CHAPTER 5

The entire ballroom went dead silent.

Cameron stared at Nyla like she had just asked him to fly to the moon. "I am sorry, what did you just say?"

"I need to borrow ten billion dollars from you," Nyla repeated clearly. Her voice carried across the silent room. "I can pay you back with one hundred percent interest in exactly one year. That means you get twenty billion total."

Cameron's expression shifted from shock to something more calculating. His eyes narrowed as he studied her face. "Do I know you?"

"My name is Nyla Harper."

The recognition hit him immediately. His eyebrows shot up. "Harper. As in Eric Harper's wife?"

"Yes."

Cameron looked past her to where Eric was standing, his face purple with rage. Then he looked back at Nyla with something that might have been amusement. "Eric Harper's wife just asked me for ten billion dollars. His biggest business rival." He said it slowly, like he was trying to make sense of a puzzle. "What exactly is going on here?"

Nyla did not answer. She just kept her gaze steady on his face, waiting.

Cameron studied her for another long moment. The entire ballroom was holding its breath. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. They were all waiting to see what would happen next.

"Why do you need ten billion dollars?" Cameron finally asked.

"I have an investment opportunity," Nyla said simply. "A good one. But I need capital to make it work."

"And your husband cannot provide that capital?"

"My husband and I have different investment strategies," Nyla said. Her voice was calm and professional, giving nothing away. "I prefer to work with people who understand the value of opportunity."

Different investment strategies, Nyla thought bitterly. That is one way to put it. My investment strategy is destroying you, Eric. My strategy is taking everything you ever had and burning it to the ground. My strategy is making you feel every ounce of pain you made me feel when you left me to die in that hospital.

But out loud she said nothing. She just waited.

Cameron was clearly trying to figure out what game she was playing. "Ten billion is a lot of money, Mrs. Harper. What makes you think you can pay it back? Let alone double it in one year?"

"Because I am very good at what I do," Nyla said confidently. I know the future, she thought. I know exactly which companies will succeed and which will fail. I know about the government development plan for that land. I know which stocks will crash and which will soar. I have information that is worth more than ten billion. Information that will let me turn your money into forty billion before the year is up.

Cameron tilted his head. "That is not much of an explanation."

"I know," Nyla said. "But it is the only one I am giving right now. Either you trust me or you do not."

"Why should I trust you? I do not even know you."

"Because you hate Eric as much as I do Nyla thought,". "And you want to see him fail."

Something flickered in Cameron's eyes. Understanding, maybe. He glanced at Eric again, then at Lisa who was still standing there looking like she might faint. Then he looked back at Nyla.

"Twenty billion in one year," Cameron said. "Guaranteed?"

"Guaranteed."

"And if you cannot pay?"

"Then you can take everything my husband and I own.

Cameron was silent for a long moment. Then, to Nyla's shock, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a checkbook. An actual physical checkbook, the kind nobody used anymore unless they were transferring massive amounts of money.

He pulled out a pen and started writing.

The crowd gasped. People were whispering frantically. Eric made a strangled sound of rage.

Cameron tore the check out and handed it to Nyla. "Ten billion dollars. I expect twenty billion back in exactly one year."

Nyla took the check with steady hands even though her heart was racing. She looked down at the number written there. Ten billion. More money than most people would see in ten lifetimes. And Cameron had just handed it to her like it was nothing.

"Thank you," Nyla said.

She turned to the auctioneer, who was standing on the stage looking completely overwhelmed by everything happening. "I would like to purchase that land. The fifty acres on the eastern edge of the city."

The auctioneer blinked. "The... the bidding was at fifty million from Mr. Cameron."

"Sixty million," Nyla said clearly. She held up the check. "I can pay right now."

Cameron's lips curved into a small smile. "Seventy million."

"Eighty million," Nyla countered.

"One hundred million."

"One hundred fifty million," Nyla said. She looked directly at Cameron. "And that is my final offer."

Cameron studied her for a moment, then nodded. "It is yours."

The auctioneer looked like he might pass out. "Sold! To Mrs. Harper for one hundred fifty million dollars!"

Nyla walked up to the stage and handed over Cameron's check to complete the purchase. The entire transaction took less than five minutes. Five minutes to secure the one piece of land that would have made Eric rich beyond his wildest dreams. Five minutes to steal his future right out from under him.

She turned and walked toward the exit without looking at anyone. Not at Eric. Not at Lisa. Not at the two hundred witnesses who had just watched her publicly declare war on her own husband.

She made it three steps before Eric caught up with her. He grabbed her arm so hard she gasped in pain and spun her around to face him.

"What the hell did you just do?" His voice was shaking with rage.

Nyla tried to pull away but his grip was like iron. "Let go of me."

"No!" Eric was breathing hard, his face twisted with fury. "You just took ten billion dollars from Cameron! From Cameron! Do you have any idea what you have done?"

"I know exactly what I did," Nyla said coldly.

"Are you insane?" Eric screamed. The words echoed through the ballroom. Everyone was staring now, watching the Harper marriage implode in real time. "Why are you doing business with my enemy? What is wrong with you?"