Stolen Genius, A Billionaire's Vow

My life's work was stolen by Dallas Mueller. She built an empire on my research, becoming a tech celebrity while I was framed for fraud and left with nothing. I decided to crash her biggest product launch to get my life back.

But instead of justice, I was met with violence. Dallas and her followers beat me in front of everyone, tearing my clothes and humiliating me.

They dragged me outside, vandalized my car, and set my personal journal on fire. The ultimate betrayal, however, was seeing my own fiancé, Elias, standing by, his face cold. He believed her lies over me.

He watched them destroy me and did nothing to help.

Just as I was about to break, a voice cut through the chaos. My mentor, the powerful billionaire Clifton Kramer, had arrived.

He exposed Dallas as a fraud on the spot and revealed he had surveillance footage of the entire attack. Cradling me in his arms, he promised, "I promise you, darling, they will pay."

Chapter 1

Grace Mason POV:

The venomous whisper of the internet, a digital echo chamber of gossip and adoration, always started with Dallas Mueller. I knew it. Dallas Mueller's product launch is the event of the year! I scrolled, my thumb brushing against the cold glass. She's a genius, a visionary! Each glowing comment was a fresh stab, a reminder of the life that should have been mine.

They called her a trailblazer, a self-made icon, the darling of the tech world. But I knew the truth. I saw the comments, the thinly veiled jabs from anonymous profiles. Didn't someone else have a hand in that initial breakthrough? The questions were fleeting, drowned out by the tide of praise.

She just swoops in and takes what she wants, another comment read, quickly buried. I remembered the way Dallas would look at my work, her eyes glittering not with understanding, but with avarice. A cold knot tightened in my gut.

Some people just don' t know when to quit, or when to stay in their lane. That one hit differently. It felt personal. They were talking about me, weren't they? The ghost of my past, the academic fraud I'd been framed for, still clung to my name in the dark corners of the web.

The chorus of adoration swelled. Dallas is so authentic, so real! I scoffed, a bitter sound that went unheard in my quiet apartment. Authentic? Real? Dallas Mueller was a carefully constructed facade, a shimmering illusion built on the shattered pieces of my dreams.

They didn't know the real story. They saw the dazzling smile, the confident stride, the perfectly tailored suits. They saw a woman who belonged, a woman whose every move screamed privilege and power. I saw a thief, a liar, a parasite.

My own past flashed before my eyes-the late nights in the lab, the crumpled notes, the cheap coffee stains on my worn-out sweatshirts. I was the quiet one, the brain, the one who lived for the