Chapter 3
On Monday morning, the financial markets opened for business.
The stock price of Archer Technologies immediately went into a terrifying freefall.
Within a single hour, the stock plummeted by thirty percent, instantly triggering a circuit breaker.
Panic exploded across the company's executive and shareholder group chats.
[What's happening? Why is the stock dropping so fast?]
[Where's Stephen? Stephen, you need to say something!]
[Rumor has it our top AI chip partner, CoreChip International, suddenly pulled the plug on our contract!]
[What? How come? Didn't we have a ten-year deal with CoreChip?]
[Nobody knows! They just said Archer Technologies was the first to break the deal!]
Sitting in his massive corner office, Stephen stared at the brutal red line crashing downward on his monitor. His blood ran cold.
CoreChip International was the absolute backbone of his company. They were the sole reason he had made a name for himself in the industry.
Three years ago, he had secured a wildly unbalanced, long-term supply contract with them before they became a global powerhouse.
It locked in incredibly low rates for a decade. Everyone praised his sharp eye and hailed him as a once-in-a-century business genius.
But deep down, he knew the truth. That contract was the result of a very dark secret.
Back then, he was just a desperate, failing entrepreneur who couldn't even get a meeting with their CEO.
He was ready to give up when he accidentally found a lost USB drive in the lobby restroom.
The drive contained CoreChip's highly classified next-generation designs, along with a brutally detailed market analysis and partnership proposal.
Driven by greed, he took that exact proposal, slapped his own name on it, and presented it to the vice president of CoreChip.
The executives were absolutely blown away by his supposed genius. They signed the ten-year deal on the spot.
For three years, he rode that stolen glory to the very top, drowning in wealth.
He used to feel guilty, but over time, he actually convinced himself that he truly was a brilliant visionary.
And now, his perfect empire was shattering.
"Breach of contract?" Stephen muttered to himself, racking his brain to figure out what he could have possibly done wrong.
Just then, his executive assistant practically kicked the door down, looking completely terrified. "Mr. Archer, we have a massive problem!
"The secret offshore account... it's been completely wiped clean!"
Stephen shot to his feet. "Which secret account?"
"The one you use for all your private investments and shadow funds. The international one... All ten billion dollars are gone. There isn't a single cent left!"
It felt like a bomb went off inside Stephen's skull.
That account was his ultimate safety net. It was the only thing guaranteeing his permanent financial freedom.
And the sole manager of that exact account was me.
The financial maneuvers required to run that fund demanded a terrifying level of genius and market intuition. He could never understand the math himself.
Yet I, the woman he viewed as nothing more than a simple housewife, constantly doubled and tripled the money with frightening ease.
He always told himself it was just his good luck and basic directions guiding her.
But looking back now...
A sickening realization slithered into his mind.
He grabbed his phone with shaking hands and frantically scrolled through his contacts. He realized he had deleted my old number, and I had blocked him on her new one.
He screamed at his assistant, "Go! Find out exactly where Skylar is right now! Go! Hurry!"
*****
Meanwhile, my phone buzzed with a text from Jack.
[Phase one complete. Archer Technologies just lost 700 million in market value. That idiot is probably losing his mind right now.]
I texted back: [Good.]
Then I opened another message.
It was an invitation.
[Dear Ms. S: You are cordially invited to attend the Future Financial Leaders Summit this Friday at The Apex Club. Hosted by: The Duarte Group.]
I stared at the bold, elegant signature at the bottom. Xavier Duarte.
A playful smile tugged at my lips.
Xavier Duarte was the golden boy of the city's financial elite. He controlled The Duarte Group and was the absolute undisputed king of the business world.
More importantly, he was the only rival who had ever managed to fight me to a draw in the capital markets over the past five years.
He had been trying to track me down for a long time.
And I had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to officially meet him face to face.
It seemed that time had finally come.