Chapter 7 - The Counter-Offensive
With Julian out, Evelyn assumed direct control of AURELIA’s finances. She needed a war chest to crush Marcus Thorne permanently.
Marcus had over-leveraged his company to manipulate the media and buy the fake generic formulas. He was cash-poor, relying on margin loans to stay afloat. If Evelyn could drive Thorne Capital’s stock down, his creditors would call in his margins, and he would collapse.
Evelyn flew to New York on her private jet to meet with Silas Vance.
Silas was an octogenarian billionaire, an old-money titan who viewed modern corporate raiders like Marcus as vulgar thugs. He rarely took meetings, but Evelyn was not easily ignored.
She met him in the dimly lit, wood-paneled library of his Manhattan estate.
“Evelyn Sterling,” Silas rasped, swirling a glass of brandy. “You’ve made a mess of the market lately. I like it. What do you want?”
“I want a loan of two billion dollars in liquid capital, Mr. Vance,” Evelyn said directly.
Silas chuckled. “Two billion? And what collateral does the Queen of Cosmetics offer?”
“My personal shares in AURELIA. Fifty-one percent of the company.”
Silas stopped laughing. He stared at her, his shrewd eyes evaluating her soul. “You’re betting your entire empire. If you fail, I own AURELIA, and you walk away with nothing.”
“I won’t fail,” Evelyn said, her voice devoid of doubt.
“What are you going to do with the money?”
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“I’m going to short Thorne Capital into the dirt. I’m going to create a panic sell-off so violent that Marcus Thorne won’t be able to afford a cup of coffee by Friday.”
Silas smiled, a terrifying, predatory grin. “I’ll wire the funds by morning. Happy hunting, Evelyn.”
