Chapter 3
At first, we had been good for each other.
That was the part I had spent years trying not to remember.
He convinced me my work mattered outside a laboratory.
I convinced him that ambition meant very little unless something real stood underneath it.
We were twenty-six and foolish enough to believe admiration could solve every difference between us.
Judge Warren interrupted gently.
“And the scars?”
I took a slow breath.
“The first full-scale ARIA prototype malfunctioned during an endurance test.”
Daniel had warned me that this was the part reporters would simplify.
They would want a villain.
Life had been more complicated.
The prototype had not exploded.
No one had attacked me.
There had been no dramatic act of sabotage.
A temperature-control failure caused one component to overheat while I was wearing the calibration harness. I suffered severe burns before the emergency release could be activated.
It had been terrifying.
But the scars represented more than the accident.
They marked the moment my life divided into before and after.
“I spent six weeks in the hospital,” I said. “Then several months in rehabilitation.”
Judge Warren glanced toward Jason.
“And during that period?”
“Jason incorporated Mitchell Medical Technologies.”
Leonard stood.
“Mrs. Mitchell gave her consent.”
I looked at him.
“I consented to Jason establishing a company to raise capital around our work.”
“Exactly.”
“I did not assign him ownership of ARIA.”
Silence.
Leonard opened the patent draft again.
Daniel spoke.
“The research assignment agreement confirms that Westbridge released its interest in the prototype to Mrs. Bennett personally after deciding not to commercialize it.”
Judge Warren looked up.
“Mrs. Bennett meaning Mrs. Mitchell.”
“Yes.”
“And there was never a transfer to the corporation?”
“No.”
Leonard shook his head.
“Your Honor, we strongly dispute that conclusion.”
“As you should,” Judge Warren said. “That's why courts exist.”
She looked toward Daniel.
“Continue.”
Daniel placed another document down.
“The first commercial products developed by Mitchell Medical Technologies were derivative works based substantially on ARIA's control architecture. For reasons we are still investigating, later patent filings list Mr. Mitchell as sole inventor.”
Jason finally spoke.
“That isn't true.”
Leonard touched his arm.
“Jason.”
But Jason had already risen.
“I built that company.”
I met his eyes.
“You built a company.”
My voice stayed quiet.
“We built the first product.”
His jaw tightened.
“You stopped.”
That hurt more than I expected.
Not because it was completely false.