"CHAPTER 21: THE TYCOON'S GAMBIT | "Love or Empire - You Can't Keep Both""**
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The shareholder meeting erupted when Sophia dropped the **hostile takeover documents** with my name forged on every page. Her Louboutins clicked across the projection of my face as the Nasdaq ticker behind us nosedived:
**LI CORPORATION ▼ 78%**
*"Ten years ago you promised to protect me,"* she whispered into my tie mic, her Cartier nail digging into my pulse point. *"Now I'll teach you what real power looks like."*
The emergency alert blazed across my smart glasses:
`[SOPHIA CHEN'S ULTIMATUM]`
`1. PUBLICLY SURRENDER SHARES → KEEP YOUR PENTHOUSE`
`2. FIGHT BACK → LOSE THE BLACK BOX IN YOUR VAULT`
`3. [REDACTED: 200 POWER STONES TO UNLOCK]`
I crushed the champagne flute in my hand. **"Option four."**
*(3 boardroom power plays, 1 leaked sex tape scandal, and the first glimpse of her pregnancy test in her Birkin)*
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The **black box** contained:
- Her father's **suicide note** (addressed to me)
- Photos of us in college **before we "first met"**
- A positive **paternity test** from three years ago
Sophia's laugh echoed through the private bank vault. *"You really thought I forgot our first child?"*
My phone buzzed with a notification:
`[MEMORY UNLOCKED]`
`MEDICAL REPORT: MEMORY ERASURE (SUBJECT: SOPHIA CHEN)`
`PERFORMED BY: LI FAMILY PSYCHIATRIST`
The security cameras caught her wiping away tears with **a million-dollar stock certificate**.
*( 5 gut-wrenching reveals, 2 violent confrontations with bodyguards, and 1 elevator make-up sex that triggers the fire alarm)*
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We crashed what should have been our **5th anniversary party**—now rebranded as her **merger celebration** with the rival CEO.
The holographic display played our **deleted wedding vows** on loop:
*"I take you as my equal partner in—"* (static) *"—assets shall remain separate—"*
The System offered final choices:
`[ ] EXPOSE HER SECRETS → CRASH HER EMPIRE`
`[ ] SIGN THE DIVORCE → KEEP YOUR FORTUNE`
`[ ] KISS HER → TRIGGER 'OPERATION PHOENIX'`
I grabbed the rival CEO's tie and **lit it with the candle meant for our unity ceremony**. *"Sophia always preferred fire to flowers."*
*( 3 shocking twists, 1 public humiliation showdown, and the pregnancy reveal that changes everything)*
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We watched the sunrise from **the ruins of our first apartment**, now surrounded by:
- Her lawyers drafting **a marriage contract with clawback clauses**
- My R&D team installing **a memory backup server**
- The rival CEO's **burned tie in a Tiffany frame**
Sophia's last whisper as the markets opened:
*"Next time you erase me... make sure I stay erased."*