Chapter 43
Chapter 43:
“You look like you’ve been to war,” Felix commented, eyeing the dark circles under her eyes.
“Just marriage,” Skye replied.
She leaned through the window and dropped the flash drive into his lap. “Proof. Seraphina leaked the photo. She orchestrated the scandal to tank the stocks so she could buy in, or maybe just to humiliate me p>
Felix pocketed the drive. “Boss says keep it. Don’t release it yet. Let her think she’s winning p>
He reached into the passenger seat and handed her a thick manila envelope.
“From Alistair,” Felix said. “He wanted you to have this before the news breaks tomorrow morning. The City Council vote on the zoning laws happened in closed session an hour ago p>
Skye opened the envelope. Inside was a copy of the official decree. The injunction against the Wasteland development was dismissed. The land was being rezoned as a “Green Tech Zone p>
Her breath hitched. The land she bought for five hundred million was about to be worth triple that.
“Arthur and Petunia are going to find out,” Skye said, clutching the file. “They have spies in the council p>
“Let them come,” Felix said with a grin. “You hold the cards now p>
Skye nodded. She turned and walked back toward the elevator. The war was escalating, and she was finally armed.
The news broke at 8:00 AM the next morning.
BREAKING: CITY COUNCIL APPROVES “GREEN TECH ZONE.” WEST HARBOR INDUSTRIAL AREA REDESIGNATED FOR MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR DEVELOPMENT.
Skye was in a private study room at the university library—a quiet, neutral ground she often used for Oracle business. She watched the news ticker on her laptop screen.
The land value graph was a vertical line. Up. Up. Up. The valuation hit 1.5 billion dollars.
𝘚𝗵𝘢𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗈𝘶𝗿 𝗳𝖺𝗏𝘰r𝗂𝘁es 𝗳𝘳o𝗺 b𝘦.𝖼𝗈𝗆
Her phone began to ring. It wasn’t Liam.
It was Uncle Arthur.
Skye muted the call. She poured herself a cup of tea from her thermos. She waited.
Twenty minutes later, the study room door was shoved open. Arthur had clearly hired a private investigator to track her down, desperate enough to storm a university building.
Arthur looked like he was having a coronary event. His face was purple, his tie askew. Petunia was clutching her pearls so hard the string looked ready to snap.
“You!” Arthur screamed, pointing a shaking finger at Skye. “You little witch! You knew p>
Skye didn’t stand. She swiveled her chair around slowly. “Good morning, Uncle. Aunt Petunia. To what do I owe the pleasure? Did you run out of gin p>
“Don’t play dumb!” Arthur slammed a newspaper onto her desk. “The Wasteland! The dump you bought! It’s worth two billion dollars this morning! You knew the zoning was changing p>
“I had a hunch,” Skye said modestly.
“That money belongs to the family!” Petunia shrieked. “You used trust fund money to buy it! That means the profit is ours p>