Chapter 197
No.1
The heavy mahogany door of the VIP lounge slammed shut.
Devon Browning hurled his leather-bound portfolio across the room. It smashed into a glass side table,knocking a vase of water onto the expensive carpet.
"That arrogant, psychotic bitch!" Devon screamed,pacing the room like a caged animal. His face was purple with rage. "She humiliated me! A nurse! She thinks she can talk to me about risk assessment?"
Allena stood near the sofa, her hands trembling violently. The nurse's comment in the hallway was still ringing in her ears. She could feel August's eyes on her, heavy and calculating. She needed to deflect his attention immediately.
"She is a fraud, Devon," Allena said, her voice high and frantic. She stepped toward him, playing the role of the outraged medical expert. "Her data is completely fabricated. I saw the flaws. If Aethel launches that Al, it will kill people. She is just using Alastair's money to bully us."
Devon stopped pacing. His eyes lit up with a vicious,destructive gleam.
No.2
"Fine," Devon snarled. He pulled his phone from his pocket, his thumb hovering over histrading app."If they want to play hardball, I will break them.
am calling my brokers right now. I am going to short Aethel's stock into the ground. I will trigger a massive sell-off and bankrupt that entire project by Friday."
Allena nodded aggressively. "Do it. Expose her."
August was sitting in a high-backed leather armchair in the corner of the room. He had not spoken a word since they left the hallway.
Suddenly, a low, dark sound echoed from the corner.
It was a laugh. But it was completely devoid of humor. It was a cold, metallic sound that made the hairs on the back of Devon's neck stand up.
No.3
August slowly raised his head. He was holding his encrypted Bloomberg terminal tablet. The screen cast a pale, eerie glow across his sharp features.He had been silently watching Devon's tantrum, his expression unreadable, letting the raw data on the screen paint a picture far more terrifying than Devon's empty threats.
"If you execute a short order against Aethel right now," August said, his voice a lethal, quiet monotone, "your entire fund will face a margin call and be liquidated within forty-eight hours."
Devon froze. "What? August, their tech is garbage.
We can crush them."
August didn't argue. He simply slid the heavy tablet across the glass coffee table. It stopped right in front of Devon.
The screen was flashing with urgent, red-and-green breaking news alerts from the deepest, most restricted tiers of the financial wire.
No.4
"Ten minutes ago," August stated, his eyes locking onto Devon. "Sequoia Capital and Bridgewater Associates filed a joint SEC disclosure. They just closed a Series B funding round for Aethel's Project Chiron."
Devon's breath hitched. "How much?"
"Two hundred million dollars," August said, the number dropping like a physical anvil in the quiet room.
Devon stumbled backward,his legs hitting the edge of the sofa. He collapsed onto the cushions. Two hundred million. From the two most ruthless, data -driven venture firms on the planet. His threat to short the stock was like threatening a hurricane with a water pistol.
August leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His gaze shifted from Devon to Allena.The look in his eyes was no longer protective. It was dissecting.
"Read the sub-clause on the term sheet, Devon,"August commanded.
No.5
Devon leaned over, his hands shaking as he read the highlighted text on the screen. He swallowed hard. "The capital injection is... 'solely contingent upon the continued involvement and architectural oversight of the individual known as Faye.'"
August sat back. "Two hundred million dollars.Blindly handed over to a ghost."
He looked directly at Allena. The memory of the nurse's voice in the hallway echoed in his brain.Your handwritten notes... saved that man's life.
"Allena," August said, his voice dropping an octave,becoming dangerously soft. "Are you absolutely,unequivocally certain you understood the data Elisa presented in that room?"
Allena's heart slammed against her ribs.The walls were closing in. August was not stupid. He was a predator, and he was beginning to smell blood.
"I... I am a doctor, August," Allena stammered,her voice cracking. "I know clinical outcomes. Her algorithm is dangerous. I swear it."
No.6
August stared at her for five agonizing seconds. He didn't blink.
Then, he stood up. He buttoned his suit jacket with precise, sharp movements.
"Until I find out exactly who Faye is, and what kind of leverage Elisa Wilder actually holds," August ordered,his voice echoing with absolute authority,"neither of you will make a single move against Aethel. Do not speak to her. Do not look at her. Am I understood?"
He didn't wait for an answer. He turned and walked out of the lounge, leaving them in terrified silence.Allena stood frozen. The golden pedestal she had built for herself was crumbling. August was
doubting her medical expertise. If he investigated the ER notes, he would find out she was a fraud.He would leave her. She would lose the money, the status, everything.
Pure,unadulterated panic mutated into a violent,psychotic desperation.
No.7
She needed a distraction. She needed a catastrophe so massive, so undeniable, that it would permanently brand Elisa as a monster and force August to destroy her.
Allena's eyes darted toward the door. Down the hall, in the VIP pediatric wing,her seven-year-old brother Tate was recovering from his viral fever.
A horrific, venomous plan materialized in her mind.It was a flash of pure, reptilian genius-a way to not only destroy Elisa but to make herself the ultimate victim, forever binding August to her through sympathy and rage.
She grabbed her designer bag. She slipped out of the lounge, her high heels making no sound on the carpet. She moved like a shadow,hugging the walls,avoiding the security cameras, heading straight for her brother's room.