“If you block this, it will look like there is a rift in the family,” she said. “The local community will think you are ungrateful.”

“I don’t care about the local community, Mom,” I said. “I care about the integrity of my cap table.”

“You have always been so cold,” she said, her voice dropping to a hard whisper. “I am trying to help you present a united, successful front to the world.”

“You are trying to claim credit for a company you called a pipe dream,” I said.

“I saved your father’s business from three recessions by managing our family image,” she said. “I know how the world works. People do not invest in technology, Sarah. They invest in pedigree.”

“Our investors put in forty million dollars because our cells have a high conversion efficiency,” I said.

“They invested because you went to Stanford and your father is a respected man,” she said.

I leaned my head against the cold brick wall.

The brick was rough, scraping against my temple, but the physical sting was a distraction from the tight knot in my chest.