Chapter 14: The Hostile Takeover
The honeymoon phase lasted exactly forty-eight hours.
On Thursday morning, the financial district was hit by a massive shockwave. Vance International’s stock began to plummet. A sudden, aggressive short-selling campaign was decimating Julian’s shipping subsidiaries.
Elena was in her boardroom, sipping her black coffee, watching the ticker tape bleed red across the monitors. Julian stormed in, looking murderous. He threw a thick dossier onto the obsidian table.
"It's the Volkovs," Julian snarled, pacing the length of the room like a caged panther. "They didn't kill Victor. They are using him as a frontman to launch a hostile takeover of my shipping routes. They want access to the ports to smuggle their contraband, and they’re burning billions to crash my stock so they can buy the controlling shares."
Elena opened the dossier, her sharp eyes scanning the documents. "Victor is using a proxy bank. The Royal Meridian Bank of Geneva. He’s liquidating European assets to fuel this attack."
"If they take my ports, they establish a permanent foothold in the States," Julian said, slamming his hands on the table. "I can fight them off, but it will take weeks to unfreeze my offshore capital. By then, the stock will be in the gutter, and the board will panic and force a sale."
Elena slowly closed the dossier, a calm, terrifying serenity settling over her features. The Iron Empress had returned.
"Julian," she said softly. "Who do you think you are talking to?"
Julian paused, frowning in confusion.
"You think I'm going to let some washed-up socialite and a gang of thugs steal from the man I love?"
The words hung in the air, heavy and absolute. Julian's eyes softened for a fraction of a second, the gravity of her confession anchoring him.
Elena stood up, grabbing her coat. "Victor is currently at the New York branch of Royal Meridian, finalizing the transfer to buy your shares, correct?"
"Yes," Julian said, his jaw tightening. "He rented out the executive floor for the morning."
"Good," Elena said, checking her reflection in the glass window and adjusting her collar. "Get the car. We are going to the bank."
May you like
"To do what, Elena? We can't legally stop a wire transfer from a foreign entity!"
Elena smirked, slipping the massive pink 'Tear of Aurora' diamond onto her finger. "We can't. But the owner of the bank can."
