Chapter 4 - The Counter-StrikeAdrien didn't yell. He didn't slam his fists against the table. Instead, a slow, terrifying smile spread across his face—the exact smile he wore right before crushing a competitor’s hostile takeover in federal court.
"Clause 4-B," Adrien repeated smoothly. "You memorized it well, Vanessa."
"Of course I did," Vanessa sneered. "And the photographs of you kissing your maid are already being uploaded to every financial blog and tabloid in New York. By midnight, your reputation is ashes."
"Are they?" Adrien raised an eyebrow, pulling a sleek titanium smartphone from his tuxedo pocket. He tapped the screen twice. "Let's check the metadata on those photos, shall we?"
Vanessa’s smile falter for a fraction of a second. "What are you talking about?"
"I’m talking about the fact that three weeks ago, my internal security team flagged unusual data leaks coming from your executive assistant’s terminal, Vanessa," Adrien said, stepping forward. "We traced the IP addresses. We found out about your secret offshore accounts in the Caymans where you’ve been funneling Sinclair capital to short-sell Whitmore stock in anticipation of a forced buyout."
Richard Sinclair’s face lost its color. "That’s... that’s an absurd fabrication. You have no proof!"
"I have a signed confession from your chief financial officer, whom my security team picked up at JFK Airport forty minutes ago while he was trying to board a one-way flight to Zurich," Adrien replied calmly. He tapped his phone again, and a crisp audio recording began playing through the quiet room.
“...just make sure the short positions hit maximum leverage right after the engagement announcement breaks,” Richard Sinclair’s recorded voice echoed clearly off the marble walls. “Once Adrien’s company collapses under the penalty clause, we vacuum up the remaining shares for pennies.”
The color drained entirely from Richard’s face. He staggered back a step, gripping the back of a chair.
"You... you knew?" Vanessa whispered, horror dawning in her eyes. "You knew all along?"
"I knew you were ambitious, Vanessa. I didn't realize you were stupid enough to leave a paper trail through a Swiss tax haven," Adrien said, his voice hard as steel. He turned his gaze toward Maya, softening for just a fraction of a second, before turning back to the conspirators. "And as for the kiss... well, let's just say I needed a witness to your final trap so my legal team could establish willful entrapment and fraud under federal corporate law."
May you like
Vanessa lunged forward, her nails clawing toward him. "You bastard! You used us!"
"No, Vanessa," Adrien said, stepping aside effortlessly as security guards in plainclothes flooded through the service door, led by Elena Alvarez herself. "You used yourselves. Take them out of my house."
