Chapter 204
Chapter 204:
The change in the room was instantaneous. It wasn’t a sound or a movement; it was a shift in atmospheric pressure. The terrifying, cold focus that Elias projected evaporated, replaced by something softer, something human. The corner of his mouth twitched, threatening a smile.
Beatrice Thorne, his mother, sat at the opposite end of the table. She adjusted her glasses, her sharp eyes catching the micro-expression.
“Is the market crashing, Elias?” she asked, her voice dry. “Or has spring arrived in the middle of winter?”
The executives froze. They looked from the Matriarch of the Thorne family to the CEO, terrified to breathe.
Elias picked up the phone. He stood up. The leather chair scraped loudly against the floor.
“Meeting adjourned,” he said. His voice was final.
“Sir?” the aide stammered. “We haven’t discussed the zoning permits. The lobbying dinner is in an hour.”
“Cancel it,” Elias said, already walking toward the door. He was typing as he walked. “Cancel the dinner. Cancel the breakfast meeting. The trap is set. We have what we need. Tell the pilot to have the chopper rotors spinning at the D.C. helipad. I want a direct line to New York airspace control.”
“Now?” Beatrice raised an eyebrow. “Logistics, Elias?”
Elias paused at the door. He looked back at his mother. “Urgent personal logistics. And the final move of the game.”
He didn’t wait for permission. He walked out into the corridor, his thumb hovering over the screen. He didn’t reply to the text. A reply wasn’t enough.
The Charity Gala for the Arts was held at the Metropolitan Museum. It was the kind of event where the champagne cost more than a teacher’s annual salary and the air was perfumed with desperation and La Mer. It was also exactly where Matriarch Kensington had insisted Aurora appear, to maintain the illusion of a fractured, unsuspecting family.
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Aurora arrived late. She wore a simple black dress, sleek and unadorned, a stark contrast to the peacocks preening in feathers and sequins around her. She didn’t have Elias beside her tonight. He was traveling. She was exposed.
She felt the eyes on her immediately. The whispers started, low, buzzing static.
“That’s her. The one Vivian was talking about.”
“The illegitimate one? Matriarch Kensington acknowledged her, but she still looks… feral.”
“I heard she was raised in a trailer park before the DNA test. You can put a diamond on a stray cat, but it still scratches.”
Aurora kept her chin high. She took a flute of sparkling water from a passing tray and scanned the room. She spotted Sebastian Kensington near the Temple of Dendur. He was laughing with a real estate mogul, looking handsome in a weak, pliable way.
Aurora walked toward him. They were cousins. They were supposed to be allies. More importantly, she needed to see if he was complicit in the poisoning, or just a pawn.
“Sebastian,” she said, nodding politely as she reached his circle.
Sebastian stopped laughing. He turned slowly. His eyes raked over her, flashing with a memory of their last physical altercation. He didn’t just look dismissive; he looked wary, his muscles tensing as if expecting a blow.