Chapter 358
Chapter 358:
Skye sat at the head of the table, her fingers drumming a slow, deliberate rhythm against the cool stone surface.
Dominic paused, waiting for a reaction. Waiting for Skye to bow her head and accept the scraps, or perhaps hoping that the sheer weight of the Graves name would make her forget the leverage she held over him.
Skye didn’t blink. She didn’t smile. She just leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand, and let the silence stretch until it became a physical weight in the room.
The other board members shifted in their seats, their eyes darting between the sweating man on the screen and the impassive woman at the head of the table.
“Is that it?” Skye asked finally. Her voice was flat, bored.
Dominic’s forced smile faltered, twitching at the corners. “Is that… what p>
“The proposal,” Skye said. She picked up the thick binder his assistant had delivered earlier and let it drop back onto the table with a heavy thud. “This is garbage, Dominic. It’s a desperate attempt to launder money through a logistics framework. You aren’t offering me a partnership; you’re offering me a life raft because you know your own ship is sinking. Do you think I’ve forgotten the file on my desk? The one about the North City soil samples p>
Dominic’s face went from pale to a mottled purple. The mention of the toxic waste evidence, the card Skye had played only days prior, clearly rattled him. He slammed his hand down on his desk, the camera shaking violently with the impact, but it was the lash-out of a cornered animal, not a predator.
“You… you cannot hold that over me forever!” he shouted, his voice cracking, the audio peaking and distorting. “I am offering you protection! Graves is coming! You think because you stole a few properties from the Kensingtons that you are a player? You are nothing! You are a placeholder until the real powers decide to crush you! Take the deal, Skye! For your own sake p>
Click.
Skye tapped the screen of her phone. The screenshot was perfect: Dominic red-faced, eyes wide with panic, mouth open in a scream, his fist blurred in motion. It was the face of a man who had lost control.
She sent the image to Felix Carter with a single caption: Leak it to the business blogs. Title: “Thorne Media CEO Cracks Under Pressure p>
She looked back at the screen. “We’re done here, Dominic. Don’t call again until you’re ready to sign over the rest of the assets p>
She hit the “End Call” button before he could respond.
𝗡𝘰 𝗆i𝘴𝘴𝘪n𝗴 𝖼𝘩ap𝘵er𝘴 𝘰𝘯 bе.со𝘮
The screen went black.
The room was silent.
“Meeting adjourned,” Skye said, standing up.
The executives filed out, looking terrified and impressed in equal measure.
Skye walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out over the city. The gray sky reflected her mood. She felt hollowed out, scraping the bottom of her reserves for energy.
“Fish is on the hook,” she whispered to the glass.
The intercom on her desk buzzed. It was Secretary Zhang, his voice trembling.
“Ms. Sterling? I… I tried to stop her. Security is on the way up, but she took the private elevator p>
“Who?” Skye asked, turning around.
“Catherine Thorne p>
Skye’s stomach dropped. Not Beatrice Kensington, the dying woman she had left in the manor. This was Catherine Thorne, Dominic’s mother. The iron matriarch of the Thorne family branch that had always looked down on Alistair. A woman who made Beatrice Kensington look like a benevolent grandmother.
The elevator doors at the far end of the suite didn’t just open; they dinged with an ominous finality.
Catherine Thorne stepped out.
She was wearing a Chanel suit that cost more than Skye’s first car, and her silver hair was coiffed into a helmet of perfection. She didn’t walk; she marched. She carried a crocodile-skin handbag like a weapon.