Chapter 50
Chapter 50:
“Pass the garlic sauce,” Aurora said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. She didn’t check her phone. She didn’t think about Per Se. She was full, she was warm, and for the first time in years, she was just Aurora.
Sterling returned to his penthouse, fueled by scotch and rage. He smashed a vase against the wall. It was a Ming vase, worth $50,000. He didn’t care.
“Lance!” he screamed. “Get the acquisition team ready. We buy Pulse p>
Lance stood in the doorway, flinching at the flying porcelain.
“If I own the company, she has to talk to me,” Sterling reasoned. His logic was twisted, sick. “I will be her boss. She will have to answer my calls p>
Scene shift: The Kensington Estate. Upstate New York. A gothic mansion shrouded in mist and old money.
The Kensington Matriarch sat in a wheelchair by the fireplace. Her hands were thin, covered in liver spots and diamonds. She held a gold locket. Inside was a picture of a baby girl.
“It’s been nineteen years,” she whispered. “Find her p>
Her butler, Alfred, adjusted the blanket on her lap. “The investigators found a lead in the city, Madam. A young woman matching the age profile was seen near Columbia p>
Vivian Kensington, the Matriarch’s niece, listened from the doorway. She was a beautiful woman with a heart of rot. Vivian’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t want the heir found. If the lost granddaughter returned, Vivian would lose everything.
She turned on her heel and walked to her room. She pulled out a burner phone.
“Private Investigator?” Vivian whispered. “Sabotage the search. I don’t care how. Make sure they never find her p>
Back to Aurora. She woke up in her penthouse with a strange feeling. A phantom itch on her shoulder. She reached up and touched the birthmark—a small, reddish shape that she had always found unusual, like a splash of paint. She brushed it off as dry skin and went to her home office.
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At Pulse, via videoconference, Julian looked worried. He was pacing his own office.
“Thorne Industries is making hostile moves on our stock,” Julian said. “They are buying up every available share. Sterling is trying a takeover p>
Aurora sat calmly at her desk. She didn’t panic. She didn’t even blink.
“Let him buy,” she said. Her voice was ice.
“What?” Julian stared at her through the screen. “He’ll own us! Elias is ready to liquidate his position in Thorne Industries to nuke Sterling’s liquidity. He wants to destroy the company to stop this p>
“Tell Elias to stand down,” Aurora commanded. “If he sells now, he hurts himself. We don’t need a shield, Julian. We need a trap p>
She leaned into the camera, a shark’s smile spreading across her face.
“We sell high. Let Sterling dump his liquidity into the stock. He’s buying at the peak of the hype. Then, next week, we release the comparative benchmarks showing his legacy tech is obsolete. The market will correct itself. The stock he’s buying now for $50 a share will be worth $10 p>
“We’ll bankrupt him with his own money,” Aurora explained.
Julian stared. “You are diabolical p>
“I’m just a businesswoman,” Aurora corrected.