The sunset painted the Manhattan skyline in hues of amber and crimson as Elena stared at her phone, her face illuminated by the screen's cold light. It was Friday evening, and most of Meridian Technologies' employees had already fled the building for weekend diversions. But Elena Vasquez didn't acknowledge weekends—not when there were battles to be won.
"The official announcement goes out Monday morning," Dominic said, standing rigidly before her desk. "Sharp Innovations and Next Technologies have completed all paperwork. The merger is done."
Elena's manicured fingernails tapped a slow, deliberate rhythm on her glass desk. The news wasn't unexpected, but confirmation still sent a wave of cold fury through her veins. Victoria Sharp had outmaneuvered her yet again.
"Thank you, Dominic," she said, her voice carrying that carefully cultivated Madrid accent. "You can go home now."
He hesitated. "There's nothing else you need tonight?"
Elena looked up, her dark eyes unnervingly calm. "I didn't say that. I said you can go."
After Dominic's hasty departure, Elena swiveled her chair to face the city. Somewhere out there, Victoria was likely celebrating her triumph, oblivious to the fact that Elena had been watching her every move for weeks.
She reached for her phone and dialed a number she used rarely but kept close.
"Parker," she said when the detective answered. "It's time."
"Ms. Vasquez," the man's gravelly voice replied. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't use the material."
Elena's lips curved into a cold smile. "You have extensive documentation of Victoria's... inappropriate relationship with her executive assistant?"
"Photos, timestamps. Everything you requested. Their relationship is definitely beyond professional, though they've been careful to keep it private."
"Not careful enough," Elena murmured. "Send everything to Julian Bennett at The Business Insider. Anonymously, of course."
"That's a tabloid disguised as a business publication," Parker noted.
"Precisely. I want this story to spread like wildfire, but I want it to maintain a veneer of legitimacy. Julian owes me several favors—he'll run with it without asking questions."
"Consider it done. Anything else?"
Elena paused, considering. "Make sure the headline questions Victoria's professional ethics. Something about blurred lines between personal and professional relationships."
"Got it. I'll take care of it tonight."
Elena ended the call and sat motionless, savoring the moment. For six years, she had watched Victoria build her reputation on an image of ruthless professionalism and ethical leadership. The scholarship girl who had earned everything through merit rather than connections. The businesswoman who had supposedly never compromised her principles.
That pristine image was about to shatter.
Elena stood and gathered her things, her movements unhurried and precise. The first blow had been struck, and now she would wait for the impact to ripple through Victoria's carefully constructed world.
Saturday morning arrived with the persistent chime of Elena's phone. She reached for it, blinking away sleep as she scrolled through a cascade of notifications. The story had broken at dawn, and already it was trending across business networks and social media.
"SHARP INNOVATIONS CEO CAUGHT IN WORKPLACE SCANDAL: Ethics Questioned as Victoria Sharp's Personal Relationship with Executive Assistant Exposed"
The headline was accompanied by a damning photograph—Victoria and James Mitchell in that corner bistro, their heads down focused on documents with Victoria giving a carefree smile, their body language showing they were quite close and comfortable with one another. The article quoted "anonymous sources close to Sharp Innovations" describing how Victoria had fast-tracked Mitchell's career, involving him in high-level negotiations and decision-making processes beyond his qualifications.
Elena swiped through additional photos: Victoria and James entering her personal building late at night; the two sharing a private laugh at a corporate event, James carrying Victoria's overnight bag into a hotel during merger negotiations with Next Technologies.
Each image had been carefully selected to suggest impropriety without explicitly proving it—the perfect formula for scandal in the business world, where perception was reality and female CEOs were held to impossible standards.
Elena's phone rang—Julian Bennett himself.
"It's exploding," he said without preamble. "Sharp's PR team is in full crisis mode. They've issued a 'no comment' statement, which only makes them look guilty."
"Fascinating," Elena replied, keeping her tone neutral despite the satisfaction coursing through her. "How unfortunate for Victoria. She's always been so... careful about her public image."
"Three major business networks have picked up the story. It's going to be impossible for her to contain."
"Keep me updated," Elena said before ending the call.
She rose from bed and padded barefoot to the wall of windows in her penthouse bedroom. Morning light streamed across the polished hardwood floors as she surveyed her domain—the financial district spread before her, and somewhere within it, Victoria Sharp was facing the first real threat to her carefully constructed empire.
Elena smiled, a rare expression of genuine pleasure crossing her features. She returned to her bed where Robert lay still asleep, his muscular form tangled in her Egyptian cotton sheets. He was her latest diversion—a corporate lawyer from a firm who had no idea of the games Elena played in her professional life.
She slipped off her silk robe, her only covering, the smooth fabric gliding from her shoulders to the floor in a quiet whisper. The chill of the room kissed her bare skin, but the warmth waiting beneath the sheets pulled her forward. She slid back into bed, pressing her body naked form against Robert's equally bare body. His muscles twitched beneath her touch, and he stirred as her hands travelled with deliberate slowness across his chest.
"Good morning," he murmured, voice thick with sleep, eyes still closed.
"It is indeed," Elena whispered, her lips brushing his ear as she guided his hands over her curves and straddled him with ease.
With practiced fingers, she found the organ between his legs limp and waiting, coaxing him to life with firm, rhythmic strokes. He hardened quickly under her touch, and she positioned herself above him, lowering herself with a sigh of satisfaction as he filled her.
"A very good morning."
Their movements found an automatic rhythm. His hands gripping her waist, hers braced on his chest as she rode him. There were no whispered promises, no lingering glances, just skin against skin, bodies moving with mutual need to chase away tension.
It wasn't passionate. It wasn't even particularly exciting. But it served its purpose: a momentary purge of stress, routine as morning coffee. No emotions. No complications. Just release.
Later, as Robert showered, Elena returned to her phone, scrolling through the continuing fallout from the story. Victoria's silence was telling—no immediate denial, no counter-narrative. Just the feeble "no comment" that suggested guilt to a public always hungry for scandal.
Elena wrapped herself in a robe and walked to her kitchen, preparing a single espresso. She rarely indulged in satisfaction—it made one careless—but today was an exception. Phase one of her plan had unfolded perfectly.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Parker: Sharp spotted entering crisis management firm Levinson & Associates at 8:30 AM.
Elena smiled again. Victoria would be furious, calculating, examining all angles to determine who had betrayed her. Having known Victoria for nine years since their business school days, Elena knew Victoria would immediately suspect her. Their history ran too deep, their rivalry too intense for Victoria to consider anyone else as the source of this attack.
That knowledge would be Victoria's torment—recognizing her enemy but unable to prove it.