The downward movement in the private elevator was the only sixty seconds of silence Elena expected to have for the rest of the year.
She watched the floor numbers countdown on the digital display, her reflection in the polished steel doors looking back at her with a chilling, unfamiliar clarity.
The woman who had cried over a broken dish three days ago was dead. The woman standing here now was a creature who bore unyielding and ice like nature.
Beside her, Silas checked the situation report on his tablet. Marcus isn't alone, Elena. He's brought a legal team and a news crew from the Solana Financial Times. His goal is to portray this as a hostile takeover of 'rightful' assets. He wants to portray you as the vengeful ex-wife who is illegally taking his partner's property."
"Let him paint me," Elena said, her voice a low, steady hum.
"I've spent six years being the canvas for everyone else's lies, It's time I picked up the brush and paint myself, for only I understand what I feel and felt."
The elevator doors opened to the lobby.
The chaos was very quick A wall of reporters was pushed back by the Luanda security detail after flashbulbs exploded like tiny explotion of stars.
In the center of the marble hallway stood Marcus a man who looked like a shark in a three-piece suit. He was leaning against a reception desk that Elena had personally polished a thousand times, his smug grin suggesting he had already won.
"Elena!" Marcus called out, his voice raised high for the benefit of the cameras.
"I'm glad you've come down It saves my lawyers the trouble of serving you at home. I'm sure Tom didn't mention it in the heat of your... domestic dispute... but Phoenix Logistics owed Solana International a significant debt. A debt secured by the very equipment and servers in this building."
He held up a document, waving it toward the reporters.
"As of this morning, I am exercising my right to reclaim collateral. You're holding onto a hollow shell, Elena. I'm here to take the meat."
Elena didn't stop walking until she was exactly three feet away from him. The reporters went silent, sensing the shift in the atmosphere the "Vulture" was circling, but the "Lioness" hadn't even blinked.
"Marcus," Elena said, her voice carrying through the lobby without effort.
"I'm surprised to see you here so early I thought you'd be at the hospital, supporting Sandra through her difficult morning."
A few reporters whispered Marcus's pretencious smile didn't wavet but his eyes narrowed.
"Business doesn't wait for drama, Elena. Now, about these assets"
"The assets you're referring to," Elena interrupted, "were purchased through a subsidiary called Ochanda Holdings, were they not?"
The name hit Marcus like a physical blow for a split of a second, the shark like confidence unwvered. He opened his mouth tying to speak, but Elena didn't give him the floor.
"You see, Marcus, while you and Tom were busy 'negotiating' with the 'Ghost' on WhatsApp, you made a very amateur mistake. you assumed the debt was private. But Ochanda Holdings was dissolved three years ago for tax evasion in the Migingo Islands.
By law, any debt owed to a dissolved criminal entity is desolved to the state , in this case, to the primary creditor of the state's choice."
She reached back, and Silas placed a single, blue bound folder in her hand.
"I didn't just buy Tom's debt this morning, Marcus. I bought the rights to the Ochanda liquidations. Which means..." She stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper that the microphones still caught.
"You don't own this equipment. I own the equipment and as of thirty seconds ago, I've decided to sue Solana International for three years of back dated interest on the fraudulent loans you funneled through Tom's accounts."
The lobby was so quiet you could hear the rain tapping against the glass.
Marcus's face went from arrogant tan to a sickly, discolored in grey. His legal team began whispering desperately behind him.
"You're bluffing," Marcus hissed, the shark finally showing its teeth.
"You don't have that kind of capital."
"I don't," Elena agreed with a terrifyingly calm smile.
"But the Luo Empire does and they don't like people who try to steal from their Princess."
She turned to the cameras, her expression shifting to one of regal authority.
"To the citizens of Solana City Luo Logistics is officially open for business. We are not just reclaiming a company we are cleaning a house that has been dirty for far too long any entity be it Phoenix or Solana International that has profited from the mistreatment of this firm will be held accountable. In full."
She turned back to Marcus. "Now, get out of my lobby. You're scaring the investors."
As security began to "usher" Marcus and his stunned team toward the exit, Silas leaned in.
"That was a masterclass, Elena. But you realize what you just did? You just linked Marcus to Ochanda publicly. The shadow red ghost is going to be furious."
"I want the Ghost furious," Elena replied, watching Marcus stumble out into the rain.
"Furious people make mistakes and I need a mistake, Silas. I need to know where the fake Red Lion is hiding before my thirty days are up."
Suddenly, Silas's tablet chimed. His face went stone-cold.
"What is it?" Elena asked.
"The DNA lab in the industrial district," Silas said, his voice a low growl.
"The one where Tom sent the 'fake' courier? It's on fire. It was hit by a professional team two minutes after you mentioned Ochanda's name."
Elena felt a chill race down her spine. The Ghost wasn't just watching they were erasing the trail in real time.
"They're scared," Elena said, her eyes hardening.
"They're trying to burn the evidence of Maya's bloodline. Silas, get the car. We're not going to the office. We're going to find the person who gave Tom that 'WhatsApp' number. We're going to the one place the Ghost can't burn."
"Where?" Silas asked.
"Tom's secret storage unit," Elena said.
"The one he thought I didn't know about. The one where he kept the wine glass for seven years. If he kept the glass, he kept the phone. And if he kept the phone, I have the Ghost's digital fingerprint."