Cancel what specifically. The entire $2.5 billion merger, Alani stated, her eyes sweeping across the laughing faces in the room. The real estate partnerships, the technology licensing deals, the supply chain agreements. Terminate all of it. There was a stunned pause on the other end of the line.
Miss Washington, are you absolutely certain the entire Vancroft deal? Alani looked at the faces of the people who had spent the evening trying to tear her down to reduce her to nothing, and her voice dropped to a whisper that carried more power than any scream. Burn it all to the ground, David, and send me the confirmation. A few of the guests standing nearest to her had finally stopped laughing. Something in her tone, the quiet authority, the mention of words like billion and merger had finally pierced through their arrogant bubble.
They were starting to listen. They were starting to look at her differently. But Eleanor Vancroft was still completely, blissfully ignorant. She was by the bar, regaling a circle of sycophants with her witty take on the evening's drama. "Look at her over there, still pretending to be important," Eleanor scoffed, gesturing toward Alani with her champagne flute.
"She's probably calling her parole officer." The group around her erupted in a fresh wave of laughter, but it was a little more strained now. A seed of unease had been planted. Harrison Vancroft had been in mid-conversation with a potential investor when the words billion and merger drifted across the room like phantom alarm bells. His face, already flushed from alcohol and self-importance, went chalky white.
The color drained from his cheeks so rapidly the man he was talking to paused and asked, "Harrison, are you feeling all right?" Ignoring the question, Harrison pushed through the crowd, his heart beginning to hammer against his ribs with a panicked rhythm. When he was close enough to see Alani's face clearly, close enough to hear the chilling finality in her voice as she ended her call, he interrupted her, his own voice cracking with a desperation he couldn't conceal. "Excuse me, what did you say your name was again?" Alani ended her call with a decisive tap on the screen and turned to face the man who just minutes before had called her a walking disaster.
When she spoke, her voice was the calm, professional, and utterly devastating sound of a guillotine blade dropping. Alani Washington, founder and CEO of Apex Stratos. She reached into her small clutch purse and retrieved a single business card. It was made of black anodized metal, her name and title etched in platinum. It cost more to produce than most people's weekly grocery budget.
She handed it to Harrison with the same cool dignity she would afford a visiting head of state. Harrison took the card with a trembling hand. He read the name. He read the title. And the as the reality of those words detonated in his mind, his wine glass slipped from his other hand and shattered on the marble floor.
The sound was like a gunshot, echoing the shattering of his entire world. The sharp crack of breaking glass silenced the room instantly. Every head turned. Everyone stared at Harrison Vancroft, their host, now pale as a corpse and trembling. Eleanor saw the commotion and hurried over, still utterly clueless.