Chapter 970
“The file uploaded, but they buried it,” Harper said, her voice trembling. “Within minutes of the upload, thousands of bot accounts flooded the servers with noise. Fake news, conspiracy theories, doctored videos of you meeting with known radical groups. The algorithm flagged the Black File as unverified extremist propaganda and scrubbed it from the major platforms. The public isn’t seeing the truth, Skye. They’re seeing Arthur’s version.”
Skye didn’t blink. Her fingers tightened on the rubber casing of the tablet. “And Arthur?”
“He’s out,” Harper whispered. “His lawyers found a loophole in the chain of custody regarding the digital evidence Parker procured. They claimed it was obtained through illegal cyber-warfare, citing the attack on the Citadel as proof of your instability. A judge granted him emergency bail two hours ago. He’s out, Skye. And he didn’t go home.”
“Where is he?” Skye asked, though she already felt the answer in her gut.
“He’s at Oracle,” Harper said. “He called an emergency board meeting. He’s claiming your absence and the violent incident abroad are grounds for immediate removal. He’s framing the Citadel raid as a mental breakdown, Skye. He’s closing the deal on the asset liquidation right now.”
“Right now?” Skye looked at the timestamp on the screen.
“The board meeting started twenty minutes ago,” Harper whispered. “The stock is in freefall. Forty percent drop. He’s burning the house down to smoke you out.”
Skye looked up from the screen. The fatigue that had been pulling at her muscles like gravity evaporated — replaced by a cold, hard rage. Clean. Sharp.
“He waited until I was off the grid saving Parker,” Skye said softly. “He thought I wouldn’t come back. He thinks the law protects him because he plays by the rules of a corrupt game.”
“The old fox thinks he can flip the table while the house is empty,” Alistair Thorne said, stepping up beside her. A bandage was wrapped around his forearm, blood already seeping through the white gauze. “He suppressed the Black File effectively — I’ll give him that. He’s turning our victory into a PR nightmare. We should put a bullet in him and be done with it.”
“No,” Skye said. “That’s too quick. And it proves his point that I’m unstable.”
𝘛𝗁𝗲 𝘣еѕ𝘵 𝗿𝗲a𝘥іոg e𝘅𝘱e𝘳𝗶𝖾𝘯𝗰𝘦 𝘰𝗻 𝗴а𝗅𝘯𝗈𝗏elѕ.c𝗼𝗺
Liam stepped forward, his shadow falling over her. “I can make a call. Kensington Global can freeze their accounts. We can lock the building down. My legal team can tie Arthur up in injunctions for days.”
“No,” Skye repeated. She handed the tablet back to the officer. “This is Oracle business. It’s my house. I’m going to clean it myself. If he wants a war in the boardroom, I’ll give him one. I don’t need a gun to kill Arthur Sterling. I just need the truth.”
She turned toward the waiting convoy of black SUVs and walked, stiff and deliberate, her body screaming in protest with every stride.
“Get me to the tower,” she ordered. “And tell the pilot to keep the engines warm. This isn’t over.”
The drive into the city was a blur of grey highway and rain-slicked glass. Skye sat in the back, staring at her reflection in the window. She looked like a ghost — dark circles bruising the skin beneath her eyes, a smear of grease on her cheekbone. She wiped it away with her thumb, pressing until the skin turned red.
.