"Oops! The Chicken Boy Is The Billionaire's Son"

Chapter 2: A Lover Or A Stealer?

“Have you seen Amanda?” he asked, breathless. “She went to the restroom ten minutes ago. It’s our turn to present!!”

The girls exchanged looks. One of them, a blonde named Sarah who had always treated Nathan like a stray dog, let out a sharp laugh. “She’s exactly where she belongs, Nathan. Unlike you.”

“What does that even mean? Look, I just want to…”

“It means you should stop acting like you’re in her league,” Sarah cut in, stepping forward. “Did you really think she’d stay with a guy who spends his weekends scrubbing grease off laboratory floors? She’s a fucking Clinton, you knuckle-headed faggot. Her parents expect her to marry a king, not a... whatever the heck you are.”

“We’re partners,” Nathan snapped. “We built this together.”

“She’s a partner, alright,” another girl chimed in. “But she finally realized who has the real power in this school. You and your stupid project is worth less than $200, Nathan. Why would she waste the best night of her life on a project that’s going to get buried by the people who actually own this city?”

“Just fuck off and hide your broke-ass, ugly face in the trash!” yet another added. “You will never amount to anything in life!”

Nathan felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Something was wrong. Very wrong. He ignored the girls' laughter and turned back toward the Grand Hall. His heart was hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. 

Where the heck was Amanda? Where did she go??

As he reached the heavy oak doors of the hall, before he pushed it open, he saw something on the floor.

A small, silver flash drive.

He picked it up. His stomach did a slow, sickening flip. It was the backup drive. The one he had given Amanda "just in case."

He pushed the doors open.

The hall was dark, except for the massive spotlights focused on the center of the stage. The audience was silent, leaning forward in their seats.

Nathan’s eyes went to the stage, and as soon as his brain registered what he saw, his world ended. He died!!

There was Mark Epstein, standing tall, his chest puffed out with a pride he hadn't earned. He was wearing a headset mic, gesturing toward a large, glass cube that had been unveiled on the pedestal.

Nathan’s cube. Nathan’s project.

And standing right beside Mark, her hand resting on his arm, was Amanda. She wasn't crying. She wasn't forced or anything. She was glowing. She held the primary flash drive, the one Nathan thought he had in his hand just minutes ago, ..and was plugging it into the central monitor.

“...and that is why we call it the Epstein-Clinton Singularity,” Mark’s voice echoed through the hall, thick with fake humility. “My partner, Amanda Clinton, and I have spent the last three years in private development, funded by my father’s visionary investments, to bring you the world’s first, completed and fully functioning Quantum Machine!!!”

The ring box slipped from Nathan's fingers. It hit the carpeted floor with a dull, pathetic thud, the silver ring rolling away into the shadows of the back row.

On the giant screen behind them, the equations began to scroll. Nathan’s equations. The ones he had bled for. The ones he had stayed awake for the past seventy-two hours  straight to finish while Amanda brought him coffee and told him she loved him.

“As you can see,” Amanda’s voice was steady and clear as she took the mic, “the processing power exceeds anything currently on the market by a factor of ten thousand. This isn't just a project. It’s the future of the human race and my boyfriend, Mark, and I are at the forefront!!”

The crowd went nuts. People were standing up. In the front row, the Proprietor, Mark’s father - was beaming, clapping his hands with the ferocity of a man who knew he had just secured a dynasty.

Nathan took a step forward into the light of the aisle. His vision was blurring at the edges. This was not happening… no…it couldn’t be true. His girlfriend had teamed up with his bully and stolen his life’s work… his project.. His Quantum Machine.  

They had stripped his skin off in front of nine hundred plus people

He couldn’t believe what his eyes were seeing, neither could he believe what his ears were hearing. But as if that were not horrifying enough, he kept on watching as the two joined lips together on stage, Mark grabbed Amanda’s waist, and in front of the world, they…

Kissed!