Thursday, 9:00 AM. The Campus Coffee Shop.
The campus was buzzing. The news of Richard Sterling’s sudden "resignation for health reasons" had hit the morning papers, right alongside the announcent that Vanguard Holdings was officially suspending the Innovation Center project to "re-evaluate budget allocations."
Sophia Rossi and her protesters were claiming a massive victory. The library hours were restored. The ntal health budget was refunded.
I sat in a corner booth, sipping a black coffee, watching the news on my phone. I should have felt victorious. I had saved the university, secured my grant, and acquired the ultimate leverage over a multi-billion dollar empire.
But all I felt was the ticking clock in my head.
[Elite Boss Mission: Seduce and Conquer Victoria Sterling]
[Ti Remaining: 85 Days]
Victoria had agreed to share Project Oracle, but it was a tactical retreat, not a surrender. She was a predator who had been temporarily caged. She would spend every waking mont of the next 85 days trying to find a way to break my encryption, steal the drive, and ruin my life.
I needed to keep her off balance. I needed to press the attack.
Elena slid into the booth across from , pulling out of my thoughts. She looked radiant, the stress of the past few weeks completely gone from her face.
"You did it," she said, her green eyes shining. "The Dean’s office is in chaos, but the good kind. The Vanguard money is being redistributed back to the academic departnts. You actually did it, Jake."
"We did it," I corrected, reaching across the table to take her hand. "I couldn’t have navigated the board without your advice."
Elena smiled, her thumb tracing the back of my hand. "So, what happens now? Richard is gone. Thorne is in jail. Are you finally done playing corporate spy?"
I looked at her, feeling a sharp pang of guilt. She thought the ga was over. She didn’t know about Project Oracle. She didn’t know about the System’s death sentence hanging over my head.
"Not quite," I said carefully. "Victoria is the permanent CEO now. I still have to manage the transition. Make sure she honors the new budget agreents."
Elena’s smile faltered slightly. "Victoria. Right. Just... rember what I said, Jake. She doesn’t share power."
"I know," I said.
My phone vibrated on the table. A text from Sofia Aldridge.
My office. Noon. We need to talk about our new mutual friend.
I squeezed Elena’s hand and stood up. "I have to go to a eting. I’ll co by your place tonight?"
"I’ll make dinner," she promised, her smile returning.
I left the coffee shop and headed downtown.
Aldridge Enterprises was a stark contrast to Vanguard Holdings. Where Vanguard was dark wood and old money, Aldridge was glass, steel, and hyper-modern efficiency.
Sofia was waiting for in her top-floor office. She was standing by the window, looking out at the Vanguard tower in the distance. She wore a blood-red dress that hugged every curve, a visual declaration of war.
"Richard is gone," she said as I walked in. She turned around, her eyes gleaming with predatory satisfaction. "My CFO suddenly decided to take an early retirent this morning. The Blue Heron accounts have been dissolved."
"You’re welco," I said, sitting down on one of the sleek white leather sofas.
Sofia walked over and sat next to , crossing her legs. "You played it perfectly, Jake. You used Richard’s own trap to hang him, and you handed Victoria the crown."
She leaned in, her voice dropping. "But now we have a problem. Victoria is too powerful. With Richard gone, there’s no internal opposition at Vanguard. She’s going to turn her sights outward. She’s going to co after my market share."
"She won’t," I said.
Sofia raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why is that?"
"Because I have her on a leash," I said.
I didn’t tell her about Project Oracle. That secret was too dangerous to share, even with Sofia. But I needed her to know I had leverage.
"I secured an insurance policy during the transition," I explained. "Victoria can’t make a major move without my approval. If she tries to attack Aldridge Enterprises, I’ll pull the plug on her."
Sofia stared at , her expression a mix of shock and intense arousal. She reached out, her hand resting on my thigh.
"You really are a monster, aren’t you?" she whispered, leaning in to kiss my jaw. "You played the Sterlings against each other, and you walked away with the keys to the kingdom."
"I’m just protecting my investnts," I said, my hand sliding up her leg.
"Good," she breathed, straddling my lap right there in the office. "Because I want to make sure I’m your top priority."
We spent the next hour ensuring exactly that. Sofia was demanding, insatiable, fueled by the adrenaline of the corporate victory. By the ti I left her office, my body was exhausted, but my mind was racing.
I had Sofia’s corporate fleet ready to defend . I had Elena’s academic cover. I had Nia, Ethan, Clare and Darius in the shadows.
But as I walked out onto the street, my phone buzzed again.
It was an email from the university registrar.
Dear Mr. Hart,
This is to inform you that your academic scholarship is currently under an ergency review by the Board of Trustees, effective imdiately. Your tuition and housing stipends have been frozen pending the outco of this review.
I stopped dead on the sidewalk.
The Board of Trustees. The sa board I had just blackmailed into supporting Victoria.
They wouldn’t do this on their own. They were terrified of .
There was only one person who could force them to do this. One person who knew I was a scholarship student who relied on that money to survive.
Victoria.
She wasn’t waiting. She was attacking my foundation. She was trying to starve out, to force to hand over the Oracle drive in exchange for my life back.
I looked up at the Vanguard tower, its glass reflecting the cold winter sun.
The Cold War had gone hot.
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