Chapter 126
Penelope’s POV
54
Penelope sat in a corner booth at an upscale restaurant in Midtown, swirling a glass of red wine and checking her watch for the third time. Luca was late. Again.
She was starting to regret giving him so much money. The man had cleaned up nicely, yes, but apparently punctuality wasn’t something twenty thousand dollars could buy.
Finally, she spotted him walking through the entrance. He’d dressed appropriately at least, wearing the suit she’d suggested he purchase. His hair was combed back, his face cleanly shaved. He looked almost respectable.
“Sorry I’m late,” Luca said as he slid into the booth across from her. “Traffic was insane.”
“Traffic is always insane in Manhattan. Plan accordingly.” Penelope set down her wine glass and gestured to the waiter. “We’ll order in a moment.”
Luca picked up the menu and his eyebrows shot up when he saw the prices. “Jesus. A steak here costs more than I used to make in a week.”
“Then I suggest you order whatever you want while you still have access to my generosity.”
The waiter came over and Luca ordered the most expensive steak on the menu with sides. Penelope ordered a salad she had no intention of eating. This wasn’t about the food.
Once the waiter left, Penelope leaned forward and lowered her voice. “We have a problem.”
“I figured. You don’t usually invite me to places like this just for fun.”
“The contract is gone.”
Luca’s fork, which he’d been using to butter a piece of bread, froze mid-air. “What do you mean gone?”
“I mean exactly what I said. Someone broke into my penthouse and stole it.” Penelope kept her voice steady despite the fury simmering beneath the surface. “I’ve torn apart my entire apartment looking for it. It’s not there.”
“When did this happen?”
“Sometime last week. I only noticed a few days ago when I went to make copies.”
Luca set down the bread and leaned back in the booth, his expression thoughtful. “Who else knew you had it?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. You knew. I knew. Aurora knows I have some kind of leverage but not the specific details.”
“Did you tell anyone else?”
16:51 Mon, May 11
Chapter 126
58
55 vouchers
“Of course not. I’m not an idiot.” Penelope took a long sip of wine. “But someone figured it out. Someone knew where to look and when to look for it.”
“Had to be Marcus,” Luca said with certainty. “Or that lawyer friend of his, Dante. Who else would know?”
Penelope had come to the same conclusion, but hearing Luca say it out loud made her stomach twist with fresh anger. “Elara probably told Marcus the papers were missing from her apartment. They put two and two together and realized I must have them.”
“And then what? They just walked into your place and took them back?”
“That’s exactly what they did.” Penelope’s fingers tightened around the stem of her wine glass. “They must have done it while I was out with Aurora at dinner. Security wouldn’t have questioned Marcus being on the top floor. He lives in the building. He could walk anywhere he wanted and no one would stop him.”
Luca let out a low whistle. “That’s actually pretty ballsy. I’m almost impressed.”
“Well, don’t be. Because now we have nothing. No proof the marriage is fake, no leverage to take to the board, no way to force Marcus out of his position.”
“So what do we do?”
The waiter arrived with their food. Penelope waited until he’d set down the plates and walked away before answering.
“We adapt. We find another way.”
Luca cut into his steak, blood pooling on the plate. “What other way? The contract was our ace. Without it, we’re back to square one.”
“Not necessarily. The contract was one avenue of attack. But there are others.”
“Like what?”
Penelope pushed her salad around with her fork, her mind working through possibilities she’d been considering for days. “Marcus’s weakness has always been his reputation. The way he’s perceived by the board, by shareholders, by the business community. He’s spent years cultivating this image of being the responsible CEO, the steady hand guiding Thorne Dynamics.”
“Okay…”
“So we destroy that image. We make the board question his judgment, his stability, his ability to lead the company effectively.”
Luca chewed his steak slowly, considering. “How do we do that without proof the marriage is fake?”
“We don’t need proof of the marriage being fake. We just need to create doubt about everything else.” Penelope finally took a bite of her salad, the greens tasteless in her mouth. “Think about it. Marcus got married suddenly to a woman nobody had ever heard of. A woman from completely outside his social circle. Then his ex-girlfriend shows up and moves into his guest house. There are already rumors circulating about tension in the marriage.”
16:51 Mon, May 11
Chapter 126
“I’m not following.”
:
65 vouchers
“We feed those rumors. We make it look like Marcus is distracted by personal drama. We plant stories about fights, about Elara being unstable, about Aurora causing problems. We make it seem like Marcus is so caught up in managing his complicated personal life that he’s neglecting the company.”
Luca set down his fork, interest sparking in his eyes. “And the board starts questioning whether he’s fit to lead.”
“Exactly. We don’t need to prove the marriage is fake if we can prove he’s incompetent. Or better yet, if we can create situations that make him look incompetent.”
“What kind of situations?”
Penelope smiled. This was the part of the plan she was most proud of. “There’s a major investor meeting coming up in two weeks. Representatives from all our biggest shareholders will be there. Marcus is supposed to present the quarterly earnings and the five-year growth strategy.”
“So?”
“So what if something goes wrong at that meeting? What if the numbers don’t add up? What if there are discrepancies in the financial reports that make Marcus look either dishonest or incompetent?”
Luca’s eyebrows rose. “You want to sabotage the investor meeting?”
“I want to create reasonable doubt about Marcus’s ability to run this company. The meeting is just the stage.”
“That’s risky. If it gets traced back to you-”
“It won’t. Because I’m not going to do it myself. I have people on the inside. People who are loyal to me and who have access to financial systems.” Penelope took another sip of wine, savoring the taste. “A few altered spreadsheets here, some missing data there, maybe some emails that suggest Marcus has been hiding losses. Nothing that would hold up to serious scrutiny, but enough to create panic in the moment.”
“And while everyone’s panicking about the financials, Marcus looks like either a fraud or a fool.”
“Precisely. The board loses confidence, shareholders start calling for leadership changes, and suddenly that seventy percent stake Marcus holds becomes vulnerable.”
Luca was grinning now. “You’re devious. I like it.”
“I’m strategic. There’s a difference.” Penelope set down her wine glass and pulled out her phone, scrolling through her contacts. “I need you to do something for me.”
“What?”
“Keep watching Elara. I need to know her schedule, where she goes, who she talks to. If she’s planning anything that could interfere with our timeline.”
“I can do that. What else?”
16:51 Mon, May 11
Chapter 126
58
55 vouchers
“Stay close to your ex-wife at the hospital. If Elara visits, I want to know about it. And if you can create some drama there, even better. The more unstable Elara appears, the worse Marcus looks by association.”
Luca nodded, already pulling out his own phone to take notes.
Penelope looked out the window at the Manhattan skyline, the buildings gleaming in the afternoon sun. Somewhere in one of those towers, Marcus was probably sitting in his office thinking he’d won. Thinking he was safe because he’d stolen back the contract.
But Marcus had always underestimated her. Had always assumed she was just his father’s widow, just a woman playing at business, just someone to be managed and controlled.
He was about to learn exactly how wrong he’d been.
“I know exactly how to destroy them,” Penelope said quietly, more to herself than to Luca. “And it doesn’t require any paperwork.”
AD
Comment
Send gift
