Chapter 158:


    Cheryl’s face turned a shade of gray. “That’s… a minor engineering hurdle.”


    “It’s a multi-million-dor recall,” Isolde said. “And it’s fraud.”


    She turned back to Henderson. “If you invest in InnoTech’s n, you are knowingly purchasing stolen, non-functional intellectual property.”


    Henderson stared at the whiteboard, then at his tablet, his fingers moving rapidly across the screen. Sweat beaded on his forehead. “The thermal dissipation specs…” He trailed off. “She’s right.”


    Grayson stared at Isolde. He had never seen her like this — sharp, ruthless, brilliant. A surge of something dangerous moved through him. Attraction. And fear.


    “Isolde,” Grayson said, his voice dropping low. “That’s enough.”


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    He rose and looked at Henderson. “If you don’t fund InnoTech, SkyLine pulls its ounts from your firm.”


    It was a nuclear threat. SkyLine was Henderson’srgest client.


    Henderson went still. He looked at the math on the board. Then he looked at the billionaire threatening him.


    Greed won. Fear won.


    “Ms. Carson,” Henderson said, dabbing his forehead. “Thank you for your input. But Mr. Lancaster’s endorsement carries significant weight. We will proceed with InnoTech.”


    Belle exhaled a breath she had been holding for minutes. A smirk spread across her face. “Nice try, sweetie. Go home.”


    Isolde dropped the marker. It ttered against the table.


    She had won the argument. She had lost the deal.


    “You’re making a mistake,” she said to Henderson.


    “Security,” Henderson said quietly.


    Isolde walked out, her head high.


    But inside, she was screaming.


    Ellyn was sobbing by the elevator. “It’s over. They’re going to take the house. They’re going to take everything.”


    Isolde leaned against the wall, her left hand trembling, the weight of the cast dragging at her arm.


    The conference room door swung open. Henderson was walking the Lancasters out.


    “Excellent meeting,” Henderson was saying, his voice too loud, too eager. “Mr. Lancaster, I trust the InnoTech deal will go more smoothly than that merger in London you mentionedst year? I recall you saying it was quite the headache.”


    Isolde froze.


    London. Last year.


    Grayson had told her he was in London for a merger. It was the same week Kaiden had pneumonia — the week Isolde, running a fever herself, had been awake for ny hours straight. Herwyer had recently pulled his credit card statements from that period. There were no charges from London. There was, however, a five-day charge from a Four Seasons water vi in the Maldives.


    He wasn’t in London. He was in a water vi. With Belle.


    Isolde turned slowly.


    Grayson saw her face. He saw the realizationnd. He stopped walking.


    Belle giggled, entirely oblivious. “Oh, that trip was magical. Gray took the most amazing photos of me on the beach.”


    The coldness that spread through Isolde’s chest was absolute. It wasn’t anger. It was the final nail in a coffin already sealed. This wasn’t a new betrayal — only another cheap, pathetic lie stacked atop a mountain of them.


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