Family on Their Knees Heart Turned to Ice novel Chapter 1012

Sebastian's expression darkened into something truly dangerous.

Roughly two years ago, the tech division had hired a fresh-faced, brilliant young engineer who showed every sign of eventually rivaling Bella in talent.

At the time, both of them were developing competing smartphone designs.

The Blake Group had no intention of launching two similar products simultaneously. It would have meant cannibalizing their own sales in a pointless internal war.

So, executive management decided to push one product first and delay the other.

Bella, naturally, used her underhanded tactics to ensure her design was chosen. As for the brilliant young engineer—he was far too independent for her liking. Bella never kept people around who might pose a threat to her dominance.

Unsurprisingly, she found a way to force him out of the company.

However, Sebastian had personally purchased the rights to that young man's design.

When a massive government partnership came through shortly after, the project was indefinitely shelved. Bella, of course, couldn't care less about someone else's stolen potential.

But Sebastian never expected that the moment Bella joined the Mercer Group, she would take that exact intellectual property, make a few superficial tweaks, and release it as their flagship product.

Blatant plagiarism of this magnitude was practically unheard of in their industry circles.

Sebastian's jaw tightened, his eyes cold. Beside him, Julian frowned in disgust.

Moments later, the corporate legal team arrived in the office.

"Mr. Blake," the lead attorney began, "Lester confirmed that the Mercer Group's new release is a stolen design. Would you like us to file an injunction and initiate a lawsuit immediately?"

Sebastian's voice was like ice. "Are you absolutely certain we can win?"

The attorney hesitated for a second before shaking his head. "The Mercer Group hasn't released the physical product yet, and the exterior casing has been significantly altered from our original schematics.

"Realistically, we need to wait until their phones hit the shelves. Once we can do a comprehensive teardown and analyze the internal architecture, our chances of winning a decisive victory will be much higher."

Truthfully, rushing a product announcement this fast risked burning out consumer anticipation.

But given the Mercer Group's dire circumstances, they desperately needed positive news to inject life back into their sinking reputation.

Their stock prices had plummeted to a point where they were too painful to even look at.

More importantly, Bella needed this high-profile win to reintroduce herself to the public in a position of power.

She needed a triumph massive enough to eclipse her recent scandals.

At the end of the day, her ruined reputation was just a matter of personal morality.

If someone was talented enough, society was often willing to turn a blind eye to their private life.

Men had been doing it for centuries. Countless personal scandals were eventually swept under the rug and forgotten, provided the man in question kept delivering results.