Leverage

Two days remained until the signing.

On paper, it was just another corporate acquisition—Arnold Blaze taking a controlling interest in Sterling Industries. But in truth, the deal was a line drawn in the sand, a declaration of power.

Victor Sterling hadn't slept.

His office lights still burned deep into the night, casting long shadows across the polished floor. The documents were signed and waiting. The ink wasn't dry yet. Not until the meeting. Not until the final handover.

But Victor wasn't finished.

He paced.

"There's still room to negotiate," he muttered to himself.

The voice on the other end of the call was calm. Governmental. Older.

"You're running out of time, Victor. If you stall too long, the board will remove you themselves."

Victor's lips curled bitterly. "Let them try. I can still play this."

"Unless you want your father's name completely erased from the company, you'll need to think tactically."

Victor's fingers tightened around his whiskey glass. "That's exactly what I'm doing."

Because this wasn't just about business anymore.

It was about legacy.

And Lilith Lane—or whatever name she went by now—wasn't going to ruin his father's company twice.

—

Arnold stood on the rooftop terrace of Blaze Tower, eyes fixed on the horizon.

The wind cut sharply this morning. The kind of cold that bit through expensive suits and private security. But he didn't move.

He was waiting for Lucas.

When the man finally stepped out beside him, Arnold didn't look over.

"Well?"

Lucas handed him a folder. "Isabella's digging fast. She's got names, paper trails, buried corporate leaks, and unfiled charges. It's not airtight, but… it's ugly."

Arnold flipped through the file.

False identities. Charities run as fronts. Men with collapsed portfolios. Whispers of seduction and sabotage.

And Lilith's name buried beneath all of it.

He closed the file.

"She told me most of this," he said, voice unreadable.

Lucas blinked. "Then why ask us to look?"

"To see what she left out."

Lucas hesitated. "She may have been forced into it."

"I know."

"And she walked away."

"I know that, too."

A long silence.

Lucas studied him. "You still planning to use her in the Sterling deal?"

Arnold finally turned to face him. "Victor already has leverage. I want mine."

"You think she's leverage?"

"I think she's a variable."

Lucas didn't ask what that meant. He just nodded and stepped back, knowing when his boss was done talking.

Arnold remained at the edge, wind tugging at his sleeves.

He didn't like a mess.

He didn't like not knowing.

But what he hated more than anything was being manipulated.

He wasn't sure yet if Lilith had done that.

But he was sure of one thing: someone was going to lose.

And it wasn't going to be him.

—

Lilith hadn't left the apartment in 36 hours.

She moved like a ghost from room to room. Brewed tea, she didn't drink. Folded laundry twice. Checked the locks six times.

Everything in her bones told her something was coming.

The message on the phone. Isabella's visit. The silence from Arnold.

This wasn't just paranoia anymore.

It was preparation.

She picked up her phone again, opened a private folder, and scrolled to the bottom. A name she hadn't looked at in years. A contact she'd promised never to use.

Athena. HQ – Emergency only.

Lilith stared at the name.

Her thumb hovered.

Then stopped.

Not yet.

She'd burned every bridge already. If she lit this one, there'd be no turning back.

—

Meanwhile, Isabella stood in a quiet government building, the kind of place without signs or windows. A digital kiosk blinked once before unlocking a door.

She stepped inside and handed the USB to the man waiting.

"Encrypted," she said.

He nodded. "And this is?"

"A subject of interest to a mutual friend."

The man plugged it in, eyes scanning the screen.

"Lilith Lane," he read. "Or Morgan. Or Rhodes. Or Black."

Isabella crossed her arms. "You see the pattern?"

He looked up. "I see a ghost."

"Then pull the thread."

He smirked. "You understand that if I do, I'll find things you may not like."

Isabella's eyes glittered. "I'm counting on it."

—

Victor tapped a pen against his desk, eyes on the projection screen in his office.

The market forecasts were clear. Arnold's move would triple Blaze Enterprises' reach overnight. Sterling's board had already begun preparing for the merger.

But there was still a window.

If he could expose a security threat—if Lilith's past was dragged into the light, and linked to Blaze—

He could delay the deal.

Maybe destroy it.

He picked up his phone and called Specter.

"Advance Plan B," Victor said.

"Define 'advance,'" Specter replied.

Victor's voice was razor-sharp. "Find a way to make Lilith Lane explode in Arnold's face."

Specter laughed softly. "I thought you wanted her to unravel quietly."

"I changed my mind."

A pause.

Then: "I'll need 48 hours."

Victor's grin was cold. "You have 36."

—

The countdown had begun.

Blaze. Sterling. Lane.

Three names tangled in a web that was tightening by the hour.

And none of them yet realized:

The moment Lilith decided to survive…

She stopped being the pawn.

And started becoming the fuse.