I looked around the table, seeing understanding dawn in twelve faces that had been ready to surrender just moments before."So the question isn't whether we can survive his attacks," I said. "The question is whether we're brave enough to finish what we started."The silence stretched for what felt like an eternity.Then Richard smiled. "What do you need from us?"Day SevenThe press conference was scheduled for ten in the morning, held in the Van Alston building's main auditorium. Every major business news outlet had sent reporters, drawn by the promise of a "major announcement regarding the future of Van Alston Industries."They were expecting a surrender speech. An admission of defeat from an inexperienced heiress who'd been outmaneuvered by a corporate predator.Instead, I was about to destroy the most feared businessman in America."You ready for this?" Dominic asked, adjusting my jacket with hands that were steady despite the magnitude of what we were about to do."I've been read
Day SixHell arrived at nine in the morning, delivered by every news outlet in America.I stared at the wall of monitors in the war room, watching my reputation get torn apart in real time. CNN was running a segment about "inexperienced heiresses destroying family legacies." Fox Business had financial analysts calling Van Alston Industries "a cautionary tale about nepotism." The Wall Street Journal's headline read: "Van Alston Empire Crumbles Under Weight of Family Drama.""This is different from what we planned," Sarah said quietly, her fingers flying across her keyboard as she tried to track the source of the attacks. "These aren't the controlled leaks we orchestrated. Someone else is feeding information to the media.""Blackstone," I said, watching a particularly brutal segment where a business professor I'd never heard of explained why companies like Van Alston should be "put out of their misery before they drag down the entire market."But the media assault was just the beginning
He pulled out a tablet and showed me news headlines that painted Van Alston Industries as a company in crisis. "Cost overruns in the manufacturing division. Questions about accounting irregularities. Three major clients reconsidering their contracts."Every single headline had been planted by our team. Every crisis had been manufactured. But seeing them presented as evidence of my incompetence still stung."Business has its challenges," I said carefully."Of course it does. But some challenges are larger than others." He put the tablet away and leaned back in his chair. "I want to help, Scarlett. Blackstone International has the resources and expertise to stabilize Van Alston Industries before the situation becomes irreversible.""At what cost?""A very reasonable one. Full acquisition at forty percent above current market value. Your employees keep their jobs, your grandmother's legacy is preserved, and you walk away with enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life."T
Day Three"Le Bernardin at one o'clock," I said, ending the call with Blackstone's assistant. "Public enough that he can't try anything stupid, private enough for real conversation."Dominic looked up from his laptop where he'd been coordinating what looked like a small military operation. "You're sure about this?""Absolutely not," I said, settling into the chair across from him. "But that's never stopped me before."The war room had evolved overnight. Sarah's team had turned it into something that looked like NASA mission control, complete with multiple screens showing stock prices, news feeds, and social media analytics in real time. The energy was electric, everyone moving with the focused intensity of people who knew they were part of something bigger than themselves."Alright," I said, addressing the room. "Here's what we're going to do. By the time I sit down with Marcus Blackstone tomorrow, Van Alston Industries needs to look like a company in free fall."A few people exchange
Day Two I woke up with the solution. It came to me in that strange space between sleeping and waking, when my subconscious mind finally processed all the information I'd been feeding it. I sat up in bed so fast it made my head spin, but the clarity was absolute. Marcus Blackstone targeted emotional vulnerabilities because he didn't have any himself. Or at least, he'd convinced himself he didn't. Which meant he wouldn't see his own weakness until it was too late. I found Dominic in the kitchen area of the executive apartment, looking unfairly handsome in a white dress shirt and dark slacks. Coffee was brewing, and something that smelled like actual food was warming in the oven. "You look like someone who just solved world hunger," he said, handing me a mug of coffee that was perfectly prepared—cream, no sugar, exactly how I liked it. "I know what we're going to do," I said, accepting the coffee and the kiss he pressed to my temple. "I know how to beat him." "Tell me." "We're
Day OneThe Van Alston conference room had been transformed into something that looked like a cross between a military command center and a serial killer's obsession wall.I stood in the center of it all, surrounded by chaos that somehow made perfect sense to me. Financial charts covered every inch of the mahogany-paneled walls. Red string connected photographs, newspaper clippings, and acquisition timelines like a spider web of corporate destruction. Three whiteboards displayed profit margins, stock prices, and employee numbers in different colored markers that corresponded to my growing understanding of Marcus Blackstone's preferred hunting methods."This is either brilliant or completely insane," Jules said from the doorway, balancing a tower of coffee cups and takeout containers. "I'm not sure which.""Both," I replied without looking away from the timeline I was constructing. "The best plans usually are."It was six in the morning, and I'd been here since four. Sleep felt like a