Chapter 192:


    Isolde turned toward therge television mounted on the waiting area wall. It was tuned to a business news channel.


    Breaking News: InnoTech unveils new facility with major backing from Lancaster Holdings.


    There he was. Grayson. Smiling. Holding a pair of oversized golden scissors. And standing right beside him, beaming as though she had just won the lottery, was Belle.


    Isolde stared at the screen. She hadn’t been made a fool of by waiting — she had confirmed his priorities. She had the proof she needed. She had offered him a chance, and in return she had received absolute certainty. While her family’spany teetered on the edge of copse, he was ying dress-up with his mistress.


    “Thank you, Liam,” Isolde said, her voice stripped of all feeling.


    She turned and walked back to the elevators. She didn’t look back. She didn’t cry.


    She just burned.


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    The wind outside Lancaster Tower was biting. Isolde stood on the sidewalk, the giant screen in the lobby still visible through the ss. Grayson cut the ribbon. The crowd pped. Belleughed, throwing her head back.


    It was a perfect picture. A lie wrapped in silk and money.


    Isolde pulled out her phone and dialed Grayson’s private number.


    On the screen inside, she watched him pause. He reached into his pocket, looked at the caller ID, and his smile faltered. He stepped away from the cameras, handing the scissors to Belle.


    “Isolde?” His voice came through the phone, thin and annoyed. “I’m in the middle of something.”


    “I know,” Isolde said, watching him on the screen. “I’m watching you. I’m standing outside your office. I came to discuss the Carson Dynamics audit you initiated.”


    Grayson turned away from the cameras, pressing a hand over his other ear. “Why? What do you want?”


    “Unfreeze the ounts,” Isolde said, dispensing with pleasantries. “Carson Dynamics. Release the credit line.”


    Grayson sighed. “Isolde, this is business. Your mother’spany is a risk. My analysts —”


    “Your analysts do what you tell them,” Isolde cut him off. “And if you don’t release the funds by tomorrow morning, I’m going to release my own analysis to the board. I have the logs from the Javits Center stress test. I know where the money for InnoTech is reallying from. Do you want the SEC to see that before the market opens?”


    On the screen, Grayson went very still. He scanned the room around him, suddenly paranoid.


    “You wouldn’t,” he hissed. “That would tank the stock. Your alimony would be worthless.”


    “I don’t want your alimony,” Isolde said. “I want my mother’spany to survive the week.”


    Grayson was silent for a moment. He looked at Belle, who was waving at photographers.


    “Fine,” he said. “I’ll make a call. The funds will be avable at nine AM.”


    Isolde released a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Good.”


    “But,” Grayson added, his voice dropping an octave, “there’s a condition.”


    “Of course there is.”


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