Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 1095

The next morning, Boston woke up to a dusting of snow. John shuffled into the lab looking like he hadn’t slept in days, dark circles stamped under his eyes. He’d hit up three different investor parties last night, drank until he was sick, and still didn’t manage to raise a single dollar.

Inside, the lab felt like a graveyard. Everyone sat slumped over their desks, heads down, as if someone had stolen their last hope. John tried to pull himself together. He needed to break the news. The project had to be put on pause. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say a word, the finance lead—a usually calm PhD student—let out a sudden, ear-splitting scream.

“Oh my god!”

The entire team jumped in their seats. John frowned. “What happened? Did we get a notice from a debt collector?”

Her hands shook as she pointed at her laptop screen. “The money… the money…”

“What about the money?” John walked over, barely interested, and glanced at her monitor. Then he froze. His eyes widened. He started counting the digits on the screen, voice shaky. “One, ten, hundred, thousand… A million?”

He sucked in a sharp breath. For a second, he wondered if he was hallucinating from all the drinking.

“Who sent this? Did some angel investor just drop out of the sky? Check it, seriously!”

Everyone crowded around, fingers flying on their keyboards as they traced where the money came from. After a few minutes, the lab fell into an even deeper silence. Every head turned, slowly, toward the door.

Emmy had just walked in, balancing a tray of hot coffee. When she noticed all eyes on her, she lifted an eyebrow. “What’s up? Did something go wrong with the experiment?”

Harlene stared at her like she’d just landed from another planet. “Emmy… The account says Janus Sphere Technologies. And the memo reads: Emmy Director Special Allocation.”

Emmy had been hoping for a shortcut to a PhD anyway. Now that the chance was here, she wasn’t going to pretend to be modest. “Thanks, everyone. But first, let’s finish the experiment. If you need more money, just tell me. There’s plenty.”

That last promise was basically the sweetest thing any of them had ever heard.

For the next two weeks, the lab ran on pure adrenaline. Finally, on the last day of November, the word “SUCCESS” flashed in bright green on the big screen. The experiment was a win.

That same day, there was a huge AI tech summit in Boston. Teresa and Andrew, both special guests, had flown in for it. Teresa had only mentioned it to Emmy in passing, but Emmy couldn’t wait to see her mom. As soon as class ended, she dashed to the summit.

The event was at the InterContinental, the fanciest hotel in the city. Emmy hurried across the lawn and through the crowd, eyes searching for her mom. She wanted to surprise her. But just as she reached the lobby, she glanced through the big glass windows into the VIP lounge and caught sight of something she never expected.