Chapter 20:


    “Mom, listen to me. Fire InnoTech immediately. A man named Saul will call you tomorrow. He runs a logistics firm in Jersey. Trust him. He’ll give you raw materials at a fair price.”


    Ellyn stared at her. “Saul? I don’t know any Saul.”


    “He’s a friend,” Isolde said, her tone leaving no room for argument. “Just do it. Second, file for a reorganization tomorrow morning. It will freeze the creditors and buy us six months.”


    “But the legal fees…”


    Isolde reached into her purse. She pulled out a cashier’s check from a nondescript credit union.


    $50,000.


    She slid it across the table. “This is from a consulting gig I did a while back. It’s clean.”


    “This is the retainer,” Isolde said. “Hire the sharks. We aren’t going down without a fight.”


    Ellyn looked at the check. She looked at her daughter. She saw the steel in Isolde’s spine, the fire in her eyes. The submissive housewife was gone.


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    “Who are you?” Ellyn whispered.


    Isolde stood up. She walked to the window and looked out at the gray sky.


    “I’m the person who is going to save this family,” she said.


    Her phone buzzed. It was an email from And. Subject: VIP Pass.


    Attachment: ess Code for Aerospace Expo.


    Isolde smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile.


    “Get some heat in this house, Mom,” she said. “We have work to do.”


    The SkyLine Technologies headquarters was a ss monolith piercing the Manhattan sky.


    Isolde walked in. She was wearing a simple ck suit she had bought at a thrift store, but she wore it like armor.


    The receptionist, a girl named Stacy who had always looked down on Isolde, didn’t even stand up.


    “Mr. Lancaster isn’t in,” Stacy said, popping her gum.


    “I’m not here for him,” Isolde said. She walked past the desk to the elevators.


    She swiped her badge.


    ess Denied.


    Red light.


    Isolde smirked. Of course. He had revoked her clearance.


    She pressed the button for the HR floor. That was public ess.


    The HR manager, a woman named Linda who worshipped the ground Grayson walked on, kept her waiting for twenty minutes.


    When Isolde finally walked in, she didn’t sit down. She threw a letter on the desk.


    “I resign,” she said.


    Linda looked at the paper. “Resign? Mrs. Lancaster, your position on the charitable board is… well, it’s honorary. You don’t really do anything.”


    “Exactly,” Isolde said. “And I’m done not doing anything. I’m resigning from the board, from the trust, and from the Lancaster Foundation.”


    “You’ll forfeit the spousal stipend,” Linda warned, tapping her pen. “The contract says…”


    “I know what the contract says,” Isolde interrupted. “use 14, Section B. Voluntary resignation waives the nonpete use for unpaid positions.”


    Linda’s mouth snapped shut. She blinked. “I’d have to check with legal.”


    “Check all you want. I’m out.”


    Isolde signed the release form. She took her copy.


    She walked out.


    To get to the elevators, she had to pass the main conference room. It was a fishbowl, walls made of floor-to-ceiling ss.


    Inside, the board was meeting.


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