Chapter 799
Nutritional efficiency turned out to be code for “flavorless.”
Dinner was served in the bedroom: steamed white fish, boiled broccoli, and brown rice. No sauce. No salt. Alistair stared at the tray on his lap.
“Lucian. What is this?”
“Recovery fuel,” Lucian said, eating his own portion with disturbing speed. “High protein, low sodium. Good for inflammation.”
“It’s fish cardboard.” Alistair pushed the plate away. “I’m not eating it.”
D𝘰n’𝘁 𝗺𝗶s𝘴 ne𝘸 𝗋𝖾𝗅еa𝗌𝗲ѕ 𝘰𝘯 𝗀a𝗅𝘯𝘰𝘷e𝗹s.соm
“You have to eat,” I said, picking up the fork. “Your body needs energy to repair the tissue.”
“I need a steak,” Alistair bargained weakly. “Medium rare. With peppercorn sauce.”
“Fish,” I insisted, stabbing a piece of cod. “Open.”
Alistair clamped his mouth shut like a toddler.
“Alistair Thorne.” I used my CEO voice. “If you don’t eat this fish, I will sleep in the guest room.”
His eyes widened. He opened his mouth. I shoved the fish in.
He chewed aggressively, glaring at Lucian the entire time. “I’m firing you,” he mumbled.
“You can’t fire me. I own the house,” Lucian retorted.
Just then, Felix entered the room, looking grim. “We have a problem. Not a physical one. Legal.”
He handed me a tablet.
“A lawsuit?” I frowned, scrolling through the document. “From… a shell company called Apex Holdings?”
“It’s Celeste,” Liam realized. “She’s suing us?”
“She’s claiming unlawful detention of a private citizen,” Felix explained. “She can’t admit Caleb is her employee or a hitman, so she’s framed him as an independent consultant who went missing. She’s filing for a restraining order against Alistair and demanding access to her associate.”
“The audacity.” I laughed, but it was a cold sound. “She sends an assassin, he fails, and she sues us through a proxy? That’s… impressive.”
“It’s a distraction,” Alistair said, swallowing the broccoli with a grimace. “She’s tying up our resources while Ethan regroups.”
“She wants a legal war?” I stood and paced the room. “Fine. I’ll give her one. Felix, get Oracle’s legal team on the line. I want to countersue for harassment. But that’s not enough.”
“What are you thinking?” Liam asked.
“Caleb told us the antidote is linked to the toxin,” I said, a dangerous idea forming. “That means Cain Pharmaceuticals is manufacturing the poison to sell the cure. If we expose that link…”
“We can destroy her credibility,” Lucian said with a nod.
“I want to short her stock,” I said. “Aggressively.”
“Short Cain Pharma?” Liam asked. “That’s risky. They’re huge.”
“Not if the FDA receives an anonymous tip about the toxin synthesis in their labs,” I said. “We use the data Caleb gave us. We leak the chemical structure. Once the investigation starts, her stock plummets.”
“Her stock goes to zero,” Lucian finished, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Skye, that’s diabolical.”
“She came for my husband,” I said, looking at Alistair. “I’m going to bankrupt her before breakfast.”
Alistair looked at me with pure adoration. “God, I love it when you talk finance.”
“Eat your broccoli,” I said.
He ate it.