Everett opened the filing documents while Marcus stared at the table. The records showed that Nadia had created the original software independently, maintained the source code herself, and had never signed an agreement transferring ownership to Campbell Realty. The company had been allowed to use it, but the paperwork Marcus’s family had prepared would have permanently assigned the technology to them just before the divorce. Nadia’s attorney had already preserved the emails, development records, and draft transfer documents for review.

Nadia did not shut the system down and cripple hundreds of tenants simply to make a point. Instead, her attorney notified Campbell Realty that its continued use would need to be addressed through a formal licensing agreement while ownership was resolved. An independent valuation followed. The software the family had treated as Marcus’s clever business improvement was worth millions, and any attempt to transfer it without Nadia’s valid consent would now face serious scrutiny.

Marcus finally whispered, “We can work this out.”

Nadia looked around the table that had deliberately excluded her.

“You already decided I wasn’t family,” she said. “You just forgot to check whether the thing keeping your family business running belonged to the outsider.”

She left the restaurant with her attorney’s number already on speed dial.

This time, Marcus was the one without a seat at her table.