Chapter 100
Chapter 100:
“What p>
He opened the news app. The headlines screamed at him in bold, black letters:
THORNE’S CELESTIAL FLOP: THE BILLION DOLLAR DISASTER.
Below it, a smaller article:
APEX ASCENDANT EXPANSION SHATTERS DOWNLOAD RECORDS.
Sterling stared. The words didn’t make sense. It was like reading a foreign language. Flop? Disaster?
He opened the stock market app.
Thorne Industries (THRN): $42.50 (-12.4 p>
The red arrow pointing down looked like a dagger.
“No,” Sterling whispered. “This is wrong. It’s a glitch p>
He threw the cover off and stood up. He stumbled to the door.
“Lance!” he yelled. “Lance, get in here p>
He threw his phone against the wall. It hit the plaster with a sickening crack and fell to the floor, screen shattered.
The bedroom door opened. Lance, his personal assistant for the last four years, walked in.
Usually, Lance was a blur of nervous energy, holding coffee, a tablet, and a suit jacket. Today, his hands were empty. He wasn’t wearing a tie.
“Why is the stock down?” Sterling shouted, pointing a shaking finger at him. “Why are the servers crashing? Fix it! Call the PR team p>
Lance stood by the door. His face was expressionless.
“I can’t do that, Sterling p>
“What do you mean you can’t? I pay you to do it p>
Unforgettable stories on gⱯlnσν𝓮𝓁s․ço𝗺
Lance walked over to the nightstand. He placed a white envelope onto the polished wood.
“I resigned this morning,” Lance said. His voice was calm, the voice of a man who had already walked through fire and come out the other side.
Sterling laughed. It was a brittle, ugly sound. “Resigned? You? You’re leaving me now? In the middle of a crisis? You’ll never work in this town again, Lance. I’ll ruin you p>
Lance looked at Sterling. Really looked at him. He saw the bloodshot eyes, the trembling hands, the arrogance that was crumbling like wet sand.
“You’ve ruined yourself, Sterling,” Lance said. “I tried to tell you. For six months, I tried. The microtransactions were too aggressive. The engine was outdated. You didn’t listen. You were too busy obsessing over your ex-wife’s new life p>
Sterling’s face turned purple. “Don’t you dare speak her name p>
“Aurora,” Lance said, savoring the word. “She built Apex, didn’t she? I saw the code structure before you fired her. It’s her signature. You fired the only person who actually knew how to run your company p>
“Get out,” Sterling hissed.
“I sold my stock options yesterday,” Lance added, turning to the door. “At the peak. Before the crash. Thanks for the bonus, Sterling p>
Lance walked out. He closed the door softly. The click of the latch was louder than a slam.