Chapter 723
Chapter 723:
“I have already stepped down as CEO of Oracle Holdings effective this morning,” Skye announced, sliding a legal document across the table. “To avoid any conflict of interest, I am assuming the role of Special Trustee for the Kensington Family Trust. I hold the voting proxy for the majority shares, entrusted to me… previously p>
It was a half-truth. Julian had quietly transferred a block of voting rights to her through a trust fund earlier that morning, solidifying her position.
The door opened. Uncle Arthur walked in.
“I second the motion,” Arthur said, smiling benevolently. “Skye is the perfect choice to stabilize the market. She has the public’s sympathy. She has the business acumen p>
Skye narrowed her eyes at him. She knew Arthur was playing a game. He wanted her in charge because he thought she was weak. He thought he could manipulate her better than he could the board. He was representing Beatrice’s interests today, holding her proxy vote.
Let him try, she thought.
“Fine,” the chairman sighed. “All in favor p>
Hands went up.
“Motion carried. Skye Sterling is the Special Trustee and Interim Chairwoman of Kensington Global p>
Skye didn’t feel triumphant. She felt heavy. She was sitting in Liam’s chair. She was ruling his kingdom.
But the king was missing, lost in the darkness she had helped push him into.
That night, Liam stood on the roof of a tenement building in the Lower East Side. He wore a hoodie, his face obscured by shadow.
He looked out at the city skyline. He could see Kensington Tower in the distance, the logo glowing brightly.
He knew Skye was there. He knew she had taken the reins.
“Good girl,” he whispered. “Keep it safe for me p>
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲.𝗰𝗼𝗺
He turned away from the light.
Below him, in the alley, a black van was waiting. The Architect’s transport.
He climbed down the fire escape.
The game was entering its final phase. He was going into the belly of the beast. And he knew, with terrifying certainty, that he might not come out alive.
But as long as Skye was safe… as long as she was the queen on the board… he was willing to be the pawn that got sacrificed.
He opened the van door and stepped into the dark.
The interior of the armored transport was a void of sensory deprivation, smelling of stale sweat, diesel fumes, and the metallic tang of fear. Liam sat wedged between crates of unknown cargo, the vibration of the road humming through the steel floor and into his bones. He was blindfolded, his hands zip-tied loosely in front of him—a test of compliance rather than true restraint. But they hadn’t found the micro-transmitter embedded in the heel of his boot, nor the slim, modified interface device he had palmed from Julian’s stash before surrendering.
Hours later, the silence in the Kensington Global CEO’s office was absolute. The lights hummed with a frequency that seemed to drill directly into Skye Sterling’s temples. It was three in the morning. The city of Sea City outside the floor-to-ceiling glass walls was a sprawling grid of amber and neon, indifferent to the fact that the woman sitting at the top of its highest tower felt like she was made of hollow glass.