Sloane recovered first. She turned toward the crowd with a tight smile. “This is… all just a misunderstanding,” she said, as if Mara had shown up to cause a scene. “She’s been bitter for a long time.” She glanced at Ethan, trying to pull him back into the old story. But the live demo still glowed behind them, and the email proof sat in counsel’s hands.
Mara kept her voice steady. “I’m not asking for sympathy,” she said. “I’m stating facts.” She laid out her terms in simple language: public credit for authorship, restitution for what was taken, a fair licensing deal going forward, and guardrails in governance so her work could not be used to trap others later.