By 4:00 PM, the financial world was in chaos. A mysterious entity–shielded by shell companies but clearly funded by Croft capital–was aggressively buying every available share of Vane-Tech. The price was skyrocketing, but the volume was choking Julianna Vane’s control over her own board.
In the library of the Croft Estate, the landline rang.
Victoria ignored it. She was sitting at the small round table, holding a geometry textbook open.
“So, the hypotenuse is the longest side,” Victoria explained to Leo, sketching a triangle. “It connects the two extremes.”
The phone rang again. And again.
“Aren’t you going to answer that?” Leo asked, glancing at the caller ID which flashed *PRIVATE OFFICE – J. VANE*.
“No,” Victoria said calmly, turning the page.
“She’s calling to surrender,” Leo observed, his eyes narrowing with tactical appreciation. “She wants to negotiate a truce before she loses the majority vote.”
“Negotiation implies she has leverage,” Victoria replied, not looking up. “Let it ring, Leo. Sometimes, silence is the loudest noise you can make.”
Across the city, in a glass tower, Julianna Vane threw her phone against the wall as the line rang out for the tenth time. The hunter had become the hunted.