Billionaire's Game

Friendly Faces, Hidden Knives

"Marjorie Lin," Amelia said under her breath, eyes locked on the screen.

Sarah nodded. "The call log doesn’t lie. She met with Lena’s people. Twice. And both times, it was right before key board meetings."

Tamara folded her arms. "She’s one of the most vocal about 'stability.' Always pushes for caution."

"Because she’s been working both sides," Amelia finished.

Nathan paced slowly across the office, eyes scanning the data. "If she’s their inside hand, then every decision we’ve made in the last month has been under surveillance."

Amelia clenched her jaw. "We need to flip the board. We need to take away her leverage."

"How?" Tamara asked. "She’s careful. Too careful. We need something solid."

Sarah tapped her pen. "Then we bait her. Give her something too juicy to resist."

---

Two days later, a leak "accidentally" found its way into a financial blog.

An article titled: Turner Eyes Acquisition of Rival Energy Startup.

Completely fake. But juicy enough.

Within hours, whispers started. Stock chatter rose. And Marjorie? She bit.

Sarah tracked an email ping from Marjorie’s office to an encrypted external server. Then a call. Then a message from the Unknown Number:

"You’re close. Don’t blink."

---

Amelia leaned back in her chair, watching Nathan read the article on his phone.

"You think it’ll work?"

"It already has," he replied. "The board’s buzzing. And Marjorie just pushed for an emergency finance review. She wants access to the documents."

"Good," Amelia said. "Because she’s about to walk into a room she won’t walk out of the same."

The boardroom was tense. Everyone present.

Reginald cleared his throat. "Miss Turner, you’ve called another special meeting. Let’s hope this one isn’t another surprise."

Amelia stood. Calm. Measured.

"No surprises. Just clarity."

She clicked a button on the remote.

The screen behind her lit up.

Photos.

Marjorie. Meeting with a woman in sunglasses. The same woman from the SUV. Clear as day.

Then: timestamps. Transfers. Voice logs.

Marjorie froze.

"This is an invasion of privacy," she snapped.

"No," Amelia replied. "This is accountability."

Nathan leaned forward. "We know you’ve been feeding information to Maddox Holdings. We have the logs, the surveillance, and a witness ready to testify."

Marjorie’s mask slipped. Just for a second.

"You don’t have the guts to make this public. You’d ruin Turner."

Amelia stepped forward.

"You think I won’t burn down everything to rebuild it clean? Try me."

Then the boardroom fell into silence like everything was frozen.

Then Tamara stood.

"I move to suspend Marjorie Lin from all board activities effective immediately, pending investigation."

Reginald blinked. Then nodded. "Seconded."

Hands rose.

Marjorie stood slowly, fixing her blazer like she hadn’t just been caught.

"You think this is over?"

Amelia stepped closer.

"No. I think it’s just beginning."

---

Later, in her office, Amelia collapsed onto the couch.

Nathan sat beside her.

"You okay?"

"No. But I will be."

Sarah walked in, holding a file.

"One more thing. Marjorie didn’t act alone. The server she used—there’s a second user tied to it. We’re tracking them now."

Tamara leaned against the wall. "There’s always another player."

Amelia closed her eyes for a second.

"Then let’s keep playing."

Nathan smiled. "You’re getting good at this."

"That’s the scary part," she said softly.

---

That night, Amelia’s phone buzzed.

Another message from the Unknown Number:

"You cut one head. But the serpent has many."

And attached was a photo of her mother smiling. Standing beside Lena Maddox. Amelia’s breath left her chest.

"No..."