The smile that had crept across my face wasn't one of malice or calculation—it was relief. Pure, simple relief that I finally had a way to cut through Chen's accusations with facts that no one in this room could dispute.
"You want to know why I haven't been profiting from my father's experiments?" I said, my voice carrying the confidence of someone who held all the cards. "Because I was eight years old when my father left."
The statement hung in the air, and I could see Chen's certainty waver slightly. But I wasn't done.
"Hugo Vale abandoned his family when NovaCore shut down," I continued, standing straighter as the weight of old pain mixed with vindication. "I haven't seen him since. I'm thirty-eight years old now. That's thirty years of no contact, no communication, no secret father-son experimentation sessions."
I gestured around the room, meeting the eyes of world leaders who suddenly looked uncomfortable with their previous assumptions.
