"Sir, I'm sorry. I don't love Rose anymore. I can't marry her."
My father let out a cold laugh.
"You toss out 'I don't love her' like it costs you nothing. All these years, if it weren't for your relationship with my daughter, there's no way in hell I would have let her hand over her chip technology and invest her own money in your company."
"You're young, you want to chase love, fine. But everything you've swallowed over these years, you're going to spit back out."
"My daughter's microchip technology and the five million dollars she invested. Give it all back."
Eugene's eyelid twitched. He frowned, his tone shifting to something measured and persuasive.
"Sir, Rose and I simply can't be husband and wife anymore. That has nothing to do with our business partnership."
"If you pull the technology and the investment now, the whole company will collapse!"
Eugene looked up at me in a panic. "Rose, this company is our life's work. It's like our baby. You can't just stand by and watch it be destroyed."
I clenched the fabric over my lower abdomen, my voice ice-cold.
"Eugene, you don't get to say that to me. Give me back the chip technology and my investment."