第4章

The day crawled toward eight o'clock.

Online, the noise had already peaked.

Everyone was waiting for the big takedown.

Her fan groups were organizing to flood the comments, and Knox had dropped more than a dozen cash giveaways in the chat to keep everyone worked up.

"Everybody show up tonight and make it loud!"

"There's no way Kade walks away from this!"

"With Mr. Cole stepping in, Kade doesn't stand a chance!"

I read through those chat logs and could not help laughing.

My head of security was really in character.

That bonus was gone too.

At five in the afternoon Mara called.

New number, and she could not keep the smugness out of her voice.

"Kade, have you thought about it? Three hours until eight. There's still time to sign the deed over to me."

I sat down on the couch and kept my voice flat.

"Mara, do you really think you've won?"

She scoffed.

"What else would I think? Have you looked online? Who isn't cursing you out right now? Your father's in the hospital because of this, and you're still digging in? Kade, face reality. You're a useless waste of space. Without me you couldn't even eat. Give me the apartment now and you still get to walk away. Once Mr. Cole opens his mouth, you won't even get the chance to crawl back and beg me."

Every word came out like charity, as if she were the one running everything.

"Mr. Cole?"

I laughed softly.

"You're sure he's helping you?"

"Obviously!"

Mara's voice rose.

"You think I spent three years doing nothing? Mr. Cole recognized my commercial value a long time ago. He told me that the moment I drop the dead weight, he'll make me the face of his entertainment company. Kade, what could you possibly use against me?"

I let her talk.

Adrian recognized her commercial value?

That was the funniest thing I had heard all year.

That promise was something PR made up on the spot to keep her calm.

Mara had lived so long inside mindless fan worship and her manager's deliberate flattery that she could no longer tell polite noise from an actual deal. She heard courtesy and took it as proof of her own importance.

Adrian probably could not have picked her out of a lineup.

I drank some water and thought about a board meeting at Moretti Group three months ago.

Adrian held up the plan for the streaming platform we had just acquired. Even his question was deferential.

"Boss, when would be a good time to start the traffic stress test on this platform?"

I flipped through the file and said there was no rush; they should find a top influencer and see whether the servers could handle the traffic.

So Knox went to Mara's stream.

About $1 million in Universe gifts, all of it budgeted for server testing.

She thought it was her top donor adoring her. It was an expense report filed by one of my employees.

"All right. Since you're so confident."

I got up and walked to the window. Down below, the paparazzi were camped out with their long lenses up.

"Then I'll see you on the stream tonight."

Panic crept into her voice.

"Kade, are you insane?! You'd actually show your face on my stream? You're not afraid they'll tear you apart?"

I cut her off.

"That's not your problem. Mara, remember this. I raised you up, and I can drag you back into the dirt."

I hung up.

I could pull the cable any time. I could kill the router any time. I could kick in the door of the second bedroom any time.

But I would not. I wanted her to build the stage and fill the seats, and then I would tear it down myself.

I had thought about pulling the net in early. After she went after my parents, that changed.

The whole internet was watching: all thirty million viewers. Attention like that would not last. I had to seize the moment and expose her once and for all while everyone was still looking.

The higher she got, the louder the landing.

The light outside faded and something in me went cold.

I had been holding on to one last thread of the old feeling. If she had pulled back at the edge, I would have let her keep some dignity. But of everything she could have done, she should never have touched my parents.

That was the one line.

She did not just cross it. She stood on it and ground her heel in.

She wanted to go big, so I would pull her out by the roots.

I picked up my phone and called Adrian.

"Boss, what do you need?"

As respectful as always.

"You're joining Mara's stream at eight tonight, right?"

"Yes, Boss. PR set it up. They said it would cool things down and push traffic to the new platform."

"Good."

My reflection in the glass looked cold.

"Tonight's stream won't follow the original plan."

"In front of millions of people, I want you to give her a surprise."

"Spring the trap."