EMPIRE OF HEARTS

Chapter 8: The Ghost in the Machine

The kiss in the boardroom changed everything. Or rather, it made everything more difficult.

Elias became a ghost in his own apartment. He left before Clara woke up and returned long after she had gone to sleep. They only spoke in the back of town cars or in front of cameras. The "Ice King" had retreated into his glacier.

But Clara couldn't stop thinking about the look in his eyes, the raw, human vulnerability that had surfaced for a fleeting second.

One night, unable to sleep, Clara wandered into the living room. The city lights were a brilliant carpet below. She noticed a sliver of light coming from under Elias’s study door.

She walked toward it, her heart pounding. She reached for the handle, expecting it to be locked. To her surprise, it swung open silently.

The room was dark, save for the blue glow of a computer screen. Elias was asleep in his chair, his head back, his face slack with exhaustion.

Clara walked closer, intending to wake him and tell him to go to bed. But her eyes were drawn to the screen.

It was a spreadsheet. But it wasn't a Sterling Group spreadsheet. It was titled Operation: Zero Sum.

She leaned in, her breath hitching. The document listed every Sterling asset, every board member, and every family secret. But it wasn't a plan for a merger. It was a plan for a liquidation.

Step 4: Consolidate Chelsea Rights.

Step 5: Trigger Default on Series B Loans.

Step 6: Total Acquisition and Dissolution.

Clara felt a wave of nausea roll over her. The merger wasn't a rescue mission. It was a Trojan horse. Elias wasn't saving the Sterling Group; he was bringing it inside his walls so he could s*******r it without a witness.

She looked at Elias, the man who had kissed her with such desperate hunger just days ago. Was that part of the plan, too? To make her fall for him so she wouldn't see the knife until it was in her back?

She reached for the mouse, wanting to see more, but a hand suddenly clamped over her wrist.

Clara gasped, looking up to see Elias staring at her. His eyes were wide and filled with a cold, terrifying clarity.

What are you doing in here, Clara? his voice was a low, dangerous silk.

What is this, Elias? she demanded, her voice trembling with rage. Operation Zero Sum? You’re not saving us. You’re destroying us.

Elias stood up, never letting go of her wrist. He used his free hand to shut the monitor off, plunging the room into near darkness.

You shouldn't have come in here, he said.

Answer me! she screamed. Was the marriage just a way to bypass the board? Was the kiss just a way to keep me quiet?

Elias pulled her toward him, his face inches from hers. The heat from earlier was gone, replaced by an absolute, terrifying frost.

This is business, Clara. You knew what I was when you signed that contract.

I thought you were a man, she spat. But you’re just a machine.

A machine that just saved your father from prison, Elias reminded her. If I pull out now, the Sterling Group falls by noon tomorrow. Is that what you want?

Clara looked at him, her eyes filling with tears of fury. She was trapped. He knew it, and she knew it.

I hate you, she whispered.

I know, Elias said, his voice cracking for the briefest of seconds before he masked it. Now go to bed. We have a press conference at ten. Try to look like you love me.