Evelyn
[EVELYN - Vale Industries Headquarters - Morning]
The elevator opens. Twelve suits rise in unison. Power trembles like perfume in the air.
Evelyn Vale didn't enter rooms she conquered them. Every head turned when her stilettos clicked across the marble floor of Vale Industries' skyscraper headquarters, the sound slicing through silence like a blade. No one dared whisper. No one dared breathe. Not when the daughter of Vincent Vale - the man who owned half the world was present.
She wore black like mourning was fashionable. A sculpted Alexander McQueen blazer hugged her curves, its gold buttons gleaming like war medals. Her blood-red lipstick was the only hint of color, and it spoke louder than most people ever dared.
Today, she was late. Not because she overslept. Evelyn didn't sleep much. Power didn't rest. She was late because she could be.
The boardroom fell into a hush as she stepped inside, her assistant Elise trailing behind her with a leather portfolio and barely contained anxiety. The twelve board members - all men older than her, many with more experience, none with more power - stood when she entered. They always did. Not out of respect. Out of fear.
Evelyn Vale / FL
"Sit," Evelyn commanded, her voice cool, precise, lethal.
At twenty-eight age, Evelyn Vale had inherited the unofficial crown of New York's most untouchable elite.
Whispers followed her like perfume - that she had no heart, that she crushed rivals without blinking, that she'd once frozen her ex-fiancé out of every major financial institution for cheating on her with a junior analyst. The analyst was now waitressing in Wyoming. The ex-fiancé had fled to Singapore. Evelyn hadn't blinked.
Today's meeting was about acquisitions - specifically, Vale Industries' plan to consume a boutique cybersecurity firm called LUXEN. It was a minor player, unassuming on the surface, but Evelyn had read between the lines. Someone had been using their infrastructure to quietly gather data on the Vale empire. A mistake.
Barlow(CFO)
"M-Ms. Vale. We're having difficulties with the LUXEN acquisition-"
Evelyn Vale / FL
"Difficulties?"
Barlow(CFO)
"The owner won't return our calls. He's... attached."
Evelyn Vale / FL
"Sentimental fools shouldn't run companies."
I flick the file open. He built LUXEN alone. No partners. No board. Just code and ego.
Evelyn Vale / FL
"If he won't sell, bury him. I want his servers obsolete and his clients gone by next quarter."
Elise(Assistant)
"You have the gala tonight-"
Evelyn Vale / FL
"No speeches."
Elevator doors shut. Silence returns. The Queen has left the floor.
[Unknown Location - Same Time]
Monitors glow blue in a dark room. He leans back, one hand around a coffee mug, the other flipping through code like it's poetry.
Unknown
"There she is." said to himself
He freezes the frame - Evelyn Vale on a security cam feed from her own building.
Unknown
"I wondered how long it would take you to find me."
Lines of data stream across the screen. LUXEN's firewall. His firewall. He built it to keep them out.
Unknown
"But now you're knocking."
He taps a key. The screen goes black.
Unknown
"Let's see how you like being hunted, Miss Vale."
Author
If you liked the story please Like, Comment, Subscribe and Follow ❤.
Comments