Chapter 459
Chapter 459:
Beatrice recoiled, offended. “Well. Someone is moody. Just make sure you are ready by six tomorrow. And take your pills. We need you calm p>
She turned and left, closing the door with a click.
Liam stared at the door. He was vibrating with rage and physical illness. He reached for the glass of water on the table, his hand jerking so hard he spilled half of it on his lap. He didn’t care.
“Calm,” he whispered to the empty room, his teeth chattering. “I am done being calm p>
Back at Oracle Holdings, Skye’s personal phone buzzed in her pocket. A single vibration.
She pulled it out. The screen was black, save for three words in white text.
Fish on the Hook.
A cold, dark satisfaction uncurled in her stomach. She looked at Alistair. He saw the message and nodded once.
Skye walked over to the bookshelf behind her desk. She pulled on the spine of a leather-bound copy of The Art of War. A hidden panel clicked open, revealing a small, secure safe.
She spun the dial. Left, right, left.
The safe door swung open. Inside sat a laptop that looked like a piece of military hardware, rugged, black, unbranded.
Beside it was a voice-modulator headset.
Skye took them out and placed them on her desk.
“You really enjoy the theatrics,” Alistair commented, leaning over her shoulder as she booted up the system.
“It’s not theatrics,” Skye said, plugging in the headset. “Dominic knows my voice. He knows my cadence. If I want to sell him a rope to hang himself with, I need to be someone else p>
She put on the headset. It was bulky, covering her ears completely. She adjusted the microphone so it sat directly in front of her lips.
She typed a command into the laptop. The screen filled with lines of code, establishing a secure, encrypted connection routed through servers in Switzerland, Panama, and finally, the Cayman Islands.
“Test,” she said into the mic.
The sound that came out of the speakers was not her voice. It was deep, synthetic, and unmistakably masculine. It sounded like gravel grinding against steel. It sounded like money that didn’t ask questions.
“Perfect,” Alistair said.
𝖱𝗈𝗆𝖺ո𝗰e n𝗈v𝖾l𝘴 𝗈𝗻 b𝖾𝗹𝗻o𝗏е𝘭𝘀.с𝘰𝗺
Just then, the intercom on her desk buzzed.
“Ms. Sterling,” her assistant’s voice came through. “A courier just delivered a package to Mr. Thorne’s office across town. The tracker says it was received p>
Skye smiled. It was the invitation.
Dominic would be staring at it right now. He would be looking at the gold leaf, hating her, hating Alistair. And that hate would make him blind. It would make him reckless.
On her screen, a call request appeared. The caller ID was blocked, but the encryption key matched the one Wayne had provided to Dominic.
Skye hovered her finger over the “Accept” button.
“Ready to become a billionaire, Mr. Stone?” Alistair whispered in her ear.
“I’m already a billionaire,” Skye replied, her voice cool. “Today, I become an executioner p>
She pressed the button.
A virtual meeting room materialized on the black screen of the secure laptop. There was no video feed, only a static waveform oscillating gently in the center, representing the audio connection.
Skye sat perfectly still in her office, the lights dim, the glow of the monitor reflecting in her eyes. Alistair stood behind her, his hand resting on the back of her chair, a silent sentinel.
“Mr. Thorne,” Skye said into the microphone.