Chapter 16

LORETTA

Amusement flickered in those coal black depths, Elion leaned forward in challenge “Questions for Ms Sterling?"

He asked the board, but his eyes lingered on me. I held my foot on the ground, willing myself not to sway under the scorching hot intensity of his gaze

Nobody spoke, a few murmured within themselves, but no one asked me any questions

The triumph inside bubbled, I was about to sit back down when Elion tilted his head at me, the movement so smooth and fluid it was almost unreal

"I have some," He said, voice low and daring

I dipped my chin once, “By all means please" My sweet tone was the exact opposite of my sharp gaze. “Go ahead"

He leaned back, his hand resting lazily by his side while a smug smile played across his lips, like this was some sort of fun fair and I was the circus clown who had just agreed to do something stupid

My blood simmered underneath my skin, I curled my fingers into my palm deeper this time, feeling one of my polished fingernails shift painfully

“Let's say Sterling Enterprises loses twelve percent of its market value overnight after rumors leak that your liquidity position is weaker than projected.” He tilted his head slightly, delight crinkling in his eyes at the game he was playing

“Investors start to panic, your shares begin dropping drastically with every passing hour, what would you do in such a situation, Rea?”

Around us some of the board members uncapped their pens and began taking hasty notes, others watched me with anticipation and a little bit of pity

We all knew what Elion was doing, he was pushing me, testing me so I would fall

They were in for a surprise. I have spent my entire life around finance meetings, negotiations, forecasts, and crisis discussions while my father and other men assumed I wasn’t listening

My smile bloomed and I answered in a professional voice, letting mockery drip from it a little “Stabilize confidence before stabilizing valuation.”

Several heads lifted from their notepads, no one was expecting that answer, but I've been in such a situation enough times to know the best move to make

Elion remained expressionless, but I caught the faint tick in his jaw before he controlled it

He knows I'm right

“Umm excuse me Ms Sterling" The middle aged Asian woman by the far end of the table called to my attention. “Shouldn't it be the other way round?"

Elion's gaze flicked to the woman, something....off passed through his face

“No" I answered firmly and with confidence.

“Panic spreads faster in uncertainty. First of all, in this hypothetical situation, I would make sure to stop speculative narratives by releasing a controlled financial statement confirming stability without revealing figures that would make the company vulnerable before the public eye”

She hummed in agreement, hastily taking down notes as I spoke..

“Then I would secure temporary institutional backing privately before the market opens the next morning.”

One of the board members frowned in thought.

A murmur spread quietly through the room, Elion’s gaze sharpened with interest now, no more amusement

“What if the leak is true?” he asked, dragging my focus back to him, not that I could ignore his annoying presence in the first place

“What if the company genuinely is unstable?”

I bit my tongue to hold back an inappropriate remark. The nerve of this man! Elion knows I'm correct, he knows my opinion is the most logica an best solution, yet he's still finding ways to push me to the edge

I dragged in a breath. “Perception matters even more.”

He sat straighter now, his attention sharp “Elaborate”

“Markets are emotional before they’re logical. If you can get investors to believe that the leadership is stable, that buys you time to work on the root problem without them pulling out" I supplied with less calm than before “And as I am sure you must know, Time is the most valuable currency during financial collapse.”

Silence followed briefly, then one of the older executives slowly nodded, and everyone began humming in approval

I smiled back at Elion

“If you know this much, why then was I able to acquire over ninety percent of Sterling Enterprise's shares overnight?”

I froze, it was as if a bucket of ice-cold water had just been doused over me, against my will, and many recent memories began flooding my mind

My father chided me for giving him advice when things went sour for us

His hateful, spiteful word

That dammed marriage contract

And his Demon of a man

“I..I wasn't in the position to make important decisions" I hated the way my voice was sunken when I admitted the truth, I hated that Elion had succeeded in pushing me over the edge

But more so, I despised the way his cocky arrogance shifted to something.. softer, more understanding

My fingers clenched. I didn't want his useless pity

“As me another question" I dared through clenched teeth

His gaze dragged over me, slowly, with observation and something else, something that made my chest tight

Heartburn. It must be

It has to be heartburn, because there was no way on God's green earth that I was feeling anything other than that

I lifted my chin higher “Ask me—" each word was slowly punctuated with an edge “—another question”

He ignored me and looked at the board members instead who shifted uncomfortably in their seats. A laugh bubbled inside me

If Elion didn't continue this—

“Meeting Dismissed" he announced loudly enough for everyone to spring up to their feet and hurry out through the doors

I stood there with anger, rage, and worse, humiliation

He succeed. He made me crack, he saw my weak point and I had no doubt Elion was going to capitalize on it

He would use this weakness to hurt me

The room emptied until it was just the two of us.

Elion didn’t move right away, just sat there with depthless, unfathomable eyes, watching me like I was....

“I made a mistake today, Rea.” He admitted, his voice quieter than before

I swallowed past the tightness in my throat “What mistake?”

His eyes didn’t soften, but they changed, into something more deep, more dangerous “I underestimated you.”