Chapter 105
Victoria Kane sat alone in her office, the glow from her computer screen the only light in the room. Outside her windows, dawn painted the Manhattan skyline in hues of pink and gold, but she hadn't noticed the sunrise. She hadn't moved from her chair in hours.
On her screen, financial records filled page after page, stock purchases, company
acquisitions, shell corporations nested within shell corporations like
Russian dolls. A tangled web of financial transactions that
had taken her team of investigators days to
unravel.
Victoria's mouth tightened as she scrolled through the data. The pattern was unmistakable once you knew what to look for. Small stock
purchases, never more than one percent at a time. Different buyer names. Different banks. Different countries. But
all ultimately tracing back to one man.
Herod Preston.
7
She slammed her hand against the desk, the sharp crack echoing through the empty office. Victoria Kane did not lose control. Not ever. But seeing Herod's name, the son of the man who had killed her daughte blood boiling.
Her intercom buzzed. "Ms. Kane? Mr. Pierce is here."
Victoria took
a deep breath, smoothing her features into their usual mask of calm. Send him in."
Alexander
entered, impeccable as always in a tailored suit despite the early hour. His expression shifted when he saw her face.
"You found something," he said, closing the door behind him.
Victoria swiveled her computer screen toward him. "Herod Preston has been buying Kane
Industries stock for the past six months."
Alexander crossed to her desk, studying the financial
data. “Through shell companies. Clever. Staying under the radar."
"Clever?" Victoria's voice sharpened. "He's infiltrating my company, Alexander."
"How much has he acquired?"
"Just
over five percent, according to what we've traced so far." Victoria stood, too agitated to remain seated. "He's positioning himself for a hostile takeover."
Alexander
leaned closer to the screen, scrolling through the transactions. "Pequod Ventures, Ahab Holdings, Queequeg Capital... all literature references. Easier to track than he thinks."
"This isn't a literary analysis, Alexander." Victoria paced behind her desk. "This
is Herod
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Chapter 105
Preston making his next move against me. Against my
family. First the Grid sabotage, now this."
Alexander straightened, his expression serious. "Victoria, he can't take Kane Industries from you. You personally own sixty percent of the company."
"I'm aware of my stock holdings," she snapped.
"And I've
recently acquired ten percent," Alexander continued, unfazed by her tone. Which means that even if Herod
managed to buy every remaining share, which he can't without triggering SEC notifications he would still be a minority shareholder." Victoria paused her pacing. She knew this. Of course she knew this. She ha holdings precisely to prevent hostile takeovers. But the sight of Herod Preston's name connected to Kane Industries had triggered something primal in her, a mother's rage at the family that had taken her daugh "It's not about the stock," she said finally. "It's about his audacity. His... invasion. After what his family did to Sophia.”
Alexander's expression softened slightly. "I understand. But we need to think
strategically. If Herod is buying
stock, it means he's planning for something beyond the Grid sabotage."
was right. This wasn't
"He wants inside
she said. "Board meeting minutes. Financial projections.
"And he'll use a
the five percent threshold that
back to face
need to
move. And we
was already typing on his phone. "I'll have my
may be other shell companies we haven't traced
have them
He may be accelerating his purchases now
imminent." Victoria returned to
loss of control now replaced with cold calculation. "If
me, he'll discover just how wrong he
phone. "There's another
"Which is?"
purchases are discovered-and they will be, because we've found them, Herod will assume we're focused
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Chapter 105
"Which may
actual plan might
considered this.
"Possibly. The Grid-
The stock purchases. What if neither is his primary goal?" Alexander
in the corner of Victoria's office,
accepted the coffee he offered, warming her
chess master sacrificing
of his
you the most? Not just financially, but
question hung in the air between them. Victoria knew the answer immediately, though she would never say it aloud. There was only one thing
her?" Alexander asked
"About the stock purchases?"
has enough to worry about with the
affects her too. Alexander's voice remained steady, but
heard the
relationship with Camille had shifted, deepened. He was no longer
her,"
engineering team finishes correcting the Grid
apparently
the meantime,
"I'm listening."
leak information about a major
touched Alexander's mouth.
false flag operation. Force him to
may learn more about his true
time that morning, Victoria felt the
loosen slightly. This was familiar territory, strategic maneuvering, creating traps
draft a press release," she decided.
a significant upcoming
announcement. No specifics, just enough
blogs speculate."
nodded. "I'll have my publicist do the
at cooperation between
Industries on a 'revolutionary
will rise," Victoria noted. "Costing Herod more
him to accelerate his plans, whatever they
set down her coffee cup and moved back to her computer,
him come. Whatever Herod Preston is planning, he'll find I'm not the
Victoria rarely
Alexander watched her, his expression
we should
raised an
against her desk. "Herod's stock purchases began six months ago, long before the Grid sabotage. Before Rose found
went still, the implications racing through her mind.
Herod. Herod
"What if Rose wasn't the architect of
Herod discovered? Someone with personal motivation to hurt Camille,
direction and
Alexander was
they
system for a much
Victoria began, but was interrupted by
her security chief spoke. When the
her face had
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