Chapter 41
Chapter 41:
“100,000 downloads in one hour,” Victor yelled. “The servers are holding steady thanks to the upgrade! It’s viral! The gameplay… people are saying they’ve never seen physics like this p>
Aurora smiled. She looked at the Black Queen in her hand.
“Monitor the traffic,” she said. “Sterling will try a DDoS attack next. Be ready p>
“We’re going to be rich, Aurora! We’re going to be famous p>
“Focus, Victor,” Aurora said. “This is just the opening move p>
She looked out the window at the city lights. Somewhere out there, Sterling was plotting. Somewhere out there, Elias was drinking terrible tea.
The game had truly begun.
The silence in the office was loud. It hummed against the glass walls, vibrating with the kind of tension that usually preceded a natural disaster. Sterling Thorne stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, his back to the room. He was watching the ant-like traffic of Manhattan forty floors below, but he wasn’t seeing it. He was checking the reflection of his own silhouette in the glass.
He glanced at the Rolex on his wrist. Forty-eight hours. It had been exactly two days since Aurora had walked out of the coffee shop after nearly snapping his finger in half. Two days of absolute radio silence.
A smug, self-satisfied smile touched his lips. He adjusted his cufflink with his uninjured hand. “She’s good,” Sterling murmured to himself. “I taught her well p>
He turned around as Lance, his assistant, entered the room. Lance looked like he hadn’t slept in a week. He was holding a tablet with a trembling hand.
“Report,” Sterling commanded, walking back to his desk and sitting down. He didn’t look at the financial data on the screen. He looked at the phone sitting on the polished mahogany. “Has she called the reception desk? Or did she try to reach me through legal p>
Lance swallowed hard. His throat clicked audibly in the quiet room. “No, sir. No contact from Ms. Vance p>
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Sterling chuckled. It was a low, dark sound. He leaned back in his leather chair, steepling his fingers. “Commitment to the bit,” Sterling said, nodding appreciatively. “She thinks if she holds out long enough, I’ll offer a higher settlement. She wants me to chase her. It’s a classic scarcity tactic p>
Lance blinked. He looked at his boss with a mixture of confusion and pity. “Sir… she broke your finger p>
“Foreplay,” Sterling dismissed, waving his splinted hand. “She was emotional. Passion and hate are two sides of the same coin, Lance. If she didn’t care, she wouldn’t have reacted.” He pointed to the phone. “Call her personal cell. Put it on speaker. I want to give her an opening to apologize. She’s probably sitting in some cramped, rented room right now, staring at her phone, too proud to dial first. She likely hasn’t slept, wondering how she’ll pay next month’s rent without my credit cards p>
Lance hesitated. He knew this was a bad idea. But he also knew Sterling Thorne didn’t pay him to have opinions. He reached for the office landline and dialed the number he had memorized years ago.
He pressed the speaker button. The ringback tone purred once. Then, a click. But it wasn’t a human voice.
“The number you have dialed is restricted or has blocked this caller ID. Please check the number and try again p>
The robotic female voice echoed in the expansive, luxurious office. It was cold. It was final.