it."